Highclere - a

 Highclere - a

Highclere,
the castle used in Downtown Abbey.








It was already an estate in 749 AD, 

the date that it was first mentioned in writing.
The King of those days 

granted it 

to the Bishops of Winchester.
Bishop William of Wykeham 

(born in 1320 or 1324. Died 27 sept. 1404)
built a medieval palace 

and surrounded it 

with several gardens in the park.
In 1679 the palace was rebuilt 

and was called: 

Highclere Place House.
(In celtic Highclere means: high and bright)
Sir Robert Sawyer bought the estate.
He was the direct ancestor

 to the present Earl of Canarvon.
Another transformation 

took place 

under the guidance of Sir Charles Barry,
(who desgned the Houses of Parliament)
and in 1842 it got the present name:
Highclere Castle.






An enormous area around it with special trees.
The first Earl of Canarvon 

and his cousin, the Earl of Pembroke, 

planted hundreds of trees over 200 years ago.
The present Lady of Canarven
takes a special interest
to keep the ecosystem preserved.

Soon after we arrived
and had found a place to sit down
without bothering anyone
the fly past started.

(Not the best way to test a camera:
straight into the sun..)

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Plenty of re-enactors
walked between the regular visitors.
It was nice to see so many,
and everyone was enjoying the event.

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A lot of people were moved by the ceremony.

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It was no problem to spend the day.
Activities were planned for all ages.
Including being locked up in the police van.

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I was surprised to find a statue of
Charles the Great, Carolus Magnus,
at the corner of the Monks Garden
and one of the entrances to the Secret Garden.
He used to visit my town, Nijmegen,
often between 777 and 814,
and he even built a palts in Nijmegen.
Nearby, in Aachen Cathedral,
he was crowned Holy Roman Emperor
on Christmas Day in the year 800 AD

Capability Brown
designed the arcadian parkland in 1771.

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The 18th century traveler Richard Pococke
 brought cones of
the Cedar of Lebanon trees
from the Middle East.

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