17 top British historic TV and film locations to visit in 2014
Ever wondered where the best costume dramas and fantasy films were shot? Read on for some of the most impressive properties and old sites throughout the UK, as seen in Sherlock, Harry Potter, Downton Abbey, Pride and Prejudice and more…

Radio Times Staff

01 April 2014

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The UK is jam-packed with eerie abodes, royal stately properties and historic sites shrouded in mystery and legend. Below, we’ve listed 17 of our favourites, all of which are open to visitors so you can experience them in real life…

2. The Historic Dockyard, Chatham, Kent, from Sherlock and Call the Midwife

This giant 400-acre space was used by the Royal Navy several hundred years ago. Although it closed in 1984, part of the area has been transformed for visitors, who can come to see historic warships, Georgian rope factories, submarines and the shooting location for period dramas such as Mr Selfridge, Les Miserables, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Call the Midwife and, more recently, Meryl Streep’s new movie Suffragette, among others. www.thedockyard.co.uk

5. Stonehenge, Wiltshire, from Doctor Who and Tess of the D’Urbervilles

As one of the most famous sites in the world, it’s no surprise that movie directors come from far and wide to get these monoliths in their frames. This spot has featured on dramas closer to home too – it served as the burial site of the Pandorica (underground prison) in Doctor Who. Here, we see Matt Smith stand on one of the stones and give a speech to all the baddies as they whiz about above him. The BBC mini-series Tess of the D’Urbervilles also filmed here, we see Gemma Arterton as Tess Durbeyfield and Eddie Redmayne as Angel Clare have a smooch among the rocks. In real life, people come to visit this mysterious site, because it’s unfathomably old. Archaeologist bods believe it was created around 3000 BC to 2000 BC and others think there is a strange spiritual significance to the area. www.english-heritage.org.uk

6. Highclere Castle, Berkshire, from Downton Abbey

The 5,000-acre estate and Jacobethan castle shot to fame due to ITV's hit series about British class. In fact, Downton could well have saved the property, owned by the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon, from closure. It needed £11.75 million worth of repairs prior to the series. Now the striking property has up to 1200 visitors per day, all paying an entrance fee, which contributes to the upkeep of the grounds. Guests can wander about upstairs and downstairs and experience extravagant rooms such as the saloon, with its intricate details designed for the 4th Earl by Thomas Allom; the library, complete with 5,650 books; and the drawing room, dressed in green French silk. www.highclerecastle.co.uk

7. Castle Ward, County Down, Northern Ireland, from Game of Thrones

This 18th-century National Trust property was used as a setting for HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones. It doubles as Stark Castle in Winterfell, and the courtyard scenes from series one. Here we watch Brandon Stark practise his bow and arrow while Jon Snow and Robb Stark watch. These same grounds are also used when Robert Baratheon returns to Winterfell and meets Ned Stark. It’s possible to visit this striking property with its mixture of Gothic and classical styles, and take part in special interactive days, when visitors can dress up in the period garb and act out their own historic scenes. www.nationaltrust.org.uk

9. Chatsworth House, Derbyshire, Pride and Prejudice, Death Comes to Pemberley

Featured in the 2005 film Pride and Prejudice starring Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan and Matthew Macfadyen, Chatsworth doubled as Pemberley – Mr Darcy’s grand residence. It’s believed that Jane Austen drew inspiration for the novel from Chatsworth while visiting the area in the early 19th century. The grand staircase and ceiling of the Painted Hall from the movie still remain (from the scene where Elizabeth and the Gardiners begin their tour of Pemberley). Meanwhile, the Sculpture Gallery features when Elizabeth Bennet sees the bust of Mr Darcy. The bust still remains in the property, and visitors can snap a picture with it during a visit. More recently, the three-part BBC period drama and murder mystery Death Comes to Pemberley was filmed in Chatsworth’s grounds. The exterior can be seen throughout the series. www.chatsworth.org

14. Ely Cathedral, Cambridgeshire, The King's Speech

Founded in 673 by St. Etheldreda, the daughter of an Anglo-Saxon King, this intricate church carved from Purbeck Marble, was used to film scenes from Colin Firth’s 2010 historical drama about King George VI. Ely Cathedral stood in for Westminster Abbey in the movie, it also featured in Elizabeth: The Golden Age and The Other Boleyn Girl. Inside the Gothic arches guests will find religious paintings on the ceiling created by Henry Le Strange and Thomas Gambier, and a rare octagonal lantern, built when the old tower collapsed in 1322. www.elycathedral.org

17. Castle Howard, Yorkshire, Brideshead Revisited

Home of the Howard family for more than 300 years, this magnificent 18th century residence was used as a filming location for both the Granada Television's 1981 adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited and the two-hour 2008 movie of the same name. You may also recognise the exterior from Lady Lyndon's estate in Stanley Kubrick's 1975 film Barry Lyndon. The property holds year-round exhibitions and allows entrance to certain areas of the house, where visitors can spy original four-poster beds with gold trimming, historic paintings, rich green parlours, painted domed roofs and countless busts of noblemen throughout the ages. www.castlehoward.co.uk/

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