Maia's Highclere Castle visit and a Downton Abbey Exhibition at Basildon Park (Part 2)

Our P&P (2005) movie's 10th Year Anniversary event here continues...

Yesterday, I posted about A Special Pride & Prejudice (2005) Exhibition at Basildon Park with Maia (Part 1). My friend Maia from Hungary, who just recently visited Basildon Park, one of P&P movie's filming locations last August (11th-13th) also visited Highclere Castle, the main house used as Downton Abbey. Also, like P&P movie, there was a Downton Abbey Exhibition at Basildon Park.

Read about Maia's wonderful experience visiting Highclere Castle and see a video of DA filming at Basildon Park below...

After a very informative day at Basildon Park (with both P&P and Downton Exhibitions), the next one I visited to was in Highclere Castle aka Downton Abbey ( co-star as Isobel Crawley), the real location, I mean as exterior and some rooms as interior of course. As it is a private home, I wasn’t be able to take photos of the house inside, just outside, which you can see me in one of the two Highclere Castle photos below...

But it was a marvelous exploration, the huge hall - the heart of the castle, and the library and the dining room, and Lady Edith’s and Lady Cora’s and Lady Sybil’s bedrooms, which were used in many, many scenes of DA. We enjoyed the day. It was sunny and hot and just lovely, unforgettable. It is interesting, by the way, because for me, I am still missing to see the last two seasons, I mean in Hungary, we had just seen the first 3 and after that the next two (Seasons 4 and 5) are still not broadcast by television here in my country. We are waiting for it.

So, it was a joy seeing scenes at Basildon Park (see a photo I took below of the interior used in Downton Abbey as well as in Pride & Prejudice movie), for example, from the 4th or 5th season even without seeing them completely in my country. The spoiler ones, I mean. Also, for the cast it was the last days with shooting the final 6th Season. So it was memorable. Exactly as when I got to the location, they finished the whole shooting of the last season.
 

Basildon Park are used as the Crawley family’s

London residence, Grantham House...

See the similar room (but changed in appearance for the show)

used in Downton Abbey...

 

(DA promo still by Carnival Films/ITV/Masterpiece)

Downton Abbey Exhibition at Basildon Park

The interiors of Basildon Park are used as the Crawley family’s London residence, Grantham House. In the season five finale our elegant Georgian mansion was at the heart of Lady Rose and Atticus Aldridges' wedding. Basildon Park played host to all of the much loved regular characters from the show.

During the London Season episode in 2013 our house was at the centre of the unfolding story as the family prepared for Rose’s coming out ball in the capital. Shirley MacLaine reprise her role as Martha Levinson and Paul Giamatti joined the cast as Cora’s playboy brother, Harold.

A new video explains in more detail which rooms were used and some of the most significant historic objects and artifacts in each room. In the meantime, why not watch our short video (or see it below) to find out more?


Read more about Downton Abbey filming at Basildon Park here.

To be continued...Part 3 is coming up soon! It will be about Maia's experience visiting Wilton House aka Pemberley's exterior shots in P&P movie!


Note To Readers: Highclere Castle/Basildon Park photos courtesy of Maia (thanks a lot!). If you want to share some of these photos and video/audio somewhere on the web, feel free to do so, just please credit and mention Maia and link to this blog for your source too! Thanks!