Coneysthorpe: The stunning Yorkshire estate which has been home to Bridgerton and James Martin

The Castle Howard website says: “The representation of the village is accurate to what it once would have been like, particularly with the use of the green space. A lot of the residents of Coneysthorpe proudly served as extras during this particular scene.”

Four miles west of Malton, Coneysthorpe developed as a settlement as the stately home on the opposite side of the Great Lake was built through the 18th century.

Its residents, which have included the family of celebrity chef James Martin as he grew up, and fortunes have remained inextricably linked with Castle Howard ever since.

Heading towards Coneysthorpe from the east, Castle Howard's importance is immediately underlined passing impressive Victorian gate piers fashioned from sandstone, featuring ball finials and curved railings, beside North Lodge cottage.

The roadside structures are among 15 listed properties in the small village, which the 2021 census recorded as having 105 residents.

Before arriving in the heart of the village there's a holiday park, sensitively hidden by trees, alongside the Castle Howard Great Lake, which is an entirely man-made feature dating from the 1790s.

A long embankment along the eastern side dams the lake, the level of which is well above the site where holiday lodges costing in the region of £50,000 and £100,000 are being offered.

Beside the modern development stands the Castle Howard Estate Yard, including an early 19th century sawmilll and engine house. For a building with an industrial purpose it is quite decorative, having features such as round-arched 12-pane fixed windows.

The sawmill still contains a circular saw straddling railway lines with two bogeys, originally moved by pulleys, which carried timber from the entrance to the saw. All power came from steam engine in engine house.

Also on the yard, and easily viewed from Hepton Hill lane, stands an office and a two-storey joiners' shop with an elliptical-arched carriage entrance and coach-houses, implement shed and utility rooms and blacksmith's shop all dating from pre-Victorian times.

Nearby are the 19th century banded-rusticated gate piers surmounted by cornice and cushion caps to the carriage and pedestrian entrances to Castle Howard, a route which would have been regularly used by Castle Howard staff who lived in the village.

Being in the Howardian Hills National Landscape there are many routes for walkers and cyclists to follow.

The Centenary Way, a 130-mile route starting in York and ending in Filey, runs through the village.

Just yards along the lane, in a late 18th century hammer-dressed sandstone property, stands the former village shop, which for many years was known as Leo's Stores.

The shop turned residential property is beside what is a particularly large village green given the number of homes in Coneysthorpe.

Castle Howard curator, Dr Chris Ridgway, said maps showed since 1700 houses had always formed a horseshoe type shape around the green.

He said: “There are also 19th century houses, 18th century houses, so what is really nice is that there is an organic evolution of the village. Clearly all the houses have been replaced at times, but that’s what’s nice about it, you can follow its development."

Since before the Covid pandemic some of the properties in the village have been rented out as holiday cottages as part of a drive by the estate to encourage people to stay longer in the area, as traditionally, Castle Howard has had day visitors.

On the green there's a memorial to the 34 men from the village who served in the First World War. Only 25 of the soldiers survived the conflict. The celtic cross, set on a paved area, has recently been restored and features inscriptions on the sides of the plinth and on the front face of the shaft.

To the west of the green is the former post office, a farmhouse and numerous homes framed by white picket fencing, alongside what may have served as the home given to Castle Howard's secretary.

Among the most prominent buildings is the village is the former school, which was built in 1852 and more recently has formed the village hall.

A committee is working to raise funds to ensure the future of the limestone ashlar building, which features a datestone bearing the names George and Mary, as a community hub.

The only building on the green is a small slate-roofed chapel, dating to 1835. Its Interior retains fittings from 1894, including a painted Arts and Crafts screen and an octagonal font.

With so many Castle Howard staff living in the village, at times there must have been a slightly insular feel, but even in Victorian times Coneysthorpe has counted globe-trotters among its residents.

On the east side of the green is a cottage where one of the great Victorian botanical explorers, Richard Spruce, spent the last 17 years of his life, as health issues compelled him to do most of his work lying down.

During a 15-year expedition to South America starting in 1849 he collected 7,000 flowering plants before setting off for Barra do Rio Negro, arriving there after a voyage of 63 days, 30 of which were spent in the channels of the island of Tupinambarana in Brazil.

He later explored Venezuela and Ecuador. In 1971 there was a ceremony in Coneysthorpe of some eminent botanists, and a plaque was fixed to the cottage commemorating achievements of Spruce, the son of the schoolmaster of nearby Ganthorpe.