The aristocratic family from Bolton who inspired the creator of Downton Abbey

But the inspiration for it came from across the Pennines, in Bolton.

Show creator Julian Fellowes based it on the Hulton family, from which he descends. 

The Hultons owned land in Lancashire for more than 800 years, most notably the Hulton Park Estate, which held Hulton Hall at its centre. 

But the family’s legacy goes beyond real-life events, as they were immortalised fictionally on one of the most beloved shows on television. 

The period drama launched in 2015 and was set in the early 20th-century, chronicling the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants as they navigate sweeping social changes, love, and loss.

It ran for six series and spawned two feature films – Downton Abbey in 2019 and Downton Abbey: A New Era in 2022.

An old photograph of Hulton Hall from before its demolition

Mr Fellowes confirmed that his connection to the Hulton family was the inspiration for the hit drama. 

His great-grandmother was Maria Isabella Hulton, who married Professor John Wrightson – the founder of Downton Agricultural College near Salisbury in Wiltshire. 

In 2014, he made a donation to help save the Hulton Archive. 

Historians had launched a desperate bid to raise £95,000 needed by the end of November that year to prevent the Hulton archives from going into private ownership.

The Hultons were a powerful family who had links to significant events in the UK’s history, such as William Hulton signing the order which led to the Peterloo Massacre in 1819. 

The former site of Hulton Hall, from the archaeological dig in 2022

The Pretoria Pit Disaster in 1910, the third worst tragedy in British coal mining history, was at the Hulton Colliery. 

The hall was demolished in 1957, however.

In 2022, archaeologists took to the former site of Hulton Hall to conduct a ‘Time Team’-style dig. 

They uncovered old foundations for the walls, as well as pieces of fine pottery, some from as early as the 17th century, bottoms of champagne and wine bottles, and smoking pipes. 

The dovecote structure within Hulton Park.

Last month, it was announced that a surviving piece of the hall is set to be painstakingly restored.

The dovecote building in Hulton Park is an early 19th-century red brick structure with a grey slate roof and a lantern on top.

The structure is thought to have been built in the 1820s or 30s and was used to house livestock.

Now, developer Peel Land has submitted a planning application to restore the structure.

Source – INDIA TV