Filming Locations lookbook

FILMING LOCATIONS

OVER 400 HISTORIC SITES READY TO WELCOME YOUR NEXT PROJECT

RIEVAULX ABBEY

SECOND WORLD WAR TUNNELS

FILM IN A LOCATION WITH HISTORY

English Heritage cares for over 400 historic sites across the country, and each and every one of them is ready to welcome your filming or photography project. From mysterious stone circles to mighty medieval castles, from grand Georgian houses to Victorian gardens, and from icons of the Industrial Revolution to chilling relics of the Cold War, our unique and flexible locations offer you endless possibilities. And, thanks to our nationwide collection, we can help you find the perfect location whether you’re creating a series on the Cornish coast or shooting a film in the Cumbrian hills. The sites in this lookbook capture just a flavour of everything we have to offer.

If you’ve got any questions, a specific request or nothing more than a very vague idea of what you’re looking for, just get in touch with our friendly and knowledgeable central team at: hospitality@english-heritage.org.uk

Cover Images: Top Left: Rievaulx Abbey. Bottom left: Stonehenge.

Top Right: Second World War tunnels. Bottom Right: Audley End House and Gardens

ABBEYS AND PRIORIES

The soaring remains of England’s abbeys and priories have inspired writers, artists and creators for hundreds of years. Once great centres of learning, commerce and religious life, many of them suffered from destruction, looting and neglect in the years after the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 1500s. But by the 18th century, poets and painters were rediscovering the romance of these picturesque ruins, and people have been flocking to them ever since.

Some of the country’s finest examples of these lost religious houses can be found within the English Heritage portfolio.

Highlights include: Rievaulx Abbey with its graceful arches set against the wooded hills of the North York Moors; Battle Abbey said to be built on the very spot where King Harold was killed in 1066; the brick-vaulted 14th-century undercroft of St Olave’s Priory the stout columns of Buildwas Abbey by the banks of the River Severn, and Whitby Abbey – a striking Gothic masterpiece rising high on the cliffs above the seaside town below - now inextricably linked with stories of Saxon saints, and one of the settings for Bram Stoker’s classic horror novel, Dracula.

Past productions

Coldplay live performance, 2021 at Whitby Abbey

Gentleman Jack, 2020-21 at Rievaulx Abbey

Dracula, 2020 at Whitby Abbey

The Mummy, 2017 at Waverley Abbey

The Huntsman: Winter’s War, 2016 at Waverley Abbey

WENLOCK PRIORY SHROPSHIRE

COMMON ROOM, BATTLE ABBEY EAST SUSSEX

WHITBY ABBEY NORTH YORKSHIRE

RIEVAULX ABBEY NORTH YORKSHIRE

WAVERLEY ABBEY SURREY

CASTLES

With their thick stone walls and towering keeps, England’s medieval castles are among the country’s most evocative historic sites. Built not only for power but for prestige and pleasure, they range from sprawling fortresses guarding borders and coasts to isolated outposts sited for scenery rather than strategy.

English Heritage cares for 66 castles, including the vast fortress of Dover Castle, with its Norman tower, networks of underground tunnels and 20th-century military installations; the hollow keep of Carisbrooke Castle set high atop a grassy mound overlooking the countryside of the Isle of Wight; the romantic remains of Barnard Castle set above a wooded gorge of the River Tees; Carlisle Castle the imposing storm-centre of border wars between the English and the Scots; the twin towered gatehouse of Donnington Castle; the ragged clifftop ruins of siege-battered Scarborough Castle and the romantic red sandstone remains of Kenilworth Castle , a medieval stronghold which was transformed into a Renaissance palace to impress Elizabeth I.

Past productions

My Lady Jane, 2023 at Dover Castle

Catherine Called Birdy, 2021 at Stokesay Castle

Scarborough, 2019-20 at Scarborough Castle

Wolf Hall, 2015 at Dover Castle

The Other Boleyn Girl, 2008 at Dover Castle

Elizabeth, 1998 at Warkworth Castle

WARKWORTH CASTLE NORTHUMBERLAND

SCARBOROUGH CASTLE NORTH YORKSHIRE

DOVER CASTLE KENT

KENILWORTH CASTLE WARWICKSHIRE

DARTMOUTH CASTLE DEVON

STOKSAY CASTLE SHROPSHIRE

GARDENS

The 23 historic gardens in our care are colourful and ever-changing reminders of England’s proud horticultural past. They range from French-style formal parterres to Italianate flower-filled terraces, and from sweeping picturesque parklands to the intimate garden ‘rooms’ popular in the Edwardian era.

Our locations include Down House , the family home of Charles Darwin, who refined his theory of evolution amid a charming collection of meadows, woodlands, colourful borders and a productive kitchen garden; the dazzling gardens of Audley End containing colourful parterres, a Victorian walled kitchen garden, acres of Capability Brown-designed parkland and grand stables; Brodsworth Hall , with restored rose gardens, winding pathways and quirky garden follies; the Arts and Crafts gardens of Mount Grace Priory surrounded by woodlands; the honey-coloured, flower-filled Italianate terraces of Osborne the breathtaking Archer Pavilion crowning the Long Water of Wrest Park ; and the contemporary serenity of the Queen Mother’s Garden at Walmer Castle

Past productions

Queens that Changed the World, 2023 at Osborne Downton Abbey: A New Era, 2022 at Wrest Park

Victoria and Abdul, 2017 at Osborne Darkest Hour, 2017 at Brodsworth Hall and Gardens

Testament of Youth, 2014 at Brodsworth Hall and Gardens Absolute Genius, 2014 at Down House

OSBORNE HAMPSHIRE

KENILWORTH CASTLE WARWICKSHIRE

WREST PARK BEDFORDSHIRE

DOWN HOUSE SURREY

BRODSWORTH HALL AND GARDENS SOUTH YORKSHIRE

COUNTRY HOUSES

With their grand reception rooms, impeccable décor and picturesque settings, English country houses are testaments to the style, taste and immense wealth of their owners. But take the back stairs, squeeze through hidden corridors and cross the threshold of the kitchen and you’ll get a fascinating glimpse into a lost world of service – an age of liveried footmen, of stable boys and chauffeurs, of cooks at huge steaming ranges and impeccably mannered butlers gliding between the gilded rooms above stairs and the domestic drudgery below.

