A STREET seen in Downton Abbey last night (in America), is a CGI creation. It’s a beautiful street, so I’m curious as to what’s real and what’s new. (PS: Answers below.)

The way that the arcaded building bumps out at the top of the hill (on a square?) is quite beautiful—click on the image and zoom in and you’ll see steps going up to the arcade. Also beautiful are the stone sidewalks and street with the stone and red-brick buildings (a change from the red-brick and tinted stamped concrete ‘bricks” that so many American cities default to when they want “streetscape”).

In the background, arranged just as Camillo Sitte would like them and shining in the sunlight, are the towers of York Minster, but there is no street in York with a view like this. The stone towers both contrast and harmonize with the stone and red brick buildings, which are in a variety of styles unified by the stone and brick.

Post Script: A mystery no more—Andrew Cusack identifies the street as Middle Temple Lane, with York Minster pasted in to make the street seem local. Sherlock Holmes was there too.

So most of the street is unchanged. I can’t tell from the tiny view online if the building on the left is red brick in reality, or altered for the show.