Cogges Manor Farm, England

In the fourth season of DOWNTON ABBEY a new location is being introduced, Yew Tree Farm. The Yorkshire farm is owned by the Crawley family and is being tenanted to Tim Drewe (Andrew Scarborough).

Cogges Manor Farm, 29 April 2017

Yew Tree Farm in real life is Cogges Manor Farm in Witney, Oxfordshire. The first manor house was built here around 1100 and during the centuries that followed the house was rebuilt and extended with other buildings by at least six different families. After the last occupants had left the property in 1968, the historic buildings became an open air living museum in 1974. It was closed in 2009 to re-open in 2011 with a new concept: a heritage site for recreation and education where visitors can both relax and learn more about the agricultural history.

Map Cogges Manor Farm

The site has a walled garden, an orchard and stables and barns where chickens, ducks, pigs and goats walk around. The series mainly focuses on a part of the manor house and the diary (see the red square on the map), most probably originally a detached kitchen built between 1600 and 1700. By only filming a small section Yew Tree Farm appears to be an ordinary farm, but the house is much bigger. More information can be found on the Cogges Manor Farm website, including a page and a blogpost on Downton Abbey.

Warning: the text may give away details of the plot. Yew Tree Farm is first seen in episode 5 when lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) and Tom Branson (Allen Leech) visit Tim Drewe. He has taken over the farm from his deceased father, including debts. The Crawley family gives him the benefit of the doubt and he can stay on as a tenant. In the scene below the granary can be seen in the background.

Downton Abbey, season 4, episode 5, 0:45:14

Cogges Manor Farm, 29 April 2017

At the end of season 4 lady Edith (Laura Carmichael) secretly has become the mother of a baby girl in Switzerland. With the father missing and not being married, Edith decides to have her daughter Marigold being adopted by Tim Drewe and his wife Margie (Emma Lowndes). In the first episode of season 5 Tim has already found out that Edith is the mother of Marigold but does not tell Margie. She wonders why Edith visits them so often at the farm.

Downton Abbey, season 5, episode 1, 0:00:49

Cogges Manor Farm, 29 April 2017

Downton Abbey, season 5, episode 1, 0:05:17

Cogges Manor Farm, 29 April 2017

In episode 3 Margie gets upset when she arrives with her son at the farm and does not find Marigold inside. In panic, she runs outside to find Tim, Edith and her adoptive daughter being alright.

Downton Abbey, season 5, episode 3, 0:28:51

Cogges Manor Farm, 29 April 2017

Downton Abbey, season 5, episode 3, 0:29:06

Cogges Manor Farm, 29 April 2017

Downton Abbey, season 5, episode 3, 0:29:22

Cogges Manor Farm, 29 April 2017

In the end other members of the Crawley family find out why Edith so often visits the Drewe family. Her aunt Rosamund (Samantha Bond) and grandmother (Maggie Smith) visit the farm on different occasions.

Downton Abbey, season 5, episode 5, 0:08:14

Cogges Manor Farm, 29 April 2017

Downton Abbey, season 5, episode 6, 0:45:44

Cogges Manor Farm, 29 April 2017

Edith wants to raise Marigold herself and informs Margie that she is her biological mother. Being hesitant at first, Margie accepts and lets Marigold go. Months later however, during a live stock show, Margie takes her former adoptive daughter home. When Edith and her parents arrive at Yew Tree Farm, Tim Drewe understands that his family can no longer stay there and says farewell to lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville).

Downton Abbey, season 6, episode 2, 0:43:11

Cogges Manor Farm, 29 April 2017

Downton Abbey, season 6, episode 2, 0:43:15

Cogges Manor Farm, 29 April 2017

Downton Abbey, season 6, episode 2, 0:46:12

Cogges Manor Farm, 29 April 2017

In episode 4 of the sixth season Yew Tree Farm has a new tenant: Albert Mason (Paul Copley), father-in-law of kitchenmaid Daisy (Sophie McShera). She helps him moving to the farm, as do the cook, Mrs. Patmore (Lesley Nicol), and footman Andrew Parker (Michael Fox), who promises to help him at the farm.