ITV's Victoria - Filming Locations

ITV’s Downton Abbey replacement period drama ‘Victoria’ aired on Sunday and Monday night to rave reviews and high viewing numbers. Jenna Coleman makes a stunning Victoria which has been criticised by some, saying Coleman is ‘too pretty’ to be portraying Queen Victoria who was reported to be quite plain. I thought she made a brilliant Queen and I will be interested to see how her acting is as she portrays an older Victoria.

However, it was the filming locations which stole the show for me. I always enjoy watching any period drama and seeing which locations and country estates I can spot, and this programme was no exception. So for this weeks blog I thought you might like a run down of all the filming locations that I spotted in the first two episodes of Victoria . . 

Castle Howard

In the very first seconds of the first episode we see a messenger arriving at Kensington Palace to tell the family of Victoria that the King is dead. The high ceilinged hall where Pench is reclining in front of the fire, and the corridor which the servant runs down to inform the duchess were instantly recognisable to me as Castle Howards most famous interior – Vanbrugh’s Great Hall and adjacent Antique Passage.

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(photo credit: aboutbritain.com)

Wentworth Woodhouse

In the next few seconds of the first episode we see a servant run to tell Sir John Conroy the news of the Kings death as he knelt in the Chapel at Kensington Palace. This is actually the chapel at Wentworth Woodhouse, and we see the exterior of Wentworth later in the episode as seamstress Miss Skerrett gazes hopefully at the House on her first day.

Wentworth is also used as the home of the Duke of Cumberland, Victoria’s scheming Uncle, but only the Marble Saloon is used to represent his home. The Marble Saloon can be seen early on in the first episode and again in the second when the Duke and John Conroy meet to discuss Victoria’s sanity.

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Harewood House

Having worked at Harewood House for a short time as a room steward and being based in the Kitchens, I therefore instantly recognised the kitchens of Harewood House which were used to represent the Kitchens at Buckingham Palace. This was particularly exciting to me as I spent many hours in these rooms welcoming visitors and envying the collection of copper jelly moulds!

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 (photo credit: harewood.org)

Temple Newsam House

Right at the beginning of the second episode Victoria arrives at a location which is not clarified – we assume it to be a private assembly or someone else’s estate as we see the Queen and retinue leaving Buckingham Palace at the beginning of the episode. Nevertheless, despite the lack of clarity, I instantly recognised this location as Temple Newsam House where I worked for a year in 2012. The Great Hall and Dining Room were used for Victoria’s reception to the House and where she discusses her mother’s title. I loved Temple Newsam House as it is such a large and yet beautiful House with lots of lovely rooms from throughout the centuries.

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(photo credits: Leeds City Council)

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These were the four locations that I personally spotted whilst watching the first two episodes. I tried to recognise any locations from the interior rooms used as Buckingham Palace but they are either rooms within the above locations that I haven’t seen before, or they are from other locations.

If there were any locations that you spotted in these episodes which I have not included above please do let me know as I am keen to know where else was used.

Country House's I've worked at : Lamport Hall & Gardens

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I first went to Lamport Hall in May 2009 just as I finished my exams for my Bachelors degree. I had been planning to do a Masters degree and had stumbled across the The Country House: Art, Literature and History which I knew was perfect. The only problem was that master’s degrees are not funded and so I needed to find a way of supporting myself through it. That is when I found out that Lamport Hall offered a year’s internship in partnership with the University of Leicester. I applied and was successful!

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The way the internship worked was that they would provide a student flat within the Hall itself and in return the intern would work 3 days a week learning all aspects of heritage management – how to prepare a house for opening to the public, how to welcome visitors, learning all about preservation and conservation of the house and its contents, events management and marketing. It was invaluable in getting me started in the working world of heritage management.

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Lamport Hall is a grade I listed country house in Northamptonshire which was mostly remodelled in the 1655 by John Webb to display the iconic classical frontage. It was bought by the Isham family in 1568 when John Isham, a successful wool merchant from London decided to purchase a house in the country. The family lived at Lamport Hall for the next 400 years until the last baronet Sir Gyles Isham died in 1976 and the house passed into the care of the Lamport Hall Preservation Trust.

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I absolutely loved my time at Lamport – I had a lovely little flat up in the old servants quarters of the house. It had a tower – a tower!! On a Sunday I would sit with the windows open and my feet resting on the windowsill, watching the sun set behind the Norman church opposite, listening to the birds and the quiet sounds of the countryside with a glass of red wine. During the days when I was working in the House I would have the privilege of being able to wander the rooms of the house before we opened up. I could look at the collections, photographs, fabrics and furniture of the house without the public being there.

