An exterior shot of the grand property that later became ‘Downton Abbey’. Its owner’s help in discovering the tomb of Tutankhamun with archaeologist Howard Carter in Egypt in 1922 that he was best known for.
This is what the real Downton Abbey i.e. Hiclere Castle in Hampshire, UK looked like in 1895. I particularly liked the interior shots. For example:
The drawing room at Highclere Castle. Robert Ansell, a specialist at Lawrences, said: ‘These fascinating images of Highclere Castle offer a rare glimpse into the life of the 5th Earl of Carnarvon and his circle’.
Rare photographs of the ‘real’ Downton Abbey in Hampshire and its owners the fifth Earl of Carnarvon, and his wife Almina Herbert, from 1895, have been unearthed.