Cowbright: Gearing up for Downton Abbey

What a fun afternoon driving through the Oxfordshire Cotswolds and looking for filming locations for Downton Abbey! Highclere Castle (known to Downton Abbey fans as the Grantham home) is closed now, so the next best thing was trying to visit some of the outdoor filming locations.

First stop was the Swan Inn in Swinbrook, a tiny village 2 miles east of Burford. It was used to film the scene where "Lady Sybil and Branson stayed whilst planning their elopement." It sits on the bend of the road next to the River Windrush. Swan Inn is it's actual name, not a fictional one like the rest of the locations have.

The Swan Inn

I really wanted to move those picnic tables before I took this shot!

From there we drove on to Shilton, another small village 2 miles south of Burford. We recognized the structure from a leaflet we had downloaded onto our phone. Like most homes here, it boasts a name - the Old Forge. I was disappointed to find a car parked close to the front of the house. :( As I was photographing from different angles (attempting to get a good shot of the house without the car) I was thinking to myself "don't these people know how rude it is to park a car right in the middle of my photo op?" About that time, a woman came out of the house to retrieve something from the car. I was thinking "yes, she's leaving!" but when she headed back in it dawned on me that perhaps she lived there. I felt a little sheepish for having the thoughts I'd just had and thanked her for letting me photograph her house. She said that she's even gotten used to the tour buses that come by. ha Anyway, her house was the fictional Red Lion public house where Mr. Bates worked after leaving Downton Abbey.

The Old Forge (aka Red Lion Inn)

Next stop, the village of Bampton which is home to several shooting locations. St Mary's is the local parish church aka the Downton parish church of St Michael and All Angels. Across the fence of the church yard sits Churchgate House which serves as the Crawley family home. According to the brochure, the church "has hosted a number of dramatic Downton events, including weddings, funerals, christenings and even a jilting at the altar!" I really can't expound on that but if you're a Downton Abbey fan, you'll probably remember those occasions.

Christians have worshiped in this building for over 1,000 years!

grave stones flank St Marys Parish Church

Churchgate House (aka Crawley family home)

side view, Churchgate House from St Marys grave yard

The Old Grammar School (now the public library) sits on Church View street and posed as Downton Cottage Hospital. Church View street itself was used in many scenes but we could never figure out which buildings served as the two local pubs - the Grantham Arms and the Dog & Duck. A number of street scenes and the Downton Fair were filmed on this street as well.

library served as site of Downtown Cottage Hospital

While walking down Church View, I started chatting with an older lady who appeared to be sight seeing as well. Turns out, she had met and married her American husband (now deceased) when he was serving during WWII and moved to the states with him. She was literally walking down "memory lane" as she showed me the house she was born in, where her grandmother lived, where the went to school, etc. She says she will stay in the states now because her children and grandchildren are there. I asked if being here made her sad or happy and she answered "some of both." I can surely understand that. Having been away for the last 50 years, she had lost a lot of her accent.

looking toward end of Church View street

Next we drove to Cogges, near Witney to what was the former Victorian Farm Museum on the banks of the River Windrush. Unfortunately, it were closing just as we arrived, but I hope to get back over for a farm tour during hours. According to the brochure, it is the location of "the fictional Yew Tree Farm which played host to many of the farming scenes in season 4 and home to Mr. Drewe, the tenant farmer."

sign outside library (aka hospital)

I already know I'm going to have to miss several episodes of the upcoming season but it will be fun looking for some of these locations in future shows. Hope you enjoy the photos! I'll tack on a few miscellaneous at the end.