St Mary's Church, Bampton, was the setting for many key Downton Abbey scenes. credit: Martyn Ferry 2015/Getty Images
With thatched cottages, medieval manor houses and cosy inns a plenty, rural England doesn’t get much lovelier than the Oxfordshire Cotswolds, so it’s little wonder it was chosen as the backdrop to much of Downton Abbey.
St Mary’s Church, Bampton, was the setting for many key Downton Abbey scenes. Credit: Martyn Ferry 2015/Getty Images
The Oxfordshire Cotswolds is an area that simultaneously manages to look like every picture-perfect postcard of gently rolling hills, golden nestled villages and wooded valleys ever sent, while also concealing a plethora of quirkier delights.
Scroll down for some of our favourite photos.
Thatched cottages in the Cotswold village of Great Tew, Oxfordshire. Credit: Ian G Dagnall/AlamyBike outside the Old Swan & Minster Mill, in the quintessential Cotswold village of Minster Lovell. Credit: Tony Murray PhotographyView through the Topiary Garden to the east front of Chastleton House, Oxfordshire. Credit: National Trust Images/Arnhel de SerraMichelle Dockery and Hugh Bonneville in character as Lady Mary Crawley and Lord Grantham for Downton Abbey filming in Bampton. Credit: Wakeham/Splash News/CorbisThe Dovecote in the Pigeon House Garden at Rousham Park House. Credit: Paul Felix Photography/AlamyRow of houses in the Cotswold town of Burford. Credit: Danita Delimont/Getty Images