Highclere Castle

Highclere Castle [ haɪklɪər ] is a mansion in neo -Renaissance style of the 19th century, situated in the north of the English county of Hampshire about 6 kilometers south of Newbury in southwest London.

History

Highclere Castle is situated on a property, had the advantage of the Bishops of Winchester from the 8th century and built in the Middle Ages with a palace. The property was already listed in the Domesday Book. Since 1692 the castle was owned by the Anglo- Welsh Herbert family. The country house was bequeathed to his daughter Margaret this year by Robert Sawyer, who was the first wife of Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke. The castle was in 1692 only of a rectangular building, which was surrounded by about 400 acres of park and farmland. The second son of the 8th Earl of Pembroke inherited the property and began to build a collection of paintings here and built the temple in the garden of the castle. His nephew and heir, Henry Herbert, became the first Baron Porchester and later the first Earl of Carnarvon.

Architectural History

Today's Highclere Castle was built by the architect Sir Charles Barry from the years 1839 to 1842, who had also planned the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London. The owner was Henry Herbert, 3rd Earl of Carnarvon, who also brought his own style performances at the tags, which is particularly visible in the facade design from Bath Stone. Here, the client was more of the details of construction of the Central and Northern European Renaissance, in the mixed style Jacobethan of British art history, incorporated. In the Great Hall inside the castle gothic elements were designed as a hammer-beam vault at his request.

After the death of the 3rd Earl in 1849 commissioned Henry Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon, the British architect Thomas Allon with overseeing the interior of the castle, which was completed in 1878.

History of the park

The first Earl of Carnarvon shape to the park according to a design by landscape architect Capability Brown in the years 1774-1777. Here, the existing village was relocated. The remains of the village church dates back to 1689 are south-west of the castle can still be seen. The well-known in the 18th century collector of plants and seeds Bishop Stephen Pococke was a friend of the house and brought back from a trip to Lebanon seeds of the cedar of Lebanon with those of today (2011) still some handsome specimens are to be seen in the park.

In the park itself there are some sights, so the temple with Corinthian columns from the 1743 London at Piccadilly broken Devonshire House.

Egyptian Museum

The Egyptian Museum in Highclere Castle was, 5th Earl of Carnarvon set up by George Herbert, together with the archaeologist Howard Carter, the discoverer of the tomb of Tutankhamen in 1922. The 5th Earl was in 1907 obliged to finance the excavations of the noble tombs at Deir el -Bahri opposite Thebes in Egypt.

Highclere Castle as a location for film and television

The castle played a role in several films and television series in recent years. The last TV series that ran in Germany, Downton Abbey was.

Visit opportunities

Highclere Castle is only open irregularly for the audience. The entrance fee for the castle and the park was £ 22 in September 2013.