Downton Abbey village fundraiser hits target

A fundraiser aimed at saving a 17th century school building that played a starring role in Downton Abbey has achieved its target.

More than £70,000 has been raised over the past decade to help restore the former Bampton Grammar School, in Oxfordshire.

It featured in every series of the hit ITV period drama - which went on to spawn three Hollywood films - as Downton Cottage Hospital.

The Downton Mile campaign has now collected enough pound coins to mark out a one mile tourist trail around Bampton, taking-in some of the filming locations.

Robin Shuckburgh, part of the Bampton Community Archive team, said the village had previously been a "hidden place" and "used to be called Bampton-in-the-Bush for a very good reason, because nobody ever came here".

"Then suddenly the people behind Downton found it and it was perfect for them."

"They found the village and it's transformed our lives."

The village featured as the eponymous village of Downton in the series, with St Michael and All Angels Church, Mrs Crawley's House and The Grantham Arms all filmed on location in Oxfordshire.

Actor Hugh Bonneville previously urged Downton Abbey fans to give a "little tiny bit" to save the grammar school building.

Robin explained that the buildings role in the series "helped us a great deal" with the project to restore it to "good shape".

"What it really did was speed it up - this project was already in existence before Downton Abbey came along but the arrival of Downton made an enormous difference."

"We've become, to a degree at least, a tourist destination - fans of Downton Abbey come from all over the world," he said.

"That was an astonishing difference and made a huge huge difference to our lives."

The former village grammar school has now been fully restored, and features a shop for tourists, an updated library and a room to host events for locals.

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