Highclere Castle /ˈhaɪklɪər/ is a Grade I listed country house built in 1679 and largely renovated in the 1840s, with a park designed by Capability Brown in the 18th century.

The house, Egyptian exhibition, and gardens are open to the public for self-guided tours during the summer months and at other times during the rest of the year, such as Christmas and Easter.

[3] The house also holds ticketed events, such as the Battle Proms picnic concert, and special guided tours throughout the year.

Their second son, Robert Sawyer Herbert, inherited Highclere, began its portrait collection and created the garden temples.

White Oak was the parsonage where Milles took pupils, including the many children of Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke, who was by marriage the new proprietor of Highclere.

Richard Pococke (1704–1765), who, having been educated by his grandfather Milles at his school at Highclere rectory, went on to become domestic chaplain to Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, and then Bishop of Ossory and Meath, as well as a renowned travel writer and orientalist.

Edward Pococke (1604–1691), another orientalist, was sometime vicar of Chieveley and then rector of Childrey (both nearby in Berkshire), and was an even earlier importer of the cedar.

[17] And of his six sons, the eldest, Edward Pococke (1648–1727) was chaplain to the Earl of Pembroke, and rector of Minall or Mildenhall, Wiltshire (1692), and canon of Salisbury (1675).

[18] William Cobbett (1763–1835) in his journal of 2 November 1821, while at Hurstbourne Tarrant wrote:[19] I came from Berghclere this morning, and through the park of Lord Caernarvon, at Highclere.

The oaks are still covered, the beeches in their best dress, the elms yet pretty green, and the beautiful ashes only beginning to turn off.

Our horses beat up a score or two of hares as we crossed the park; and, though we met with no gothic arches made of Scotch-fir, we saw something a great deal better; namely, about forty cows, the most beautiful that I ever saw, as to colour at least.

These cattle were lying down together in the space of about an acre of ground: they were in excellent condition, and so fine a sight of the kind I never saw.

Barry produced an alternative design in a more purely Italian Renaissance style, which was rejected by Lord Carnarvon.

In the saloon, in an attempt to resemble a medieval English great hall, Barry's assistant Thomas Allom introduced a Gothic influence evident in the points rather than curves of the arches, and the mock-hammerbeam roof.

The 1st Earl had his park laid out according to a design by Capability Brown in 1774–1777, moving the village in the process—the remains of the church of 1689 are at the north-west corner of the castle.

In the 1860s, the 4th Earl drafted the British North America Act of 1867 at the castle alongside the first Prime Minister of Canada John A. Macdonald, George-Étienne Cartier and Alexander Tilloch Galt, who signed the visitor book in 1866.

[28] After the discovery of documents between him and John A. Macdonald, showing eight weeks of nearly daily correspondence, Janice Charette, the Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, recognised the central role of the 4th Earl in the creation of Canada by planting a maple tree on the lawn on 11 January 2018.

[34] In 2007, they created the Egyptian Exhibition, which lies in the cellars of the castle and tells the story of the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb by the 5th Earl.

The 8th Earl and his family were living in a "modest cottage in the grounds"; he said a lack of repair by his ancestors caused the castle's long-term problems.

[41] The park's listing as an SSSI is due to a mixture of habitats that contain many regional uncommon plants, and its diverse range of lichen.

Other 18th-century follies that can be found on the grounds of the estate include Milford Lake House and Jackdaw's Castle, both attributed to the architect earl of Pembroke, brother of the owner,[43] and the Etruscan Temple.

[48] It is the first gin to earn a perfect score, 100 points from the Major League Spirits Association (MLSA)[49] The castle, Egyptian exhibition and gardens are open to the public during the summer months and at other times during the rest of the year.