Being a Downton Abbey fan I was very excited to visit this great house this week - situated in the beautiful Hampshire countryside Highclere Castle (aka Downton Abbey) is still the family home to the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon. The house was also the home of the 5th Earl of Carnarvon who famously discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922.
The interior of Highclere Castle feels very much like a grand family home and those rooms used by the TV show are instantly recognizable - the drawing room, Lady Mary's bedroom and the bedroom in which the rather unlucky Turkish envoy briefly stayed in!
The house sits in beautiful gardens - the layout and appearance of the parkland has not changed much from the original Capability Brown design and contains many flower and plant species from around the world.
Petworth House in West Sussex is by contrast a much more formal building and was in it's day called the "House of Art". It is jam packed with Turners, Gainsboroughs, 2 beautiful William Blakes and many other stunning paintings and sculpture that the owners collected on their "Grand Tour" during the early 19th century.
Petworth also gives an amazing insight into the lives of "ordinary folk" and those that worked in the kitchens of the big house. The kitchens have also been restored to their former glory showing the vessels and tools of the chefs of the day
I have only touched on the wonders of these magnificent buildings - for more info go to
http://www.highclerecastle.co.uk/ and
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-petworthhouse/
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