film & tv locations resources
WHERE TO STAY
(Hotels that have been featured in film & TV)
The Ritz, London
The grand Ritz London rarely permits filming inside, but made an exception for romantic comedy Notting Hill. Hugh Grant plays the owner of a travel book- shop who encounters a famous Hollywood movie star played by Julia Roberts. She invites him to visit her at the Ritz, but mistaken for a reporter he is ushered into the hotel’s Trafalgar Suite to join a press conference promoting her latest film. He therefore pretends to interview her with a series of silly questions, claiming to be a writer from Horse & Hound magazine. This quintessentially British 5-star hotel is ideal for indulgent stays. www.theritzlondon.com
The Kings Arms & the Crown Inn
Amersham, Buckinghamshire
The black-and-white half-timbered Tudor exterior of the Kings Arms in old Amersham was featured in Four Weddings And A Funeral as “The Lucky Boatman”, where Charles and Carrie (Hugh Grant and Andie MacDowell) first get together. This historic 4- star coaching inn has 35 unique bedrooms. Interior scenes were filmed a few doors down at its sister property, the 4-star Crown Inn, where the actual four-poster bed from the film can be found in Room 101. The hotel and its 45 bedrooms were recently refurbished by designer Ilse Crawford, and its Pan- Indian restaurant Hawkyns is run by Michelin- starred chef Atul Kochhar. Picturesque old Amer- sham is located on the London Underground (at the end of the Metropolitan Line), just 30 minutes from central London. www.kings-arms-hotel.com and www.thecrownamersham.com
Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf & Spa, Bedfordshire
The second wedding reception in Four Weddings And A Funeral was staged at Luton Hoo. This stately home designed in 1767 by Robert Adam was updated in 1903 by the architects of London’s iconic Ritz Hotel. It has featured in numerous other films including the Oscar Wilde biopic Wilde, Stanley Kubrick’s orgy-fest Eyes Wide Shut starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, and the James Bond movie Never Say Never Again. In 2007, following a £60 million restoration, it opened as a luxury 5-star hotel set amidst rolling parkland, with 228 bedrooms and suites across the estate. www.lutonhoo.co.uk
Headland Hotel, Newquay, Cornwall
The smart 5-star Headland Hotel stands upon a clifftop on a rocky headland, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and one of the regions best beaches. Open since 1900, its dramatic situation made it the ideal setting for the 1990 film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Witches. The story of a boy who visits a seaside hotel with his grandmother, only to discover that it’s hosting a convention of witches, stars Angelica Houston as the menacing Grand High Witch. Playing the hapless hotel manager, actor Rowan Atkinson of Mr Bean fame is said to have caused a real-life calamity when he inadvertently left the bath taps in his room running. The resulting flood wrecked all the production team’s electrical equipment on the floor below. www.headlandhotel.co.uk
The Hotel Portmeirion, Snowdonia, Wales
Inspired to trips Italy’s Amalfi coast, Welsh architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis began to build the Italianate-style village of Portmeirion on a private peninsula in north Wales in 1925. In the 1960s, this quirky architectural folly became the setting for cult television series The Prisoner, about a man known only as Number Six who is being held captive in a mysterious village. Portmeirion is now a popular visitor attraction. Many of its tutti-frutti colored cottages are self-catering guest accommodation, and guests also have the option to stay at the 4-star Hotel Portmeirion or the Gothic-style Castell Deudraeth. www.portmeirion.wales/stay
Burgh Island Hotel, Devon
Built in 1929 on its own tidal island off the Devon coast in south west England, Burgh Island Hotel is a spectacular Art Deco landmark. Notable guests have included Noel Coward, Josephine Baker, Winston Churchill, and The Beatles. Perhaps the most important guest of all was crime novelist Agatha Christie, who took inspiration from the remote island setting to write two of her most famous novels: And Then There Were None and Evil Under The Sun. Fittingly, the hotel was used as the principle filming location for the 2001 television adaptation of Evil Under The Sun, with a cast including gay actor Russell Tovey in one of his early roles. Guests today may travel to the island via the unique and specially-designed Sea Tractor. To maintain the glamour of a bygone era. Black tie and evening dress is required for dinner, although the island’s atmospheric old Pilchard Inn is more rustic and informal. www.burghisland.com
FILM & TV LOCATIONS YOU CAN VISIT
Ardverikie Castle, Kinloch Laggan, Newtonmore, Scotland. A 19th-century Scottish baronial house, famous as a location in popular television series Monarch of the Glen, and more recently as a filming location in The Crown. The estate is privately owned, but guests staying in one of the on-site holiday cottages may take an exclusive tour inside the castle. www.ardverikie.com
Belvoir Castle, Grantham, Leicestershire. This historic castle and stately home with beautiful formal gardens is now a visitor attraction. It was a filming location for The Crown and films including The Da Vinci Code, The Young Victoria, The Haunting, Victoria & Abdul, and King Ralph. www.belvoircastle.com
Burghley House, Stamford. A grand 16th-century English country house, its exterior largely retains its Elizabethan appearance. The house and Capability Brown-designed gardens are open to the public. It was a filming location for The Crown and films including The Da Vinci Code. www.burghley.co.uk
