The real Downton Abbey: how Highclere Castle became a World War I hospital

If you visit the link below, via your computer, yo ucan see a video of Lady Carnarvon talking about the Castle and how it was converted into a hospital during WWI.

From The Telegraph: The real Downton Abbey: how Highclere Castle became a World War I hospital
hospital stay could be a grim affair for officers wounded in the First World War. But not for those who were sent to Highclere Castle, the stately home known to millions as Downton Abbey in the hit ITV costume drama.

Soldiers were nursed back to health on fresh linen sheets, propped up on fat down pillows so they could gaze out over a beautiful country park. Silver service dinners were followed by a game of cards in the library while sipping a glass of beer, naturally from the house's very own brewery. A butler was even on hand to pour the convalescents a nip of whisky before dinner.

As in the television series, Highclere Castle was a pleasant place for recuperating officers during the Great War. Some, understandably, stayed for months.

Lady Carnavon tells The Telegraph how her predecessor Lady Almina converted Highclere Castle in a 'Military Home Hospital' in the early years of the First World War.

'Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey - The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle' by Lady Carnavon is published by Hodder and Stoughton.