Highclere Castle (Downton Abbey)

About the venue

Victorian castle near Newbury, home of the Earls of Carnarvon and the setting for Downton Abbey, with an Egyptian Exhibition in its cellars. Weddings of up to 30 are held in the licensed Saloon, receptions for 150 use the State Rooms, and conferences seat 60.

The Egyptian Exhibition at Highclere Castle is reached down the old servants' stairs into the cellars. Its six rooms tell the story of the 5th Earl of Carnarvon and Howard Carter, who found Tutankhamun's tomb in November 1922. They show part of the Earl's own collection and a reproduction of the sarcophagus.

The estate is first recorded in 749 AD, when it belonged to the Bishops of Winchester. Robert Sawyer bought it in 1679, and his descendants, the Earls of Carnarvon, still live here. Sir Charles Barry, architect of the Houses of Parliament, rebuilt the house in 1842 in the style seen today. It was a hospital in the First World War and housed evacuated children in the Second.

Since 2010 Highclere has been Downton Abbey, through six television series and the feature films. Capability Brown began redesigning the parkland in 1771, and six follies, including Jackdaw's Castle and the Temple of Diana, are scattered across it. The wider estate covers 5,000 acres of farmland and woods, with around 1,400 ewes and oats grown for racehorses.

Events here are few and carefully chosen. The Saloon is licensed for small weddings, and the State Rooms take receptions of 150 with guides on hand. Two lodges on the estate can be booked for overnight stays, London Lodge with one double bedroom and Grotto Lodge with two.

Rebuilt by Sir Charles Barry in 1842

Filming home of Downton Abbey

Egyptian Exhibition in the cellars

Capability Brown parkland

Weddings for 30 in the Saloon

Receptions for 150 in the State Rooms

Conferences for 60

Two lodges to stay in