Highclere Castle
Aristocratic mansion famous for its Egyptian connections and the fictional seat of Lord Grantham: Downton Abbey.
near Newbury, Hampshire, RG20 9RN
Highclere Castle is a historic building but disabled access is possible for most areas. There is no lift, however, we provide photographic albums to enable visitors to look at some of the bedrooms on the first floor.
Wheelchairs are welcome around the Castle and in the Egyptian Exhibition (access to this is via the Courtyard at the back of the Castle). It is not possible to bring motorised wheelchairs into the Castle but they are welcome on the paths around the lawns.
The first written records of the estate date back to 749 when an Anglo-Saxon King granted the estate to the Bishops of Winchester. Bishop William of Wykeham built a beautiful medieval palace and gardens in the park. Later on, the palace was rebuilt as Highclere Place House in 1679 when it was purchased by Sir Robert Sawyer, the direct ancestor of the current Earl of Carnarvon. In 1842, Sir Charles Barry, who also designed the Houses of Parliament, transformed Highclere House into the present day Highclere Castle.
During the First World War, Highclere Castle was converted into a hospital for wounded soldiers run by the 5th Countess of Carnarvon. Throughout the Second World War, Highclere Castle was home to children evacuated from London.
The Castle is now home to the 8th Earl and Countess of Carnarvon and known to many visitors as “Downton Abbey”. There are between 250 and 300 rooms in the Castle, with the main State Rooms and some of the Bedrooms open to the public through much of the year. In the cellars and old staff quarters of the Castle, you will now find the Egyptian Exhibition, celebrating the 5th Earl of Carnarvon’s discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun.
Highclere Castle is a historic building but disabled access is possible for most areas. There is no lift, however, we provide photographic albums to enable visitors to look at some of the bedrooms on the first floor.
Wheelchairs are welcome around the Castle and in the Egyptian Exhibition (access to this is via the Courtyard at the back of the Castle). It is not possible to bring motorised wheelchairs into the Castle but they are welcome on the paths around the lawns.