Our village was made famous by huge TV show – now busloads of brash tourists block our driveways… nowhere's off-limits

Scottish Sun

14 hours ago

Bus loads of tourists come to see locations from the historical drama series
TOURIST TROUBLE Our village was made famous by huge TV show – now busloads of brash tourists block our driveways… nowhere's off-limits
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RESIDENTS of a town made famous by a hit TV show have hit out at brazen tourists who peer through their windows and block their driveways.
Bampton in Oxfordshire was made famous by the hit period piece with several locations across the village used in filming.
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Locals have been subjected to tourists peering in their windows
Credit: Twitter - @markchristie
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St Mary's church features heavily in the show
Credit: David Hartley
Locals have said the town, which features in Downton Abbey, has become a magnet for tourism and now attracts thousands of brash visitors a year.
Some residents told the Telegraph that the tourism has made them a small fortune and helped to improve local amenities.
Others have slammed the tourists, demanding their quant village be freed of "brash American accents."
Residents of Bampton have told horror stories of their encounters with tourists.
Locals have been subjected to selfie-sticks appearing at bedroom windows, tourists wandering into their back gardens and buses blocking up narrow streets.
Guided tours of the village are offered to fans of the hit show with some charging as much as £500.
Busloads of fans are taken around the small village to visit filming locations made famous by the British drama series.
Local shop owners have claimed at one point they were making £1,000 a day from the tourists.
The thousands of pounds raised from visiting TV fans has been used to fund renovation works to buildings.
Local services have also been improved using the massive wealth brought into the community.
Despite all this locals still hit out saying they've had enough of nosey tourists peering in their windows and obstructing their driveways.
One resident told The Telegraph: "My friend overheard a tour guide say that Bampton was nothing before Downton Abbey.
"Let me tell you – Bampton was a beautiful, expensive place to live long beforehand."
'I live on the main square and they often stand in my driveway. They just go everywhere.'
The small village was used for several scenes in the hit show which ended ten years ago.
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Highclere castle, the main filming location, is more than forty miles away from Bampton
Credit: Getty
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Tourists pay £500 for guided tours of the towns filming locations
Credit: SWNS
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Bus loads of tourists are brought into the small town
Credit: SWNS
Even though it has been a decade since the last episode of the original series was aired tourists still flock to Bampton.
Locations including St Mary's Church and the Manor House, home to Mrs Crawley in the show, can be found in the small village.
The main set for the historical drama, Highclere Castle, is forty miles away.
The tiny village has a population of just 2,500 and plays host to two coffee shops, a butcher, a deli, a charity shop, an art gallery, antique store and garden centre.
Residents claim that visitors spend most of their time and money in a few select locations, bringing no benefit to the rest of the town.
A resident told The Telegraph: "They contribute to the library, but apart from that they don't have enough time.
'We are better off with individual travellers, with families in cars – not the buses. There's so much more to Bampton than Downton Abbey.'
The Community Hub receives shedloads of support but according to locals the other shops and businesses are left to fend for themselves.