The movie version of "Downton Abbey" was finally released in China.
With the same gorgeous setting, the same British humor, and even the same reunion plot, the manor in the story has gone through the ups and downs and finally the calm and breezy years.
And Highclere Castle, the real Downton Abbey, where dramas and movies were filmed , has experienced a history you never expected.
The Canadian Constitution was born here, laying the foundation for Canada's independent nationhood;
The owner here has encountered the "curse of Tutankhamun" and has kept a large number of Egyptian cultural relics as a testimony;
This real Downton Abbey is the same as the Downton Abbey in the play. It was once a wartime hospital during World War I. The hostess took off the Chinese clothes and put on nurses' uniforms to treat a large number of wounded;
Even during World War II, 7 planes crashed here, making it a heartbreaking place for the war.
This castle with a history of more than 300 years has far more exciting stories than TV series and movies.
There are no spoilers in this article, please feel free to eat
How was "Downton" built
Highclere Castle is located in Hampshire in the south of England.
This is an Italian palace-style building with a strong Renaissance style. Many buildings in the Elizabethan period followed this appearance design route.
You can see its appearance, which has a similar style to the British Parliament Buildings (that is, the Palace of Westminster and the Palace of Westminster).
◤ Palace of Westminster
Although similar in appearance, Highclere Castle is far smaller than the capitol building with the spires, corridors, stairs, and halls. However, it also has two to three hundred rooms, which can be said to be a small capitol building.
In the ancient feudal society of Britain, the castles of the nobles were built on their own fiefs, so in addition to the castle itself, it also had a large area of fiefs around it.
The earliest record of this land dates back to 749 AD, when the King of Anglo-Saxon gave it to the Bishop of Winchester, who then built a medieval palace and garden on this land.
This palace has been passed down from generation to generation by the Bishops of Winchester for hundreds of years, until 1320, when King Edward II of England stayed here for one night when he went out.
Three hundred years later, it changed hands.
In 1679, a knight named Robert Sawyer bought the land and converted the original palace into Highclere Place House (Highclere Place House).
◤ Robert Sawyer
Sir Sawyer was well-known in the legal profession at that time. He was not only a lawyer, but also a member of Parliament, he was also the Attorney General of the two generations of British Kings Charles II and James II.
After many twists and turns, Highclere Palace was passed to Henry Herbert, the nephew of his grandson.
This Henry Herbert is an important person. His political career has been very smooth. He was promoted 4 times in more than 20 years and was named Earl of Carnarvon by King George III of England.
◤ The first Earl of Carnarvon
The reason why he is important is that his descendants have been passed down to the eighth generation and currently live in Highclere Castle. The Earl of Carnarvon is equivalent to the Earl of Grantham, the father of the ladies in "Downton Abbey". The hereditary master of this castle.
And his descendants not only changed the structure of the castle, but also changed the direction of history.
The garden built by England's greatest gardener
In 1770, Henry Herbert, who had not yet become the Earl of Carnarvon, had just inherited the inheritance from his uncle and was dissatisfied with the palace gardens.
So he found a big figure in the English gardening industry: Capability Brown.
◤ Capable Brown
Some powerful people in British history will always be nicknamed with this characteristic + last name. Let's translate it into "capable Brown" for the time being.
"Able Brown" whose real name is Lancelot Brown, is good at designing harmonious and tranquil English garden landscapes. He is recognized as "one of the greatest British artists in the 18th century" and "the greatest gardener in England". He has designed more than 170 Gardens, many of which can be visited until now.
Brown redesigned the vegetation and water system of the garden.
◤ Brown's garden layout before and after renovation
His design has been passed down to the present, showing a series of natural and peaceful scenery, and it is also the place where the protagonists in "Downton Abbey" walk on the veranda.
Therefore, there is also a statue of Brown in the garden. At the 300th anniversary of his birth, the current hostess, the eighth generation Countess of Caernarfon, also held a press conference specifically for this.
By the same person as the Capitol
The view of the garden is attributed to Brown, and the castle itself comes from another famous artist:
Charles Barry, designer of the British Parliament.
In addition to the Capitol, which made him famous, his works include Cliveden Manor, 74 kilometers away from Highclere Castle.
◤ Cliveden Manor
And Halifax Town Hall in Yorkshire.
◤ Halifax City Hall
In 1834, a fire burned down the Highclere Palace of the Earl of Carnarvon, and the third Earl of Carnarvon needed to find someone to redesign and build his house.
◤ The third generation Earl of Carnarvon
Although Charles Barry won the big order, he did not start working right away. After all, he was a big coffee with busy schedules. Charles Barry was busy rebuilding the banks of the Thames and transporting the granite ramparts from Scotland to the Thames. Aside.
Therefore, it was not until 8 years later that the foundation of the new house of the Earl of Carnarvon was laid, which also began the 36-year construction process.
During the construction process, Charles Barry externally changed Highclere Palace into Highclere Castle. At that time, Tudor-style architecture was becoming obsolete, and Renaissance-style architecture was becoming popular.
The new castle adopts the Renaissance style, and the spire of Gothic architecture is introduced on the roof.
◤ Gothic spire
As for the internal structure, in order to prevent the new castle from being burned again, the architect Charles Barry chose iron beams and iron plates instead of wooden structures.
Of course, as Party B, Charles Barry also had to go through an anxious communication process. He wrangled with congressmen who came to command blindly because of budget issues. He also had a tense relationship with a good doctor named Reid about building ventilation.
