From an Anglo-Saxon bishop's estate to the real-world setting of Downton Abbey, by way of a discovery that changed Egyptology.
Highclere has been an estate in one form or another since at least 749, when an Anglo-Saxon king granted the land to the Bishops of Winchester, who used it as a residence for roughly 800 years. The bishops' palace stood on the same elevated site that the current castle now occupies, chosen for the views over the surrounding Hampshire countryside.
The estate passed out of church hands in the 17th century. In 1679, Sir Robert Sawyer acquired Highclere, and through his daughter's marriage it passed to the Herbert family — the family that holds the title Earl of Carnarvon and has owned Highclere ever since.
The Jacobethan mansion visitors recognise today is not the original structure. The 3rd Earl of Carnarvon commissioned architect Sir Charles Barry to rebuild the house between 1842 and 1849, wrapping the existing Georgian structure in a new Victorian exterior. Barry is best known for designing the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, and Highclere shares some of the same Gothic Revival detailing on a domestic scale — towers, turrets, and an asymmetrical silhouette rather than the grand symmetry of a typical country house.
The interiors, by contrast, were largely left as they were under previous owners, which is why several state rooms — including the Saloon with its 17th-century Spanish leather wall coverings — predate Barry's exterior by more than a century.
George Herbert, the 5th Earl of Carnarvon, is the figure most responsible for Highclere's place in archaeological history. A keen Egyptologist, he financed archaeologist Howard Carter's excavations in the Valley of the Kings for years before their work paid off. In November 1922, Carter's team discovered the largely intact tomb of Tutankhamun — one of the most significant archaeological finds of the 20th century, funded entirely by the 5th Earl.
The 5th Earl died in Cairo in April 1923, only months after the discovery, fuelling decades of "Curse of the Pharaohs" speculation in the press. Highclere's Egyptian Exhibition, housed in the castle's cellars, displays artefacts and material connected to this period of the family's history.
During the First World War, Highclere Castle was converted into a military hospital. The 5th Countess of Carnarvon, Almina, personally funded and ran the hospital, training as a nurse and overseeing the care of wounded officers in rooms that are now part of the visitor route. Letters and accounts from this period are referenced in tours covering the castle's wartime history.
For much of the 20th century, Highclere remained a private family home not generally open to the public. Rising running costs for a building of this scale led the family to begin opening selected rooms to paying visitors, a practice that intensified after the castle gained international attention as the filming location for Downton Abbey, which began production in 2010. Tour revenue now funds ongoing restoration of the building and its grounds.
Today, Highclere is home to the 8th Earl and Countess of Carnarvon, who continue to live in part of the castle while opening the rest to visitors on selected dates each year. See current visiting dates and admission prices →
Filming for Downton Abbey began at Highclere in 2010 and continued across six television series and two feature films, with a third released more recently. The show's writer, Julian Fellowes, has spoken about how the castle's real architecture and history shaped the fictional Crawley family's story. Several named interior spaces appear repeatedly on screen, including the grand staircase used in pivotal scenes and the dining room where many of the show's most quoted lines were delivered.
Many Highclere Castle tours combine a visit here with stops in Bampton, the real Oxfordshire village used as the on-screen Downton Village, and Cogges Manor Farm, which played Yew Tree Farm.