Today was a day to my heart's content. Visiting film location after film location. How can that be a bad day? First stop was Bampton, then on to Swinbrook and Shilton to ultimately end the day in West Wycombe estate and a quick stop in Alton.
We started the day early, but not as early as the previous days. No ferries to catch or opening times to follow. After breakfast we jumped into the car and were on our way to Bampton.
I had already visited Bampton on my last trip through England, but I swear, it never gets boring x) As it was Sunday there were alot, I mean, ALOT of cars parked on the little square of people attending service in the church. And due to the lovely weather, a lot of tourists walked around in their groups with guides. Not the ideal setting, but we gotta work with what you've got, hein.
After Bampton we went on to Shilton to see the pub mr Bates worked after he handed in his notice at Downton Abbey to live with his wife in London. When that didn't work out, he became a bar tender int he Red Lion. Unfortunately, the pub doesn't exist, so it is just a house you can look at x)
From there we went on to Swinbrook, a town nearby. There we found the pub, The Swan, Lady Sybil and Tom Brandson stayed when they eloped to get married before Lady Mary and Lady Edith intervened. We actually had lunch at the Swan and the weather was absolutely beautiful.
After a delicious lunch we were once again in the car. This time to West Wycome Estate. They actually filmed 90% of the film Austenland there :) They also filmed a few scenes from Downton Abbey there, but it wasn't clear which ones, so I couldn't hunt down the film locations ... :( Ah well, I'll see all the episodes of Downton Abbey again and will no doubt notice them then. It's not like I'm never going to back to West Wycombe. The house was closed and a lot of Austenland was also filmed inside, so I need to go back when the house is actually open :)
Other films were shot there as well, such as The Importance of Being Earnest and What a Girl Wants.
Unfortunately the weather had turned south halfway through our visit to West Wycombe and the estate isn't in the greatest condition, so it all looked a bit grim by the end.
On our way back to Winchester we made a stop in Alton, a town close to Chawton where Jane Austen used to live in her final years of her life. We found the house where her doctor used to live, her apothecary and the location of Henry Austen's first bank. We had dinner in a pub called the Swan (I know, eating twice at a pub called the Swan in one day x)).
After dinner we continued our journey to Winchester to settle into our beds well before midnight x)
That is it for the last full day in South England :( I had a blast though ^^
Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara
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