Did you know that castle in which Downton Abbey is filmed used to belong to the 5th Earl of Carnarvon? He was a frequenter of Egypt and conducted numerous excavations there. As a result he acquired an immense collection of Egyptian artifacts.Unfortunately when he passed in 1923, his collections were sold to the Met in New York. Recently, however, pieces (originally belonging to the familly) have been returned and are now on exhibition in the basements of the castle. There is a coordinated exhibit, as well, that lays out and discusses Lord Carnarvon's work in Egypt and especially his big influence on the work conducted in the Valley of the Kings. Lord Carnarvon helped aid in the discovery of King Tutankhamun's tomb and there is yet another corresponding exhibit that takes visitors through the journey he took while discovering the final resting place of the boy king.
I really found it interesting that a place that I had related with a history of British estates in the early 1900's, due to its appearance in the PBS series, could also be steeped in Egyptian archaeology history as well.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Howard_Carter_und_Lord_Carnarvon_1922.jpg
http://www.highclerecastle.co.uk/index.html
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