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I will be writing more about Lamport Hall because I was there for just over a year and because I lived there too I have so many memories and anecdotes that I would like to share. 

*Note: all images copyright of Lamport Hall Preservation Trust

Priest Holes - the hidden history of the country house

If you've never heard of them before, priest holes are commonly found in historic houses from the Tudor and Elizabethan period. They are small cupboards, nooks and rooms which were hidden within the walls, ceilings, behind fireplaces, underneath floorboards and basically anywhere you might not think they would be - that was the whole point.

So why would you have a hidden cupboard called a priest hole in your house? well in the 17th century during the reign of Elizabeth I Catholics were heavily persecuted and so those homes which were wealthy enough to have a priest in residence began to hide both their beliefs and their priests so that when houses were searched for "signs of heresy" they wouldn't be persecuted - hence the invention of the priest hole. 

Some were genius feats of engineering, hiding rooms behind wood panelling or a false wooden beam; others were little more than gaps between the floorboards or flue holes in fireplaces. They didn't need lots of space, a bed or even a seat as they were only there for short periods of time. Of course this didn't always happen and there are documented incidents of priests becoming trapped within the holes or even forgotten and so died within their hiding holes.  

Here are a few photographs of priest holes that I thought you might like:

Carlton Towers Hotel

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(photo credit: carltontowers.co.uk )

Harvinton Hall

(photo credit: britainexpress.com)

(photo credit: pinterest.com)

Oxburgh Hall, Norfolk

(photo credit: Pinterest.com) 

Sampsons Farm, Nr. Newton Abbot, Devon

​​ (photo credit: sampsonsfarm.com)

Baddesley Clinton

​​(photo credit: glamourinthecounty.com)

I hope you've enjoyed looking at some of the examples of different priest holes across the UK - there are hundreds of other examples that you can see either by clicking on the links that are in the photo credits, or by Googling 'priest holes UK'. I'm sure there are hundreds of others that have simply not been discovered yet. So remember the next time you visit a country house and a floorboard seems oddly hollow or loose - it could just be concealing a hidden space . . . . or it could just be a wobbly floorboard ;)

Country Houses I Really Want to Visit

Despite having visited lots of country houses and estates, there are still a number of halls and houses that I really want to visit. I thought I would make a list of my top 5 here for you:

Hever Castle, Kent

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(image courtesy of hever.co.uk)

Childhood home of the Boleyn family, anyone who knows me well will not be surprised that this is the first house on my list. I have been a huge fan of Philippa Gregory for over 11 years and her novel The Other Boleyn Girl is one of my favourite books. I even wrote my undergraduate dissertation for my English degree on the novels of Philippa Gregory, investigating the re-representation of historical female figures in modern historical fiction. I loved the topic that much that I actually finished writing my dissertation a whole month before the deadline!

Hever features heavily as a location in The Other Boleyn Girl and so I would love to visit and try to see the house through Mary Boleyn's eyes. 

Highclere Castle, Berkshire

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 (photo courtesy of Visit Britain)

Setting for the world famous Downton Abbey, this is one house that I am dying to visit but at the same time I almost don't want to visit because I am sure it is probably one of the busiest stately homes in the country at the moment! I don't like to be pushed around a country house either as part of a group or in a long line where you just shuffle from room to room - I like to spend time moving from one room to another, knowing that I would like to stay in one room for longer if there is something there that I would particularly want to look at.

The book that I am currently writing for Pen and Sword Books features a character from Highclere Castle and so I will be visiting the house soon anyway so that I can learn more about my character and get a feel for the place. I will do a post about my visit once I have been.

Woodchester Mansion, Gloucestershire

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 (photo courtesy of telegraph.co.uk)

This terrifying Gothic mansion lies in the Gloucestershire countryside but despite its grandiose size, it was never completed. One day in 1873 the workers at Woodchester Mansion put down their tools and left the house, refusing to continue building work. Since then despite several attempts, the house has never been finished. It is now rife with stories of the paranormal and plays hosts to several ghost hunting events per year. 