Because the construction process was too long, neither Party A's Earl Carnarvon III nor Party B's architect Charles Barry survived the construction of the castle.
The Earl died in 1849 and the architect died in 1860. Fortunately, before their deaths, the east and south sides of Highclere Castle were completed, while the remaining interior and the servant rooms on the west side were finally completed in 1878.
The castle now looks like this:
The door is carefully crafted.
The floor plan of the first floor of the entrance:
Floor plan of the second floor upstairs:
The core of the castle, the lobby:
Railings on the second floor surrounding the entire lobby:
And the ceiling:
In addition, there is the study of Lord Grantham, which appeared many times in Downton Abbey:
And the small living room where ladies like to sit and chat together. The green wallpaper comes from Lady Almina, the fifth-generation Countess of Caernarfon:
Restaurants where banquets are held:
And the concert hall:
Birthplace of the Canadian Constitution
After realizing the transformation from palace to castle, Highclere Castle also experienced more anxious moments in human history.
In 1867, just as the British colonies in North America and the United States, which had established an independent state, clarified their borders, the remaining Canadian issues needed to be resolved urgently.
The owner of Highclere Castle, the 4th Earl of Carnarvon, was the British colonial minister at the time.
◤ The fourth Earl of Carnarvon
In this castle, the fourth Earl of Carnarvon and John Macdonald, who later became the father of Canada, proposed the "Constitution Act of 1867", also known as the "British North America Act."
◤ Constitution Act of 1867
The British North America Act, which gave Canada the right to self-government, established the Confederation, and officially established Canada, and was born in Highclere Castle, became the Canadian Constitution.
Wartime hospital like "Downton"
In the First World War, Highclere Castle played a more important role.
In the episode of "Downton Abbey", the protagonists converted their castle into a war hospital in World War I, and the noble ladies and ladies came to the battle as nurses to treat the wounded. The prototype of this plot is the fifth generation Countess of Carnarvon, Lady Almina.
◤ Nurse Almina and her thank you letter
Before World War I, Lady Almina had installed lighting and plumbing systems for Highclere Castle. After the outbreak of World War I, she invited a doctor, organized a team of 30 nurses, and renovated the operating room and ward in the castle. In order to recuperate the wounded from the front line and from London.
◤ Lady Almina
This requires a lot of money, but the last thing Lady Almina lacks is money, after all, her biological father comes from the famous Rothschild family.
After the First World War, due to her efforts, the British government wanted to award her the Order of Commander of the British Empire, but she refused.
Curse of Tutankhamun
But in the post-war days, the countess did not do well.
You may have heard of "The Curse of Tutankhamun". The ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun, who was resting in the pyramid, caused people who came to archaeology to die by the rumored "curse".
◤ Tutankhamun mask
And Lady Almina's husband, the fifth Earl of Carnarvon, is the archaeologist Howard Carter who opened the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun.
Howard Carter worked in Egypt for decades without major discoveries. Until 1922, he inadvertently found the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun.
This shocking discovery was quickly notified to the gold master, Earl Kanafon, so the Earl and his wife Lady Almina went to Egypt to visit this tomb.
◤ The fifth generation Earl of Carnarvon and his wife
However, there is a place in the tomb that says: "Whoever disturbs Pharaoh's sleep, death will spread his wings and fall on his head." There is also a place that says: "Anyone who enters this tomb with an impure heart, I want Strangle his neck like a bird."
The following year, due to mosquito bites and razor infection, the earl died in Cairo, Lady Almina remarried, their son attacked the Lord, inherited the castle, and became the sixth Earl of Kanafon.
World War II: frequent crashes
The 6th Earl of Carnarvon experienced the Second World War. During this period, a total of 7 planes crashed near Highclere Castle.
Britain has always been in a cloudy and foggy environment, but many American pilots in World War II were used to flying in the sunny United States and could not adapt to the British climate. Once a fighter plane took off from Nevada crashed near the castle, and the pilots also Failed to survive.
Even, just three days before the end of World War II, a fighter plane carrying 7 young men took off from the Royal Air Force station, and soon after hitting a tree on the hill near Highclere Castle, the wreckage of the plane was accompanied by flames. The hill rolled down, and only one of the seven people survived.
◤ Pilot on the crashed plane
In addition, five planes crashed, and most of the pilots on board suffered similar fate.
Today "Downton"
After the war, Highclere Castle no longer has so many legends.
In 1953, it was listed as a British grade one protected building. Only 2.5% of protected buildings in the UK are Grade I, which means it has important international significance.
In 1988, Highclere Castle was opened to the public for the first time.
And the family of the Earl of Carnarvon mentioned earlier is still the owner of the castle, and it has been passed down to the eighth generation of earls.
◤ Fiona, the 8th Countess
Fiona, the wife of the eighth generation of earls, no longer has the rich and legendary lineage like the fifth generation. Before she became the countess, she was just an ordinary accountant, because she was sitting next to the earl when she participated in public welfare activities. Fate stepped into the ranks of nobles.
However, even after becoming a noble wife, Fiona doesn't want to be an idler, so she takes care of her family business and runs the castle tourism industry.
Therefore, if you travel to the UK, you can also visit Highclere Castle.
The castle is open every summer, Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day and other festivals. The castle itself, the Egyptian cultural relics exhibition and the garden can all be visited for 24 Euros (187 RMB).
—
Focus on "The Northest Point"
Here are inspirations and stories about architecture/space/design
(*・Ω・)ﾉ
View more about Downton Abbey reviews
