Photos and the City

Tag: Cotswolds

  • Bampton

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    An area that has been settled since the Iron Age and the Roman times, Bampton was mentioned as a market town by 1086 and stayed an important settlement in the Saxon and Middle Ages thanks to wool and later on textile- and leatherworking. For visitors today it might seem oddly familiar when you watch the TV show “Downton Abbey” – the charming Bampton serves as shooting location for the fictional town “Downton”.

     

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    The Old Grammar School building, today the Bampton Community Archive hosts a huge selection of photographs of the old Bampton and also about “Downton Abbey” in Bampton and a small souvenir shop. In the Tv show, it served as the Downton Hospital.

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    Church View, the site for the fair and many other key elements and “Crawley House” to the left. Turn around and there is St. Mary´s church.

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    There seems to have been a church for a long while, the oldest part today is the Anglo-Saxon tower.

    It is likely that any earlier building was severely damaged in the siege of Bampton that took place in 1142 and that work on the present building began in 1153.

    The present appearance of the church is largely a result of a remodelling of 1270, when the spire was built and the aisles were added. (Bampton – St. Mary´s church)

    The location for all the “Downton Abbey” weddings, christenings and other dramatic events.

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    Churchgate House in the back used as the exterior for “Crawley House”.

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    And we´re back on Church View – the site for the two fictional pubs and the post office.

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    It was about time to warm up again and have a little afternoon tea at “The Cake Element Bakery” almost next to the store above, I think I was so happy about having some tea I forgot to take some photos. Which is a shame as they present (and sell) the most beautiful celebration cakes and it´s such a cosy place. He is the baker and his wife makes the amazing cake decorations. I´m still dreaming about that Cream Tea I had!

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    And I´m also still dreaming about the lovely and cosy B & B I stayed in – the Wheelgate House.

  • Fairford

    Even so, I was thinking about hiding in one of the many rooms (or cupboards) at Highclere Castle, I continued my little road trip in direction of Bampton. Suddenly it stopped snowing and the sun came out. The perfect Winter Wonderland: snow, blue sky and sunshine!

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    And so I decided to stop at Fairford, a small town in Gloucestershire, next to the river Coln and near the RAF airport Fairford.

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    St. Mary´s Church, on the one end of the High Street, is known for its complete set of medieval stained glass windows from around 1500.

    [They] are of national historical and architectural importance as they are the most complete surviving set of pre-Reformation mediaeval stained glass windows in the country, comprising 28 windows displaying biblical scenes, erected by the wealthy wool merchant John Tame (c.1430–1500) and now attributed to the Flemish glazier Barnard Flower (d.1517), glazier to King Henry VII (1485–1509), and believed to have been made at Westminster. (Fairford stained glass)

    The windows survived the Reformation at a time when many images were destroyed and also the Civil War in 1642 when they were quickly dismantled and the glass concealed.

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    Fairford, first mentioned in written records in AD 850, gained its name from the Saxon “Fagrinfordia”, which means “fair” (easy to cross) ford. The ford was an ancient crossing place for the river Coln, before the town bridge was built in the 13th century. In 1787 the river was excavated, making it much deeper and narrower. (Fairford)

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  • Highclere Castle

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    My “excuse” to come to England in December! As a huge fan of “Downton Abbey” and of beautiful houses, I´ve had planned to visit this main character of the TV-show for a while and had put it on the list for spring 2018. But when I saw the opening dates for December and found a cheap plane ticket, I just decided to visit Great Britain once again this year. And since the show had wrapped in 2016 I have missed their Christmas Specials and needed some compensation.

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    Thanks to a little snow storm (and to be early) I had the garden all to myself. A lot of scenes happened on that bench..

    Highclere Castle is the home of the Earls of Carnarvon and their family. In the 1830s the 3rd Earl commissioned the architect Charles Barry, who also designed the Houses of Parliament, to remodel the original Georgian mansion, back then called “Highclere House” to the glorious mansion we see today.

    It is in the Jacobethan style and faced in Bath stone, reflecting the Victorian revival of English architecture of the late 16th century and early 17th century, when Tudor architecture was being challenged by newly arrived Renaissance architecture influences. (Highclere Castle)

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    The family of the Earls of Carnarvon and Highclere Castle have an interesting and sometimes turbulent past. The 4th Earl drafted the British North America Act of 1867 which became the foundation for the nation Canada and the 5th Earl, George Herbert, not only was a passionate car driver and owner of racehorses but also helped discover the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922. During World War I his wife Almina turned Highclere Castle into a hospital.

    Today one can see Egyptian artefacts and

    The Discovery Gallery in the cellars at Highclere explores the life and interests of the Earl of Carnarvon, his passion for cars, his talents as a pioneering photographer, his travels and leisure in Edwardian England.

    Visitors can see what happened to the Castle and family during the Great War from 1914 to 1918. (Highclere Castle)

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    In the summertime different paths lead through the estate and to some of the follies, like the Dianatempel and the lakes, which I saw while driving by. But it was possible to visit some of the gardens around the house like the “Monk´s Garden” and the “Secret Garden”.

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    And for me, it was finally time to warm up again and visit the library, dining room, the saloon, the drawing room, the morning room (with a beautiful portrait of Lady Catherine) and some of the bedrooms in the first floor as well as the Egyptian exhibition in the former servants´ hall.

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    For more information about Highclere Castle, events and open days in 2018 visit their website and enjoy the peek into the like in one of these English mansions.

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