You Too Can Visit Romantic Tudor Territory

Grieving Downton Abbey fans can now live out British period drama fantasies near Midhurst, West Sussex, about an hour away from London, at the Cowdray Estate. The sprawling 16,500-acre property includes a country house, cottages, a polo club and the ruins of Historic Cowdray, a Tudor partially destroyed by a fire in 1793. In 2007 the estate opened to visitors, with optional on-site activities such as clay pigeon shooting, fly fishing and golf, and the country house became available as a wedding venue for the very first time. Downton’s popularity has definitely added to the allure of the place: during a 2011 auction at the estate, it turned out most of the items dated from 1909 to 1929 — the exact period in which the über-popular BBC show is set. Daunted by the thought of dealing with time zones and currency? Organizer Nicole McNaughton can handle everything for you stateside.

This article originally appeared in Marin Magazine’s print edition under the headline: “Tudor Trek.


Kasia Pawlowska

Kasia Pawlowska loves words. A native of Poland, Kasia moved to the States when she was seven. The San Francisco State University creative writing graduate went on to write for publications like the San Francisco Bay Guardian and KQED Arts among others prior to joining the Marin Magazine staff. Topics Kasia has covered include travel, trends, mushroom hunting, an award-winning series on social media addiction and loads of other random things. When she’s not busy blogging or researching and writing articles, she’s either at home writing postcards and reading or going to shows. Recently, Kasia has been trying to branch out and diversify, ie: use different emojis. Her quest for the perfect chip is never-ending.