Highclere Castle

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Highclere Castle (2012)
Cartouche with the alliance coat of arms Herbert – Molyneux Howard, the motto UNG JE SERVIRAY and the year AD MDCCCXLII (1842) above the main entrance (2017)
turret

Highclere Castle [ ˈhaɪklɪər ] is a 19th century neo-Renaissance mansion in the north of the English county of Hampshire about 6 kilometers south of Newbury in south-west London .

history

Highclere Castle is located on property that the Bishops of Winchester had used since the 8th century and built upon a palace in the Middle Ages . The property was listed in the Domesday Book . Since 1692 the castle has been owned by the Anglo- Welsh Herbert family. The mansion was bequeathed that year by Robert Sawyer to his daughter Margaret, the first wife of Thomas Herbert , the 8th Earl of Pembroke . In 1692, the castle consisted of a rectangular building surrounded by a park of about 400 hectares and agricultural land. The second son of the 8th Count of Pembroke inherited the property, began to build up a collection of paintings and built the temples in the garden of the castle. His nephew and heir, Henry Herbert, became the first Baron of Porchester and then the first Earl of Carnarvon .

Building history

Today's Highclere Castle was built to plans by the architect Sir Charles Barry from 1839 to 1842, who also planned the Houses of Parliament in Westminster , London. The builder was Henry Herbert, 3rd Earl of Carnarvon , who also brought his own style ideas to the renovations, which is particularly evident in the Bath Stone facade design . Here, the client let more of the building details of the Central and Northern European Renaissance flow into the mixed Jacobethan style of British art history. In the Great Hall inside the castle, Gothic elements were implemented as hammer-beam vaults at his request .

After the death of the 3rd Earl in 1849, Henry Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon commissioned the British architect Thomas Allon to oversee the interior work on the castle, which was completed in 1878.

History of the park

The first Earl of Carnarvon redesigned the park between 1774 and 1777 based on a design by landscape architect Capability Brown . The existing village was relocated. The remains of the village church from 1689 can still be seen southwest of the castle. Bishop Stephen Pococke , the collector of plants and seeds known in the 18th century, was a friend of the house and brought Lebanon cedar seeds back from a trip to Lebanon , of which some stately specimens can still be seen in the park today (2011).

In the park itself there are some sights, such as the temple with Corinthian columns from Devonshire House, which was demolished in London on Piccadilly in 1743 .

Egyptian Museum

The Egyptian Museum at Highclere Castle was established in 1922 by George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, together with the archaeologist Howard Carter , who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun . The 5th Earl had committed in 1907 to finance the excavation of the aristocratic graves in Deir el-Bahari across from Thebes in Egypt .

Henry Herbert, 7th Earl Carnarvon

Highclere Castle was visited several times in the 20th century by Queen Elizabeth II , who was on friendly terms with the owner of the estate, Henry Herbert, 7th Earl of Carnarvon . From 1969 until his death in 2001 he was the manager of the monarch's racehorses. The successor and owner of the castle is now George Herbert, 8th Earl of Carnarvon .

Highclere Castle as a film and television location

The castle has played a role in various films and television series in recent years. The last TV series that ran in Germany was Downton Abbey . It was filmed there from 2010 to 2015. In 2018, the production for the Downton Abbey movie returned to the already popular location. The music video for "Heaven" (2006) by John Legend also shows the castle and the surrounding parks.

Visiting opportunities

Highclere Castle is irregularly open to the public. The entrance fee for the palace and gardens is £ 17 in summer 2020, with an additional £ 7 for the Egyptian exhibition. A tour of the castle and park costs £ 28 and a tour with access to the film sets and historical manorial rooms, as well as a buffet including butler, is available for £ 125.

literature

  • Fiona Carnarvon: Lady Amina and the real Downton Abbey - the legacy of Highclere Castle , Munich 2013.
  • Fiona Carnarvon: Christmas at Highclere Castle. Recipes and traditions from the real Downton Abbey , Munich 2019.

Web links

Commons : Highclere Castle  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Fanfares outside, stability inside in FAZ of September 16, 2011, page 31
  2. Highclere Castle Summer 2020 Admission Tickets. Retrieved June 30, 2020 .
  3. Real Lives & Film Sets Guided Tours, Sep / Oct / Nov 2020. Accessed June 30, 2020 .
  4. ^ Castle Tours and Garden Trails. Jul-Oct 2020. Retrieved June 30, 2020 .

Coordinates: 51 ° 19 ′ 36 "  N , 1 ° 21 ′ 41"  W.