Caernarfon Castle, Castle Ditch, Caernarfon, Gwynedd, Wales. A medieval fortress in north west Wales, this UNESCO World Heritage site was the location of the investiture ceremony of Prince Charles. both in real life and in The Crown. www.cadw.gov.wales
Castle Howard, York. A stately home in north Yorkshire, it is a private residence and has been home to the Howard family for more than 300 years. Parts of the house and grounds are open to the public, and have featured in films and television shows including Bridgerton and Brideshead Revisited. www.castlehoward.co.uk
Eltham Palace, Court Yard, London. A grand property in south east London, it comprises a medieval great hall of a former royal residence, and a lavish Art Deco extension that was added by millionaire owners Stephen and Virginia Courtauld in the 1930s. Featured in The Crown as the Queen’s quarters on the Royal Yacht Britannia. www.english-heritage.org.uk
Ely Cathedral
Photo: Alexey Fedorenko
Ely Cathedral, Chapter House, The College, Ely, Cambridgeshire. Dating back to 1083, this grand Anglican cathedral towers over the small city of Ely. As well as representing London’s Westminster Abbey in The Crown, it has been a filming location for films including The King’s Speech, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, The Other Boleyn Girl and Jupiter Ascending. www.elycathedral.org
Harry Potter Walking Tour of Oxford. Join a specially trained guide to visit actual Harry Potter filming locations in Oxford, including famous Oxford university buildings such as the Bodleian Library’s Divinity School, Duke Humfrey’s Library and the New College Cloister. The tour also visits the Christ Church dining room: while no filming actually took place here, it’s often cited as being the inspiration for Hogwarts’ Great Hall. www.experienceoxfordshire.org/product/harry-potter-alice-wonderland-tour-oxford
Holburne Museum, Great Pulteney Street, Bath, Somerset. Located in the city’s Sydney Pleasure Garden’s, this Grade I listed Georgian building is a public art gallery with a collection of fine and decorative arts. It was a filming location for Bridgerton. www.holburne.org
Holy Trinity Church, Goodramgate, York. A blue English Heritage plaque outside this charming and secluded church marks the occasion when diarist Anne Lister and her partner Ann Walker took Holy Communion together here in 1834 as an affirmation of their same-sex relationship. This ceremony was recreated on location in the church for the season one finale of Gentleman Jack. www.visitchurches.org.uk
Hylands House, Hylands Park, Chelmsford, Essex. A Grade II listed neo-classical mansion set in 574 acres of parkland, it is owned and operated as a visitor attraction and venue by Chelmsford City Council. It has been featured in The Crown as the White House, as well as in the television drama Killing Eve. www.hylandsestate.co.uk
Lyme Regis Museum, Bridge Street, Lyme Regis, Dorset. Built on the site of the former home of fossil- hunter Mary Anning, this purpose-built museum established in 1921 has a world-class collection of fossils as well as other exhibits dedicated to local history. The museum also runs many outdoor activities, including guided fossil walks along the beaches of the Jurassic Coast. www.lymeregismuseum.co.uk
Ranger’s House, Chesterfield Walk, Greenwich, London. This red brick Georgian mansion adjacent to Greenwich Park was built in the 18th- century as the official home of the park rangers. It is now a museum managed by English Heritage and houses the Wernher Collection, artworks amassed by diamond magnate Sir Julius Wernher. Its exterior represents the Bridgerton family mansion in the Netflix series. www.english-heritage.org.uk
Shibden Hall, Lister’s Road, Halifax, West York- shire. A Grade II listed historic house with a Tudor half-timbered frontage. It was the home of the noted 19th-century diarist and industrialist Anne Lister, and is a key filming location for the television series Gentleman Jack, based on Lister’s life. The hall and estate are now a museum and public park. www.museums.calderdale.gov.uk/visit/shibden-hall
Somerleyton Hall, Lovingland, Suffolk. This fine Victorian stately home doubles as royal residence Sandringham in Netflix series The Crown. A private family home, parts of the house as well as the formal gardens that include a maze are open to the public during the summer season. www.somerleyton.co.uk
Warner Bros Studio Tour: The Making Of Harry Potter, Studio Tour Drive, Leavesden, Watford, Hertfordshire. A self-guided walkthrough exhibition and studio tour that give visitors a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the making of the Harry Potter films, with sets including Hogwart’s Great Hall and Diagon Alley, plus displays of authentic props and costumes. All eight of the Harry Potter films were shot at these studios just outside of London. www.wbstudiotour.co.uk
Wilton House, Wilton, Salisbury. This English country house has been the country seat of the Earls of Pembroke for over 400 years. Although a private residence, parts of the house and grounds are open to the public during summer months. Numerous films and television shows have been filmed here, including Bridgerton, The Crown, The Young Victoria, and Tomb Raider. www.wiltonhouse.co.uk
Winchester Cathedral, Winchester, Hampshire. One of the largest cathedrals in Europe, it’s famous as the final resting place of the novelist Jane Austen. It’s also a filming location for The Crown, representing London’s St Paul’s Cathedral, and has made numerous other screen appearances including Les Misérables, The Da Vinci Code and Wolf Hall. www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk
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