The huge range of scenery in Britain, and the fact that you can get from one end of our beautiful country to the other in a matter of hours, means there are so many perfect filming locations. When you think about it, our country really does fit a lot of different landscapes into a very small space; from the awe-inspiring mountains of the Scottish highlands, to the rolling hills and cute villages and towns of the Cotswolds, and the gorgeous sandy bays and coves of Cornwall and Devon. Now all we have to do is fix the weather, and we’ll never have to leave!
Here’s our itinerary for a whistle-stop, one thousand mile tour of Britain’s finest film locations.
- Tim Burton’s 2010 magical adventure Alice in Wonderland was mostly filmed on-location in Cornwall, notably at the beautiful National Trust-owned Antony House. Hollywood stars like Johnny Depp and Anne Hathaway flocked to Cornwall to shoot within the house itself and amongst the atmospheric gardens and grounds.
- The tiny village of Crickadarn in Powys is the real ‘East Proctor’ of the 1981 cult classic An American Werewolf in London, standing in for Yorkshire. The red phone box still stands, but the Angel of Death statue was a prop – and the road signs in Welsh were cleverly covered with a fake tree!
- The romantic, epic drama of war and betrayal Atonement (2007), starring Keira Knightley and James McAvoy, was filmed mainly at Stokesay Court in Shropshire. Stokesay Court performed a central role as the Tallis family home, perhaps most notably for the infamous library scene. If you’ve not watched it, we won’t go into it.
The 2006 film version of Dan Brown’s bestseller The Da Vinci code used Lincoln Cathedral as the filming location for scenes which were set in and around Westminster Abbey, as the real Westminster Abbey disagreed with the theme’s films. Lincoln is a quiet and lovely city, free from the attentions of tourists. The Cathedral was the tallest building in the world for 238 years, and is still believed by many to be England’s finest.
- Fans of Lancastrian star Jane Horrocks will love visiting Scarborough, a charming seaside town in North Yorkshire which provided the backdrop for the 1998 musical film Little Voice. Scarborough is dotted with classic Victorian and beautiful contemporary architecture; the archetypal Victorian seaside resort is one of the gems of the East Coast of England. If you do decide to visit, be sure to pop over to St Mary’s Church, where you will find Anne Brontë’s grave.
- The next part of our journey takes us back inland to Kettlewell, in the Yorkshire Dales. Kettlewell is a peaceful, quiet and beautiful village which gained notoriety when it was used for filming the hit comedy Calendar Girls back in 2003. Kettlewell is a brilliant place to start for relaxing countryside walks or tackling more energetic fell hikes, but is also a beautiful village in which to relax in one of the many lovely tea rooms and gift shops.
- Carnforth is a small town near Lancaster in Lancashire, popular with walkers and cyclists but also famous for its railway station. It was this railway station which, in 1945, was immortalised as the scene of Celia Johnson’s character Laura’s inner battle as she meets married doctor Alec Harvey every Thursday in the Refreshment Room in the classic romance Brief Encounter (1945). Nowadays the refreshment room is still there in all its 1940s period glory, with a lovely range of homemade food.
- Next on our whistle-stop tour is, of course, the beautiful Lake District. The Lake District has been home to many a film or TV series, including Renée Zellwegger’s take on our beloved children’s author in Miss Potter (2006), which was filmed on location, largely at Loughrigg, Grasmere and Coniston. The most famous of the Lakes’ movie exports, however, is Withnail & I (1987). This cult favourite was largely filmed at Sleddale Hall, where Paul McGann and Richard E Grant’s characters spent a ‘delightful weekend in the country.’ A particularly beautiful spot to visit is overlooking Ullswater, where Withnail raises his arms, dreaming of stardom. You can even enjoy a brew in the tea room, where tourists often ask for ‘the finest wine available to humanity,’ and make a call from the famous red phone box.
- We’re heading towards Scotland now… Alnwick Castle is perhaps the most celebrated destination on this list for its film roots, as this Northumberland property featured as Hogwarts in the Harry Potter (2001-2011) films. Nowadays you can visit this stunning castle, and even have broomstick training in the grounds!
The last destination we think film buffs just have to see is the landscapes around Loch Leven and Glen Coe in the Scottish Highlands. Here, you can just picture Mel Gibson as William Wallace in the 1995 epic Braveheart. Many of the scenes were filmed in location out here in the Highlands, and Wallace’s childhood village of Lanark was actually constructed in the Glen Nevis Valley, at the foot of Ben Nevis.
Luxury Self-Catering Accommodation features an excellent choice of high quality holiday accommodation throughout the UK, ideal for discovering some of Britain’s most fascinating film locations. Don’t forget to tweet us @luxury_info if you’ve been to any of these spots!
