Why a Booktrail?
1850s: Welcome to Barchester…fuel your literary wanderlust right here…
Doctor Thorne
What you need to know before your trail
When their father dies, Doctor Thomas Thorne and his younger and reckless brother Henry are left to fend for themselves. Henry seduces Mary Scatcherd, the sister of a local stonemason and she becomes pregnant. Her father Roger fights with Henry and in the fight which follows kills him. Roger is sent to prison.
Doctor Thorne takes in the baby when Mary is offered a new chance abroad.She too is named Mary but the doctor keeps her both a secret and tells Roger Scatcherd that the baby has died
Years later and The Doctor is family doctor to the local Gresham family whose son Frank is expected to marry well. He and Mary are in love but not allowed to marry. But both families are holding secrets which could seal their fate forever.
Travel Guide
Welcome to some of the most beautiful literary locations of England and a number of stunning country homes and gardens. The novel features three – whereas five were used in the filming of the recent ITV adaptation;
Greshamsbury Park (West Wycombe House)
Frank and his family live in the stunning Greshamsbury Park in the novel – this is their family home and Lady Arabella is very keen for Frank to marry into money despite everyone knowing where his heart truly lies. On the television version Osterley House stands is as Greshamsbury Hall’s elegant ball room.
Lady Arabella’s bedroom and that of Roger Scatcherd were filmed in another stately home – Knebworth House in Hertfordshire. Knebworth was home to the Victorian novelist Edward Bulwer Lytton
Courcy Castle / Eastnor Castle
This is Courcy Castle – well Eastnor Castle to be precise, a neo-gothic castle in Herefordshire. Some of the inside has also been used as scenes for Boxhall Hill. It’s a stunning family home now in an area of outstanding natural beauty.
Boxhall Hill/Tyntesfield House
The outside of Boxhall Hill is really a Georgian mansion in Wrasall in North Somerset. One of the nicest buildings in the series we think as itlooks like a home and castle in one.There’s ivy growing up the walls, turrets and lots of grand windows.
Doctor Thorne and his villagers of Barchester walk around two villages in the TV version – that of Lacock Village in rural Wiltshire . This picturesque village in rural Wiltshire doubles as the market town of Barchester in Doctor Thorne. Visitors can look around Lacock Abbey and the Fox Talbot museum, which chronicles the history of photography
The second village – Greshamsbury Village is really Castle Combe in Wiltshire. One of the most stunning places ever and that bridge over the river! Often seen in the TV version.
Streetview Maps
E) Lacock Village
F) Castle Combe
Where Next?
