Newspaper report about refurbishment of the Old Grammar School.
Community groups in Bampton had spent years fundraising to upgrade the Building, used as the Cottage Hospital in the hit TV series Downton Abbey. The 17th Century building already housed the village library and archive, plus a small shop, renovation work was to start December 2020. and it was scheduled to open in Spring 2021. West Oxfordshire District Council’s approved a £48,750 grant for Bampton Community Archive (BCA), owned by the Bampton Exhibition Foundation, who themselves made a ‘substantial contribution’ to the project. But the BCA has raised more than £50,000 plus grants, including almost £38,000 in £1 donations through the Bampton Mile appeal. This aim to collect one mile of £1 coins, which laid flat around the Downton Abbey Location Tour would raise £71,527.