A quiet corner of County DurhamBlackhill sits on the western edge of Consett, a former steel town in County Durham with sweeping views towards the Durham Dales. It was here - on a family farm owned by his father Eric Atkinson - that a young Rowan grew up alongside his two older brothers, Rupert and Rodney, in a household his biographers describe as comfortably well-off. That deep-rooted connection to the area meant Atkinson's formative years were shaped by rural County Durham rather than the bright lights that would later define his career. Locally, though, the connection has never been forgotten, and his childhood cottage near Consett has since been turned into a holiday let, still marketed today as the "former home of comedy star Rowan Atkinson." Long after he left for boarding school and university, Atkinson's early years on a Blackhill farm are still cited as the starting point of a journey that would take him from rural County Durham to Hollywood film sets and the West End stage.