Answer: Highclere!
Highclere is the manor house that is used in the Downton
Abbey series. It is also the home of the
Earls and Duchesses of the Carnarvon family for over 300 years. George
Herbert, the
5th Earl of Carnarvon, with the aid of his colleague Howard Carter,
discovered Tutankhamen’s tomb.
Carnarvon was born in1866. Exceedingly wealthy,
Carnarvon was known his his racehorses and as a reckless driver of early
automobiles. In 1901 he suffered a
serious motor accident which left him in poor health.
His doctors advised him to spend winters in
a warm, dry climate to improve his health so he traveled to Egypt for part of the year. Away from the passions that filled his time, he grew bored and turned
to Egyptology as a distraction. By 1907 he
was sponsoring an excavation in Thebes with Howard Carter as his assistant. For
several years they worked at various sites and were largely unsuccessful, not finding
much of any significance. In 1914, they
received the concession to dig in the Valley of the Kings and still they continued with little success.
By the end of WWI, Lord Carnarvon’s wealth had significantly
diminished and he could no longer maintain his lavish lifestyle and sponsor his excavations with Carter. In 1922, he and Carter agreed that this would
be Carnarvon’s last year sponsoring the excavation. A few weeks later, Mr.
Carter discovered a tomb and knew it was a significant find. He telegraphed Lord Carnarvon to come quickly
then waited so they could open the discovery together.
On November 26, 1922, Carter and Lord Carnarvon entered
the interior chambers of Tutankhamen’s tomb and found treasures unsurpassed in the
history of archaeology.Unfortunately,
Lord Carnarvon did not live long enough to enjoy much of this success. Three months later Carnarvon had a mosquito
bite in his cheek that become infected by a razor cut. On 5 April, he died in
the Continental-Savoy Hotel in Cairo. His death was most likely most caused by blood poisoning from the bite infection that progressed to pneumonia. His untimely death led to the rumors and story of the
"Curse of Tutankhamen".
Today Highclere is still the home of the Carnarvon
family. The family live in other homes
on the estate and Highclere is used mostly for entertaining, for tourism, and most recently,
the filming of Downton Abbey. The public
is not allowed to take pictures of the interior of the home but you can see
what it looks like on the Highclere website. The interior is absolutely
stunning. The production team doesn’t
have to change much to film any of the interior scenes. All they do is remove the family photos and
personal items and add a few props. What you see in Downton Abbey is what the
house really looks like.
The grounds are equally stunning with 1000 acres of
spectacular parkland and gardens. The
house itself is not that old -- it was built in 1842 by Sir Charles Barry, the
architect who designed the House of Parliament in London. The current castle stands on the site of an
earlier house that has roots back 800 years.
Highclere is only open to the public for a few months each
year. If you want to go, it is best to buy
tickets in advance. Due to the success
of Downton Abbey, it is now a very popular tourist attraction. I bought my tickets last February and by
March it was the tickets for July/August had sold out.
For more information and pictures of the interior: http://www.highclerecastle.co.uk/index.html
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