Castle Drogo ready for an Edwardian Christmas.

Thank you! How lovely to see pictures of the inside. We once had a meal at the little riverside pub in the valley but didn't go up to see the castle. It reminds me of a very happy day!

Very la-di-da and pretentious isn't it ... I prefer the servants' quarters, it looks more homely and down to earth :)

The view is lovely ...

I’m with Hywel....Upstairs they sit in a circle and open their Christmas presents a torturous one at a time....While ....Downstairs the presents under the tree are torn into all at once with a gleeful ferocity...I bet ya. As far as eating, I prefer to throw my mutton bone over my shoulder to the dogs:) great blog!

Stera I am glad it brought back happy memories for you.

Meadowland it did look very festive and they had gone to great lengths to make it as authentic as they could.

Hywel I too much prefer to see the servants’ quarters and how they lived and worked.

Klahanie the view is a lovely one and at least today it was a dry, bright day for a change!

Loosestrife that made me smile!! The atmosphere in both parts of the house was very well created AND it was so warm and cosy. A nice day out.

We stayed in a NT cottage in Drewsteignton in the spring and know the area quite well. It is indeed very pretty with wonderful walks. I would like to have visited Castle Drogo at Christmas because the NT do dress up their buildings well. I do feel, though, that keeping these huge buildings empty, with no real purpose except to keep them in aspic like a film-set is a great waste.

I loved all the photos Chris and made me think of the programme Upstairs Downstairs!
I too prefer the "downstairs" but loved the tree "upstairs".
I can imagine the servants black leading the stove and sitting round that big old pine table.
You have captured it all so well and love the view!

Great place to visit. I too like the upstairs tree & downstairs looks quite homely. They had some lovely china cups for downstairs. I don’t suppose they had mugs then, as they do now, no saucers to wash up. I always use mugs ( bone
china ones) :-) I like visiting the downstairs areas best, how hard they had to work in those days.

Anget - Drewsteignton is a pretty village and the views from Drogo are magnificent. It is quite sad that nobody lives there any longer and I much prefer to see a property that has that ‘lived in feel.’

Rose it was very like ‘Upstairs Downstairs!’ and life was certainly tough for the servants. Their working day started so early. I wonder how long we would have lasted?!!!

Feverfew I think most of us enjoy seeing the servants’ quarters more than the grandeur of the main household. They have a cosier feel and seems mor homely.

Being a servant there is far more preferable than coughing up mining dust or sledgehammering big stones into smaller ones at a quarry or slipping and sliding on sheep dip tending to a herd.

Glad you enjoyed your visit,Chris, we love to see these lovely buildings too,but like you,prefer them when they are lived in,or at least, in a part of the Building..
I don't think I would have lasted long in those days,but I guess if we hadn't known anything else,we would have had to cope..The' Downstairs' always makes me feel grateful ,that I didn't have to do that for a living !

Lovely to see how the two halves used to live! Some very good pictures. 😀

Loosestrife - too true. Life then was very hard for the poorer members of the population and I guess the life of a domestic servant in a big household was not too bad!

Bloomer- when I watched Downton it all looked very romantic and quite pleasant even below stairs but it probably wasn’t was it?!

Balcony I used to love social history - found it more interesting than dates and battles!!!

I very much doubt it Chris, but it would be nice to think they were treated better than some !

"Balcony I used to love social history - found it more interesting than dates and battles!!!"

I suspect that a lot of people would agree with you on that! 😀

Wonderful blog, Chris! I enjoyed the tour and your pics are beautiful! I've been to similar places as you and the others have too..these are lovely places to visit and learn of their history. The tree is pic one is a typical Edwardian one, very traditionally decorated...lovely!

Thanks Kate, glad you enjoyed it. The people who do the decorating manage to create such a lovely atmosphere using candles with a touch of sparkle!! They go to so much trouble.