Downton Abbey 'legacy' at Highclere Castle

Downton Abbey follows the lives of the Crawley family and their servants

The owners of the house where Downton Abbey is filmed has said the "legacy" of the show would live on for years.

Lady Carnarvon hopes Highclere Castle, on the Hampshire-Berkshire border near Newbury, will emulate the success of Castle Howard, well-known as the set for 1980s show Brideshead Revisited.

Downton Abbey follows the lives of the Crawley family and their servants.

The ITV1 show is set in the 1920s and begins its third series on Sunday night.

Lady Carnarvon said: "Brideshead must have been more than 20 to 25 years ago now and that's allowed Castle Howard to go on and use that legacy for years.

"We've been lucky enough to have three years of Downton and I'm sure it will be as strong for us as Brideshead was for Castle Howard."