Highclere Castle as Downton Abbey
Downton Abbey’s connection to Jane Austen is through Lord Carnarvon, whose descendents still own Highclere Castle, where the PBS Masterpiece Classic mini-series’ interior and exterior shots of the fictional country house were filmed. (Read about Andrew Lloyd Weber’s recent attempt to purchase the castle.) In Jane’s day, Lord Carnarvon was Henry, the 1st Earl. Jane wrote in a letter to Cassandra Austen, Saturday25 – Monday 27 th, October 1800 :
“This morning we called at the Harwood’s & in their dining room found Heathcote & Chute for ever – Mrs Wm Heathcote & Mrs Chute – the first of whom took a long ride in to Lord Carnarvons Park and fainted away in the evening…”
Highclere Castle as it looked in Jane Austen's day
The 5th Earl
Lord Carnarvon’s park, which Jane writes of, is the grounds to Highclere Castle. The Carnarvon family has lived at Highclere since 1679, although the Castle as we see it today sits on the site of an earlier house. (Click here to view a short film about the Castle’s history.) A beautiful 6,000 acre park designed by Capability Brown between 1774-7 surrounds the Castle.
In 1842, the 3rd Earl commissioned architect Sir Charles Barry (also responsible for building the Houses of Parliament in Westminster) to redesign the Castle.
One of the most interesting fact about Highclere Castle is that the golden death mask of King Tutankhamun is featured in its gallery today.
Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon in Egypt
Lord Carnarvon of Tutankhamun fame (George, the 5th Earl) was an Egyptologist who sponsored Howard Carter, the archaeologist who discovered Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings in 1922. It is said that when Canarvon and Carter broke into Tut’s tomb, they unleashed the mummy’s curse. But the story goes more like this:
Howard Carter cleans the second coffin. Image @Harry Burton
This popular legend was born when Lord Carnarvon, the English Earl who funded the Tutankhamun expedition, died less than six months after the opening of the tomb. Despite the fact that Lord Carnarvon was a sickly individual, and that no such “hieroglyphic curse” was found inscribed on the tomb, this legend persists today. . . Lord Carnarvon had been in a car accident many years earlier and had never fully recovered. About a month after entering the tomb, he cut open a mosquito bite while shaving and infection set in. Blood poisoning and pneumonia quickly followed, and within a few weeks, he passed away. Newspapers reported that mysterious forces unleashed from the mummy and its trappings had caused his death. – King Tut
This image of Howard Carter’s grave was taken by Tony Grant, who lives near the cemetery in London. (Thank you, Tony, for the photo and for the quote from Jane Austen’s letter!)
Howard's grave. Image @Tony Grant
Watch Downton Abbey at your local PBS station Sundays, January 9, 16, 23, and 30, 2011 at 9 PM. Read my other posts:
- Entertaining visitors in an English country house, such as Downton Abbey
- Downstairs in Downton Abbey: The Servants
- Upstairs in Downton Abbey: The Three Crawley Sisters
More on the topic:
Jane Austen's World 
I must say that the Georgian mansion was infinitely more dignified and tasteful that the present Victorian Gothic.
I love the quote – Jane was so witty – what a shame Cassandra burned so many letters! ‘Heathcote & Chute forever’ was an electioneering slogan, wasn’t it?
I hugely enjoyed Downton – much better than Gosford Park, I thought, as the amount of servants was (perhaps unrealistically) cut down and each had their own back story as well as ongoing drama.
Yes, Cora, it was an electioneering slogan. A touch of sarcasm on the part of Jane no doubt. I wonder what the back story is that promoted her comment? We can only imagine.
Tony
Cora, I had the same thought as you – 11 servants were not enough to see to this great house. However, upon second viewing, you can see the hustle and bustle of a great many more housemaids, a tweenie or scullery maid sweeping the floor, male servants getting coal or chopping wood, etc. They are there, but they are not front and center like the upper servants.
Tony: It is interesting to speculate that Jane may have had a tendresse for Tom Chute (younger brother of William Chute, the member of parliament). She speaks of playing cards with him and he is one of the few (as well as Harry Digweed) whose first name she uses – when she was grown up and circumspect – without the preface of Mr.
I read somewhere – perhaps it was the erudite Vic – that second sons of the gentry (like Tom Chute) were condemned to be bachelors. After the girls’ dowries were paid, everything went to the heir so Tom Chute, like other second sons, remained a bachelor for all of his life.
Thanks for that, Cora.
Sounds like the sort of thing Vic would find. She’s amazing.
However, in Mansfield Park, isn’t Edmund destined for the priesthood and marriage?
Probably the trend was for second sons not to marry but not necessarily.
[…] The Jane Austen Connection to Downton Abbey and Egypt […]
“– the first of whom took a long ride in to Lord Carnarvons Park and fainted away in the evening…”
Jane would only have been able to relate this if the two ladies in question had told her. I can imagine the scene, Mrs Heathcote and Mrs Chute hogging the conversation animatedly, in over excited, loud, shrill voices, telling everyone about their amazing day like two pantomime dames.
Hence the sarcastic phrase ,” Heathcote and Chute forever.”
But that’s just my guess.
Tony
Tony:
My question has been answered, before it was asked, whilst reading this interesting article about the Jane Austen connection to Downton Abbey.
I read that it is your photo of the grave of Howard Carter, and that you live nearby the cemetery, in London.
Interestingly, what first tipped me off to your national origin was your friendly “All the best”, in signing off one of your posts on the King’s Speech discussion. My father often used this phrase in correspondence, but I don’t see it used here in the USA as often.
Once again, I am reminded that language gives us insight into so much!
[…] The Jane Austen Connection to Downton Abbey and Egypt […]
Vic and Cora,
I enjoyed reading your comments about the number of servants featured on Downton Abbey. My husband ( a doctor and man of “science”) rarely watches “period pieces,” was fairly enthralled with season 2 as it centered around World War I. Of course he had to go back and see season One and is now “hooked!”
Anyway, we are both writers/authors so we pay a lot of attention to the details (set styling, mannerisms, historical accuracy) of the programs we watch.
I noticed right away that a dozen or so servants would have been but a fraction of the staff needed to maintain an estate the size of Downton/Highclere. Then, I began to see glimpses of what I affectionately called the “phantom servants.” A female servant sitting down at the servants’ table next to the featured cast members, a housemaid scampering behind Lady Sybil and Earl Grantham while they are talking about (housemaid) Gwen interviewing for a job with the telephone company.
In season 2 there are quite a few “phantom servants” as the household is crowded with wounded soldiers and nurses, etc. I don’t think that most of these servants are in lower positions as the featured servant characters we’ve come to like (or not like) so well, but more a factor of budget. They had a relatively small budget to work with in season I and still, a conservative budget in season 2, so they saved money by not paying for a lot of indoor ‘extras.”
When you watch Gosford Park, you’ll see a lot more servants running about between the up and downstairs but that probably had a more generous budget since it was a movie.
A lot more writing would be required as well to create storylines for the actual number of servants it would take to run Downton/Highclere and that would mean more paychecks/expenses. It will be interesting to see how many phantom servants will flit through the scenes in season 3! ;-)