--- title: Before Downton Abbey: Real History at Highclere Castle description: At the real Highclere Castle, there's no shortage of history canonical: https://time.com/4190411/highclere-castle-egypt/ author: LIFE Books article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-25T18:00:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:41:47.463Z article:section: History og:title: Real History at the 'Downton Abbey' Set Goes Back to Ancient Egypt og:description: At the real Highclere Castle, there's no shortage of history og:url: https://time.com/4190411/highclere-castle-egypt/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt23d74a76aac48d92/69887a23ab6d77751f6a8107/highclere.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Highclere Castle, Highclere, Hampshire, c1860-c1922. Artist: Henry Taunt og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Real History at the 'Downton Abbey' Set Goes Back to Ancient Egypt twitter:description: At the real Highclere Castle, there's no shortage of history twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt23d74a76aac48d92/69887a23ab6d77751f6a8107/highclere.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Real History at the _Downton Abbey_ Set Goes Back to Ancient Egypt ## Video: The Real Downton Abbey: Highclere Castle [Watch (HLS stream): The Real Downton Abbey: Highclere Castle](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/urM3euyX.m3u8) (4:01)  _Published 2012-01-05. The Countess Carnarvon gives a tour of the fabulous Highclere Castle, her family home and the set of the Masterpiece Classic series Downton Abbey_ by [J.I. Baker / LIFE Books](https://time.com/author/life-books/) ## J.I. Baker / LIFE Books Jan 25, 2016 6:00 PM UTC  Highclere Castle, Highclere, Hampshire, c1860-c1922. Highclere Castle, Highclere, Hampshire, c1860-c1922.Heritage Images/Getty Images by [J.I. Baker / LIFE Books](https://time.com/author/life-books/) ## J.I. Baker / LIFE Books Jan 25, 2016 6:00 PM UTC What’s the biggest conception about _Downton Abbey_ location Highclere Castle among viewers of the show? According to the current Countess of Carnarvon, many viewers don’t understand how much _real_ history there is in the house. “We have been open since 1988, when the queues were at first as long as in this _Downton_ time, because my father-in-law and Robert the butler had discovered various Egyptian treasures hidden away,” she noted in an email to LIFE Books. That’s right: well before _Downton_, Highclere and its residents were famous for the fifth Earl of Carnarvon’s role in discovering the tomb of King Tutankhamen in 1922\. As TIME explained in 1988, his grandson, a later Lord Carnarvon, had thought he knew of every treasure in the castle—until a 75-year-old butler told him, as TIME [then reported](http://time.com/vault/issue/1988-03-21/page/53/), “Except for the Egyptian stuff, my lord.” And stuff there was: --- > “” --- Most of the Egyptian treasures from the excavations that had led to the discovery of King Tut’s tomb had, if they left Egypt at all, been donated to the British Museum. The objects unearthed in 1988, as well as some others from Carnarvon expeditions, can [still](http://www.highclerecastle.co.uk/antiquities-collection) be seen at the castle. But it was _Downton_ that finally turned the domain into an international tourist attraction, a fact the Countess hopes to continue even though the hit show’s run has ended. “I am focusing on sharing different aspects of what makes Highclere resonate with guests and visitors,” she says.  LIFE Books LIFE Books _The LIFE commemorative edition_ Downton Abbey: Behind the Scenes of the Iconic TV Show _is available in stores now._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4190411/highclere-castle-egypt/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4190411/highclere-castle-egypt/"},"headline":"Real History at the Downton Abbey Set Goes Back to Ancient Egypt","datePublished":"2016-01-25T18:00:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:41:47.463Z","description":"At the real Highclere Castle, there's no shortage of history","url":"https://time.com/4190411/highclere-castle-egypt/","keywords":["Television","Archaeology"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt23d74a76aac48d92/69887a23ab6d77751f6a8107/highclere.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"J.I. 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