Article in the Voices Magazine produced in Aston, featuring The Old Grammar School and its role in the Downton Abbey series as the Cottage Hospital. £400,000 was raised to renovate the old building which is now the Bampton Community Hub, and houses the Bampton Library, a gift shop and the Lewington Room.
Photographs taken at the Thank You Party for the Vesey Room Sitters. A group of volunteers that sit regularly in the newly refurbished Vesey Room at the Old Grammar School and look after the gift shop, Following the popularity of Downton Abbey, Bampton now has coach parties of tourists. The new Chairperson Jennifer Dixon-Clegg in pale pink coat, also present Jill Wright, Janet Westman Andrew Lawrence,. Bernadette Clifton Pauline Harris, Sharone Attar, Jenny Chaundy, Nick Newland,
A second Downton Abbey film is being made and once again Saint Mary's church, Churchgate House, the Old Grammar School and the area around the church in Bampton will be used for some of the location shooting.
n November 2015 eight products, including Patrick Strainge's Bampton Royal sausages were nominated for the Q Guild Smithfield Awards. Only 200 butchers in England can hold a Q guild aware at any one time so it really is a feather in the cap of our local butchers shop. The Bampton Royal sausages were also a firm favourite with many members of the cast of Downton Abbey which was partly filmed in Bampton.
The makers of Downton Abbey invited local people to take part as extras. Doreen and Douglas Clare were delighted to be chosen each each from 2011 through 2015.
By 2019 all series of Downton Abbey had been filmed including the film of the series for showing in cinemas. Bampton Community Archive put on an exhibition of the filming in Bampton over the years in the Vesey Room. This room is withing the Old Grammar School and the doorway into this building off Church Close was used as the entrance for the Cottage Hospital in the series.
2012 was very much the early days of Downton Abbey having an effect in Bampton. The prediction of coachloads of American tourists coming was absolutely correct. By 2018 approximately 30,000 visitors went into the Vesey room housed in the building used as the Cottage Hospital in the drama to see the exhibition and memorabilia on sale. The Archive committee to the decision to have quality products only for sale because it is not an exhibition that attracts young children, space is very limited and the people who were coming clearly wanted quality memorabilia.