Downton Abbey star opens up on potential second film

While keen Downton Abbey fans will know that the hit TV show is set in Yorkshire, a great deal of the show was actually filmed in the charming Cotswolds village of Bampton.

The small West Oxfordshire village, which has a population of around 2,000, is full of pretty thatched cottages with picture-perfect gardens to match.

Perhaps it’s no surprise then that in 2009, the village was chosen by Oscar-winning writer Julian Fellows and his team as a filming location for the ITV series which ran from 2010 until 2015.

The show was centred around aristocratic people living between Ripon and Thirsk in Yorkshire in the early 20th century with real-world events like the Titanic sinking of 1912 and the outbreak of World War One making a feature. 

Bampton, which lies between Witney and Faringdon, is just a two-hour drive from London.

READ MORE: Beautiful English village locals driven mad by tourists peering in their homes

Producer Nigel Marchant told the Oxford Mail in 2010 that Bampton’s proximity to the capital was a key factor in why they made the village into the fictional Downton.  

He said: “Downton Abbey is supposed to be set in Yorkshire, and we needed to be able to create a fictional village nearer London.

“Bampton is perfect because it is so well preserved, and you hardly need to do anything in terms of alterations…

“As far as I am aware this is the first time there has been filming like this in Bampton so the villagers have been very welcoming and have shown a lot of interest in what is happening.”

Eagle-eyed Downton watchers will notice that several of the weddings, christenings and funerals which took place during the six series were filmed in Bampton’s St Mary’s Church, which became known as St Michael and All Angels.

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In fact, most of the filming took place near the church Lady Mary married Matthew Crawley and baby Sibyl’s christening took place. The Grade II listed building, Churchgate House, in Bampton’s Church Close, was the Crawley home.

Many may recognise the gate next to the town’s library which is in Bampton’s Old Grammar School because in the series, it is the local Cottage Hospital. Within the real Old Grammar School is a shop where fans can buy Downton Abbey memorabilia. 

Fans appear to get swept up in the Downton Abbey world when visiting Bampton to the point where residents have been astounded by visitors find Matthew Crawley’s gravestone.

Fans may also recognise the gorgeous houses dotted around the village as they were used as the pub and the post office.

In the village field, the Downton Abbey wrap party was held where Hugh Bonneville and Maggie Smith handed out burgers and wine to locals.

Thanks to the success of Downton, thousands of fans travel to visit the sleepy village each year with some 30,000 heading to see where the beloved show was filmed each year.

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