Some of England’s finest country houses can be found in our collection, like the splendid stuccoed Georgian mansion of Kenwood , set in parkland on the edge of Hampstead Heath; the sprawling Jacobean Apethorpe Palace , once a favoured home of James I; the timeworn Victorian glamour of Brodsworth Hall; the glittering interiors of Marble Hill the London Georgian home of Henrietta Howard; the elegantly eerie shells of Witley Court, Appuldurcombe House and Kirby Hall; the handsome red brick façade of Rangers’ House in Greenwich Park; one of the biggest and bestpreserved medieval manor houses in England, Gainsborough Old Hall and the fully equipped kitchens, dairy, larder and laundries of Audley End’s Victorian Service Wing.

Past productions

Bridgerton series 1-3, 2020-23 at Ranger’s House

Belgravia, 2020 at Wrest Park

Harlots, 2018-19 at Wrest Park and Marble Hill

Vanity Fair, 2018 Marble Hill

The Death of Stalin, 2017 at Wrest Park

Nanny McPhee Returns, 2010 at Marble Hill

Onegin, 1999 at The Grange at Northington

Mansfield park, 1999 at Kirby Hall

WREST PARK BEDFORDSHIRE

WITLEY COURT AND GARDENS WORCESTERSHIRE

RANGER’S HOUSE LONDON

MARBLE HILL LONDON

THE GRANGE NORTHAMPTON

LANDSCAPES

For a small country, England is home to a stunning range of picturesque landscapes. Across the country you can find gentle rolling parkland dotted with lonely trees and eye-catching follies; jagged coastal cliffs tumbling into the wind-whipped seas below; hillside heather shimmering in the heat of the summer sun; and ancient woodlands whispering in the dappled breeze.

There are nearly 8,000 acres of land in our care, including the wildlife-rich woodlands at the foot of Beeston Castle; the windswept landscape of the Upper Plym Valley home to around 300 Bronze Age and medieval sites; the richly planted canyon of the Quarry Garden at Belsay Hall the wooded Iron Age fort of Blackbury Camp with commanding views over the Devon hills; the grassy headland of Tintagel Castle high on the cliffs with its rocky cove below; a three-mile stretch of Offa’s Dyke snaking through the trees above the river Wye; and the parkland, woods and tree-lined lake that surround the ghostly ruins of Witley Court .

Past productions

The UnXplained with William Shatner, 2021 at Tintagel Castle

The Kid Who Would Be King, 2019 at Tintagel Castle HARDKNOTT

TINTAGEL CORNWAL LL

BEESTON CASTLE CHESHIRE WITLEY COURT AND GARDENS WORCESTERSHIRE

BELSAY HALL, CASTLE AND GARDENS NORTHUMBERLAND

MODERN AND INDUSTRIAL

The Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries utterly transformed England, its landscape and its people. Scientific theories overturned long-held assumptions, globe-straddling empires rose and fell, factory towns flourished and technological innovation unleashed humanity’s potential for creativity and destruction like never before.

Many of our sites shine a light on the stories from this era, including Stott Park Bobbin Mill, a clattering, pulsating and fully operational Victorian factory on the wooded banks of Lake Windermere; Eltham Palace an impossibly sleek 1930s art deco mansion grafted onto a medieval ruin; nestled within 19 acres of Greenwich, London; the metalworking treasure trove of J.W. Evans Silver Factory in Birmingham’s famous Jewellery Quarter; the Great Yarmouth Row Houses , with delightful period domestic details; the signalling station, atmospheric Wartime Tunnels and underground hospital at Dover Castle and the chilling time capsule that is the York Cold War Bunker, in service up until the 1990s.

Past productions

Wonka, 2023 at Eltham Palace

Horrible Histories, 2022 at Eltham Palace

The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, 2019/20 at Tilbury Fort

Wonder Woman, 2017 at Tilbury Fort

Taboo, 2016-17 at Tilbury Fort

The Crown, 2016 at Eltham Palace

Avengers: Age of Ultron, 2015 at Dover Castle’s War Tunnels

SECOND WORLD WAR TUNNELS KENT ELTHAM PALACE LONDON

MONUMENTS AND LANDMARKS

From icons of England to sites that play a central role in national ceremonies of remembrance, English Heritage cares for some of the country’s most recognisable monuments.

These include Stonehenge the world-famous stone circle that has stood on Salisbury Plain for over 4,000 years, as well as nearly sixty other prehistoric monuments; Sir Edwin Lutyen’s solemn, moving Cenotaph the Royal Artillery Memorial and the nearby Wellington Arch , built to honour the Iron Duke’s victory at Waterloo and now topped with the immense quadriga sculpture; King James’s and Landport Gates in Portsmouth, which once formed part of the defences of this vital coastal town; and Hadrian’s Wall , a UNESCO World Heritage Site that marked the northern frontier of the mighty Roman Empire

Past productions

Transformers: The Last Knight, 2017 at Stonehenge National Treasures Live, 2011 at Hadrian’s Wall, Housesteads Roman Fort

Doctor Who, 2010 at Stonehenge

King Arthur, 2004 at Stonehenge

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, 1991 at Hadrian’s Wall, Housesteads Roman Fort