STARS from the hit television period drama Downton Abbey were spotted filming at Cogges Manor Farm, near Witney, on Monday.

Hugh Bonneville, who plays Lord Grantham, and Laura Carmichael, who plays lady Edith Crawley, were seen on set. It is understood they were filming episodes in the hit show’s sixth series set to air later this year on ITV.

Cogges has often been used for scenes at the fictional Yew Tree Farm, home to the Drewe family, who bring up Lady Edith’s child. It is one of a series of locations used across West Oxfordshire. Others include Bampton, which doubles as the fictional Downton village.

Filming has become known as ‘the Downton factor’, providing a valuable boost to the district’s tourist industry.

In November last year West Oxfordshire Council, in partnership with Visit Britain, met about 90 Chinese tour operators and media representatives in Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

Council tourism services manager Hayley Beer said she expected two more international tour operators to sign contracts with the council, to add to its deal with International Friends, which began conducting Downton tours to the Cotswolds in April 2014.

Fans of the series are saddened by the news Dame Maggie Smith, as the Dowager Countess of Grantham, will leave after the sixth series.

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