About 30 minutes down river from Oxford is a spectacular manor house called Basildon Park. The house was built between 1776 and 1783 for Sir Francis Sykes (an nasty guy who's name Charles Dickens used for Bill Sykes in Oliver Twist) and was fully completed. Through the years the house passed through a succession of owners.
By 1910 it was empty and in 1914, it was requisitioned by the British Government as an army convalescent hospital. In 1929, following a failed attempt to dismantle and rebuild the house in the USA, it was stripped of many of its fixtures and fittings and all but abandoned. During World War II, the house was again requisitioned and served as a barracks, a training ground for tanks, and finally a prisoner of war camp.
In 1952, a time when hundreds of British country houses were being demolished, Balisdon Park was described as totally derelict with no windows left intact. It was in this state that Lord and Lady Iliffe bought the estate and lovingly restored it to it's original glory. The house you see today is a re-creation and restoration of the 18th-century mansion. As estate houses were being torn down in the 50s's after the war, Lady Iliffe scoured the country and salvaged all sorts of beautiful architectural features from demolished homes to restore Basildon Park. The results is a spectacular home filled with fine paintings, fabrics and furniture that is ready made for movie sets and film shoots.
Basildon Park is used for the Downton Abbey interior scenes of Grantham House, the Crawley family's London residence -- seen in the 2013 Christmas Special. Other movies filmed at Basildon include Pride & Prejudice (2005); Marie Antoinette (2006); The Duchess (2008); and on going, Downton Abbey.
For more photos of the house while Downton and Pride and Prejudiced was being filmed:
The Entrance Gate
You have to walk a ways through the grounds to get to the house.
...often used as the Ball Room
Place setting for Lady Mary Crawley
A dress worn by Miss Shirley MacLaine in Downton Abbey
The Octagon Room was used as the Crawley's main drawing room.
Basildon Park is featured again in Season 5
Lady Iliffe was an excellent seamstress
The drapes in the background were made by Lady Iliffe
Happy cows in the buttercup field
View from the front of the house
I visited Basildon Park with the wonderful women of the "K" Club" Katie, Kathy, and Kari. I am so honored and grateful to be an honorary member of the K Club despite having the wrong initials.
In 1978 the Ilffes gave their house, together with its park and a large endowment for its upkeep, to the National Trust.
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