A few snippets from the season premier of Downton Abbey and a preliminary program about the estate where it is filmed.
Like many others, I'm a fan of the Downton Abbey series. I think a lot about the economics of maintaining an estate that size -- how many people are involved -- how many breadwinners employed, and for whose benefit -- what the products are, what the opportunities are for local residents to live without being either employees or tenants, and what percentage of their annual income goes to support the owners of the land. Large spreads of land certainly reduce the pool of employers.
5,000 acres is 7.8 square miles. 5 times Central Park, I think they said. That's a circle of 1.57 miles radius. A long way from one's nearest non-tenant neighbor, even if they live right at one's perimeter! Small by Texas standards, perhaps, but its location within a reasonable radius of London makes it far more valuable.
It was 20% bigger when the current owner's grandfather owned it. Taxes "chipped away" at it. (Cui bono?)
The program focuses on the people involved in keeping the castle itself and its immediate grounds going; it doesn't mention the tenant farmers.
Watching the program about the Highclere property, I am reminded of a presentation I heard in Newport, Rhode Island, this fall, about the gardeners and property managers of the great estates there. They seemed to have more employers to choose from, since the typical estate in Newport might be a few acres.
Ah, there's a Rothschild in the picture! The wife of the 1890's occupant ... with a dowry.
Against all odds, Highclere survived ... in other words, they didn't need to sell off land to other people?
1500 acres of grazing ... an important source of income for generations ... and oats for the queen's (and others') racehorses. (Do the royals watch Downton Abbey?)
A straight-on view of one side of the castle suggested that one side was about 17 windows wide. I grew up in a subdivision "colonial-style" home, built about 1963, which was 5 windows wide on its front side. I thought it was huge!
The 3rd season premier:
@14 minutes: "The estate must be a major employer and support the house!"
Mathew: "on the estate, or in the village ... "
"It's our job to provide employment ..."
investing in the Canadian railroad ...
Comments