The private estate is accessed through a long driveway winding through lovely meadows and parkland with sheep grazing on the field. At the end of the driveway, Highclere Castle looms into view, a splendid edifice with castellated spires dominated by a central prominent tower. It is a more refined building than one would normally associate with fortress castles, for this is the stately home of generations of the Earls of Carnarvon since the late 17th century. Today, the 8th Earl and Countess of Carnarvon are the present Lord and Lady of the manor.
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| Highclere Castle History |
THE REAL DOWNTON ABBEY
I am ushered into a cosy private sitting room in a corner of the castle via the tradesman's entrance to await Lady Camarvon. The chatelaine of the castle herself arrives twenty minutes later apologizing for keeping me waiting. Far from being a hoity-toity grand dame like the aristocratic ladies portrayed in Downton Abbey, the real life Countess is friendly, warm and down to earth.
Lady Fiona, 8th Countess of Carnarvon, was a chartered accountant before she married the 8th Earl of Camarvon. She takes her role seriously as the custodian of her ancestral home, managing the 1000-acre estate and farm land with her husband. As a shrewd business lady, she has opened up Highclere Castle to the public and markets it as an exclusive venue for weddings and corporate functions and the film location for Downton Abbey.
After all, these ancient stately piles are expensive to run and maintain. It is also a way of sharing an English heritage with the public. Lady Carnarvon is passionate about preserving the history and heritage of the family. She has written a few books on Highclere Castle and her latest book entitled "Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey" is about the 5th Countess of Carnarvon, the wife of Lord Camarvoa of the Tutankhamun fame. Lady Almina's life seemed to mirror the storyline of Downton Abbey. Is art imitating life?
Like Lady Grantham in the television series, Lady Almina turned Highclere into a military hospital for wounded soldiers during the First World War and personally saw that they received the best medical care. And like the fictitious Lady Grantham, she was also a wealthy American heiress, the illegitimate daughter of the banking tycoon Alfred de Rothschild who bequeathed her a vast fortune.
At the age of nineteen, Lady Almina married the 5th Earl of Carnarvon and became a prominent figure in high society in England with her wit, grace and stylish clothes.
I feel like an extra in Downton Abbey when I walk through Highclere Castle with Lady Carnarvon as she points out outstanding features and beautiful priceless paintings of the Carnarvon collection by famous artists. That morning, the whole house is in chaos with crew from Downton Abbey out in full force rigging up the rooms for the filming of the Christmas special of the series. Her Ladyship keeps an eye on the removal of a massive antique carpet, lamp shades and photographs to make room for the film props. It's like watching the servants in Downton Abbey going about their daily chores in the mansion.
In the magnificent library, which is featured in Downton Abbey, the walls are lined with 5,650 antique books on shelves stretching to the ceiling that are exquisitely carved with floral motifs. It is a masculine room designed like a gentleman's club in London, very sombre where the residing Earl of the time, particularly the 4th Earl of Carnarvon who was a Tory member of Parliament, would entertain his political allies and gentlemen friends to relax, discuss politics and topics of the day.
Another delightful room is the bright south-facing Music Room enriched with intricately embroidered Italian tapestries in gold and silk from the Malatesta Palace in Rimini dating from the 16th century. In one of the rooms, a unique piece of furniture catches my eye. It is the original mahogany desk once owned by Napoleon Bonaparte circa 1795 and believed to have come from the Palace at Fontainebleau.
Highclere Castle was originally built as a Georgian house and in 1838, the 3rd Earl of Carnarvon commissioned Sir Charles Barry, a pre-eminent architect of his time, to transform it into a grand Victorian mansion. One of the most famous designs of Sir Charles Barry was the House of Parliament in London.
Under the guidance of Barry, the mansion was sumptuously designed and it became the centre of political life during the late Victorian era. Many a prominent politician, royals and high society guests had been entertained here. Set in a stunning 1000 acres of parkland designed by Capability Brown, the prominent landscape designer so favored by the royals and aristocrats at the time, Highclere Castle is nestled on the Hampshire/ Berkshire border surrounded by woodlands on a hilly landscape that captures the essence of yang energy in the atmosphere.
A wide winding path leads to the imposing front entrance with the family motto "Only One Will I Serve" in Latin etched at the top of the door. The entrance is gothic in design with grooved columns fanning up to the ceiling. A pair of terracotta wyverns (two-legged winged dragons), the heraldic emblem of the Carnarvon family, stand guard just by the hallway, acting as sentinels to the house.
In Feng Shui speak, dragons are symbolic of the power and authority of the family. The castle has 200 rooms and those who are fans of Downton Abbey would have recognized some of the beautiful rooms in the series.
An ancient building would inevitably be imbued with residual yin energy of past residents lingering in every brick and mortar of the rooms, not to mention the yin chi emanating from all the antiques notably an Egyptian collection which is housed in a museum in the cellar of the castle for public viewing. The 5th Earl of Carnarvon was famous for financing Howard Carter in his discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt in November 1922.
It brought both gentlemen fame and some believed misfortune from the 'curse of the Pharaoh'. Lord Carnarvon died from pneumonia and blood poisoning after accidentally cutting a mosquito bite on his face while shaving few months after the sensational discovery of the tomb. It was said that on the day he died in Cairo on 5th April 1923, the city was thrown into darkness due to a power failure and his beloved dog Susie, let out an eerie howl in Highclere Castle and dropped dead at exactly the same moment as when the Earl drew his last breath.
Most of the treasures from the tomb are in the Cairo Museum. The exhibition at Highclere is the Earl's private collection and it is fortunate that the exhibits are confined to the cellar of the castle, as relics from a tomb emanate dark energy. But the present young Earl and Countess through their effort to bring the castle into the 21st century by allowing the public to view the treasure trove of magnificent rooms filled with amazing art and artifacts and allowing a film crew into their home would help to refresh the old chi of the castle, creating a balance of yin and yang energy.
As we stroll into the grand dining room, the crew is busy rigging up the place for a scene from Downton Abbey. I can't wait for the third series. To find out more, you can check out Highclere Castle History.