Millions of us have watched everything from the Coronation of King Charles III to Downton Abbey, The Great Gatsby and James Bond, drooling over the locations and grandeur and, of course, the antiques that sit like sculptures in every setting.

Millions of us buy antiques every year bringing individual parcels of history and design into our unique homes. I’m privileged to have visited hundreds of fabulous locations where I’ve dined with Barons, Countesses and Hollywood actors, exploring their fabulous jaw-dropping collections and learning about the greatest furniture makers who ever lived, like Chippendale, Sheraton and Hepplewhite.

Guess what? You can create some Downton magic of your own on a budget. Brown furniture has never been so affordable. It has lasted two, three, four centuries so what better time to grow old with it like drinking a fine wine from a 19th century glass a thousand lips have kissed before.

Andover Advertiser: Andrew Blackall

Britain and Ireland are treasure troves of antiques and thousands of them are for sale. Over the coming weeks, I’m going to show you where to go, where to stay and what to buy. 

I’m going to start with Wiltshire. It’s my home county, home to Stonehenge and Avebury Stone Circle, chalk downland, Lacock Abbey and dozens of stately homes and market towns, beautiful villages and country pubs. It’s also full of antique shops and auction rooms. 

Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts both filmed on location in Lacock Abbey, which happens to be stuffed full of antiques you can drool over but they’re not for sale. 

After a walk around Lacock and lunch at the Red Lion Inn, it’s a short drive into Corsham and The Table Gallery where TV presenter and antique dealer Paul Martin sells country furniture, that kind of Shaker style forever popular. Then it’s four miles along the A4 to Chippenham and Hand of Glory which happens to be run by BBC’s Antiques Roadshow expert Lisa Lloyd. It offers a real mixture of the unusual and decorative; pictures and prints nestle cheek-by-jowl with furniture from across Europe.

From there it’s time to hop back onto the A4 and visit the Blanchard Collective where around 20 dealers, including myself, sell everything from painted housekeepers’ cupboards and Regency chests of drawers to paintings and artworks and furniture that would look at home in Versailles.

And whilst we’re at it, where can you stay? What about Bowood, home to Queen Camilla’s best friends, or Littlecote, a grand country house with Roman ruins in the grounds? There are lots of boutique bed and breakfasts too, I know, I own one! And then there are market town coaching inns too, like the Castle & Ball in Marlborough.

Andrew Blackall is an English antique dealer with more than 30 years of experience selling period furniture and quirky collectors items to clients across the globe. He has written and produced award-winning film and television productions. He was born in St John’s Wood, London and he grew up in and around London. He currently lives in Avebury, Wiltshire. His love of antiques stems from an early fascination with history and from visiting country homes throughout old England and the British Isles. Many of Andrew’s clients are well known on both sides of the pond, patronising his ability to source antiquities with provenance and appeal. His stock has appeared in a number of films and TV shows. Andrew has two styles of business: one selling high-end decorative antiques at The Blanchard Collective, the other selling affordable collectables at The Malthouse Collective.