Highclere Castle and Gardens

A Victorian house, designed by Charles Barry, in a serpentine style park, by Lancelot Brown. Dorothy Stroud writes (p 160) that 'Although in this instance Brown was not responsible for the execution of his designs for the grounds, there is little doubt that they were used by Mr Herbert's estate men for the splendid park which survives today'. The house resembles the Houses of Parliament, designed by Barry at the same time, and was the set for the highly acclaimed ITV drama Downton Abbey. It is surrounded by lawns planted with cedars and yew hedges. The Secret Garden has herbaceous planting. Loudon, in 1834, saw it as 'one of the finest places, as far as ground and wood are concerned, that we ever beheld'.