Take a tram ride back in time and follow in the footsteps of the Downton Abbey stars during a visit to Beamish Museum after the museum was featured in the movie.
More than 100 cast and crew came to Beamish in October 2018 for the filming, including Allen Leech (who plays Tom Branson), Lesley Nicol (Mrs Patmore), Sophie McShera (Daisy), Kevin Doyle (Mr Molesley) and Mark Addy (Mr Bakewell).
Beamish also featured in the last ever episode of the global hit TV series, the Christmas special in 2015.
Downton Abbey Filming Locations
Scenes were filmed in our 1900s Town, including the garage and Co-op. Some of our staff and period transport were involved, including trams 31 and 114, the SOS bus and horse-drawn vehicles.
The 1900s Town Street
The museum’s striking 1900s Town street, complete with trundling trams, was the perfect backdrop for both the Downton Abbey film and the Christmas special of the TV series in 2015.
Visitors to Beamish’s 1900s Town can discover what life was like in a North East town in the years leading up to the First World War. Walk down the cobbled street, explore the homes of Ravensworth Terrace and get a real taste of the past with a trip to the sweet shop and bakery.
The Beamish Motor & Cycle Works
Our garage was used in the first Downton Abbey film and the last ever episode of the series Downton Abbey, the Christmas special in 2015, as Talbot and Branson Motors, the automobile shop set up by Henry Talbot and Tom Branson.
The Beamish Motor & Cycle Works is a replica of a typical early 1900s town garage. Among Beamish vehicles is a rare 1906 Armstrong Whitworth Tourer. The car was built in the Tyneside works of Sir WG Armstrong Whitworth and Co Ltd, and is typical of the middle range touring cars of the Edwardian era.
Annfield Plain Co-op Store, Grocery
Step inside the grocery department of our Co-op store and you can easily imagine Mr Bakewell, the grocer of Downton Abbey, proudly selling his produce to Mrs Patmore and Daisy so that it can be used to feed the King and Queen at a royal banquet in the Downton Abbey Movie.
The grocery department at Beamish Museum is part of the Co-op store which came from Annfield Plain in County Durham. The Co-op looked after its customers “from the cradle to the grave”, selling everything from bath tubs to butter and fabric to furniture.
Tram 31
Blackpool 31 can be seen making its way through the museum’s 1900s Town street in the Downton Abbey movie.
The tram was originally built as a four-wheel, double deck, open-top car in 1901 by the Midland Railway Carriage and Wagon Co Ltd for use on the Marton route. In 1918 Blackpool rebuilt the car as a trial prior to embarking on the production of its “Standard” cars. You can find out more about the tram on the Beamish Transport blog.
After serving the Blackpool tramway for several decades, it was transferred to Beamish in 1984. Today, visitors can enjoy a ride on tram 31 when it is in service at the museum.
Tram 114
In the final episode of Downton Abbey, as Tom Branson and Henry Talbot take Lady to see Talbot and Branson Motors, you can spot tram 114 making its way down the snowy 1900s Town Street.
Tram 114 was one of twenty four-wheel open-top short-canopied ‘A- Class’ tramcars built in 1901 by Hurst Nelson and Co. Ltd., Motherwell, for Newcastle Corporation Tramways. The majority of these trams, including 114, were sold to Sheffield Corporation in 1941 following inspection on the scrap siding in Gosforth Park, to replace war-damaged vehicles. 114 ran as Sheffield 317 until 1951.
~~~~
The multi-award winning TV series Downton Abbey was watched by millions of viewers worldwide and followed the lives of the Crawley family and the staff who worked for them in the early 20th century.
Julian Fellowes, who created Downton Abbey, wrote the screenplay for the film, which was directed by Michael Engler.
The Downton Abbey movie is produced by Carnival Films, and was released by Focus Features and Universal Pictures International.