I would like to visit this house purely for architectural reasons as there is no other example of a house dating from almost 150 years ago where it is possible to be able to see the building methods involved. Most houses of this size and date are either finished and therefore visitors can only see the architecture from the outside, or they have been pulled down and so we can only see images of what once stood. Woodchester allows us to see the internal architecture of the house - there are passages which lead to nowhere and doorways that lead into mid air - it is definitely a house I need to visit soon!

Alnwick Castle, Northumberland

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 (photo courtesy of Trip Advisor)

Film location for Harry Potter and Downton Abbey, Alnwick Castle has been on my 'to visit' list for years. My mum has been and said it's absolutely beautiful. It is overseen by the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland who has had a huge hand in the development of the attractions in the gardens of the estate. It features unique attractions such as a poison garden, the treehouse and a waterfall to rival Chatsworth. One thing I love about how the house and gardens are managed is that they actually treat them as separate attractions and the castle and gardens both have separate websites. The gardens website focuses on the different areas to see, events that are on etc. and the castle website focuses on the Harry Potter connection, the exhibitions and interiors as well as events to do with the history of the castle. I also think the exterior of the castle is one of my favourite - the gothic fairytale style is my favourite style of stately home architecture.

Hampton Court Palace, Richmond upon Thames

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 (photo courtesy of hrp.org.uk)

Hampton Court Palace was originally the home of Cardinal Wolsey. It has been remodelled and added to by Henry VIII, William III and Mary II to give one of the most beautiful and eclectically designed estates in the country. It is also one of the largest with a number of internal courtyards and wings. I love looking at floorplans for country houses as it helps me to envisage how people lived within them and also I just love architecture. However looking at floorplans of Hampton Court just blows my mind as it is so large! 

I am hoping to visit some of these houses in the next few weeks so if I do I will be sure to take some great pictures and do a follow up blog post for you! 

Let me know if you've visited any of these and what you thought of them! 

Country Houses I've Worked at: Belvoir Castle

Since 2009 I have been working and volunteering within country houses across the North of England and the Midlands. I have worked for large charitable organisations and private country estates so I thought I would give you a little overview of where I worked and what the places were like. I will post one of these a week giving you a bit of information about my time at each place. 

Belvoir Castle in Rutland

I volunteered here in 2009 between finishing my English degree and beginning my Masters degree. I shadowed the House Manager and helped her out with lots of different tasks. Belvoir Castle is gothic in style and it is one of my favourite architectural buildings. It definitely feels like a castle and it is a rabbit warren of small and large passages, corridors, stairways and rooms.

I went up into the towers once to fetch some mannequins for an exhibition and the rooms we went into were unrenovated, dusty and full of old furniture - it was like that scene from The Secret Garden where Mary explores the house and says "The house was dead - as though a spell had been cast upon it".

Some scenes for The Young Victoria were filmed at Belvoir Castle and I was lucky enough to be able to help the House Manager prepare an exhibition of Emily Blunt's costumes which were going on display at the Castle - she must be so tiny because her dresses were tiny!

One of my favourite events spent at the Castle was the Belvoir by Candlelight event where the whole castle is lit by hundreds, probably thousands actually, of candles and the public are invited in for an evening of Christmas carols, mulled wine, minced pies and performances by local schools and musicians. I helped out at this event and it was truly magical!

Incredibly I was also invited to the Dukes 60th Birthday garden party in June 2009 - all of the volunteers of the Castle were invited to the event and it was a lovely day with food and wine. I took my mum and we had great fun in the gardens pretending to be statues and admiring the flowers.

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My New Country House Blog!

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​If you have been following my writing page on Facebook for a while then you will know that I used to have a tumblr blog which was about literature and writing. The blog was rather fragmented and I didn't feel like it had enough direction and so I had a think about what I wanted to write a blog about, what I am particularly knowledgeable about and also what you may be interested in reading.

After contemplating that over a couple of glasses of wine, I realised that my subject was staring me in the face. I have completed a Masters degree in The Country House: Art, Literature and History so I have in depth knowledge of the subject area. My career has also been within heritage, working at private stately homes and heritage trusts and so I have further knowledge from working within the industry. 

With all of the time spent in country houses and with my studies I think that my knowledge and interest are developed enough to put together a blog which has in depth posts about specific topics but then also has smaller factual posts that introduce topics in a more lighthearted way.

If you're a fan of Downton Abbey, The Duchess, The Young Victoria, Pride and Prejudice etc. then I'm hoping that you'll find this blog interesting and informative. Happy reading!

Charlotte :)