Gloucestershire's gorgeous landscape has been used for shooting everything from Oscar-winning movies and ghost-hunting documentaries to children’s television favourites and lavish period dramas.
SoGlos has picked out 19 famous filming locations you might recognise from across Gloucestershire and the Cotswolds which you can visit to recreate your favourite scenes. Just don't forget your camera!
Filming at Gloucester Cathedral
Undoubtedly Gloucestershire’s most famous filming location, the cloisters at Gloucester Cathedral were transformed into the hallowed corridors of Hogwarts for the filming of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, The Chamber of Secrets and The Half Blood Prince.
It also provided an atmospheric setting for Doctor Who Christmas special, The Next Doctor; parts of BBC Shakespeare series The Hollow Crown; Sherlock starring Benedict Cumberbatch; and more recently, blockbuster Mary Queen of Scots featuring Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie.
Filming at Symonds Yat
Netflix’s hugely popular Sex Education featured key filming locations from across the Forest of Dean and the Wye Valley. The now iconic red and white house, known as The Chalet, perched within the thick woodland of Symonds Yat East is even available to rent as a holiday home!
Starring Asa Butterfield and Gillian Anderson, scenes also showcase other Forest of Dean destinations such as Bathurst Pool in Lydney; Dean Forest Railway and its Parkend station; the bridge at Redbrook; and St Briavels Castle.
Filming in Gloucester city centre
Gloucester Docks is a go-to location for period dramas and feature films, with 2020’s Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway starring Margot Robbie and James Corden, Terry Pratchett’s The Colour of Magic starring David Jason, Amazing Grace starring Ioan Gruffudd, Vanity Fair and Martin Chuzzlewit all being filmed there. Big kids might also remember seeing colourful ragdolls Rosie and Jim floating along in their canal boat.
Sean Bean and Danny Dyer’s Outlaw was also shot at the docks and at locations across Gloucester city centre; Amazon Original TV series Alex Rider was shot on Southgate Street; but one of its biggest highlights was when Gloucester Docks was used for Tim Burton’s blockbuster Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass back in 2014.
Filming at Puzzlewood in the Forest of Dean
Featured in the Gloucestershire Family Bucket List, the unique and rather magical setting of Puzzlewood in Coleford continues to be a popular film location for everything from television dramas and documentaries to children’s programmes and Hollywood mega movies.
To name a few; Atlantis, Merlin, Hidden Kingdoms, Jack the Giant Slayer, The Huntsman and the live action opening and closing scenes from CBeebies favourite Tree Fu Tom. Puzzlewood was also used as the filming location for some of the epic scenes in Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, as well as 2020's retelling of The Secret Garden, starring Colin Firth and Julie Walters.
Filming across Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is full of beauty spots that make atmospheric and attractive backgrounds for filming, with BAFTA-winning director, Hettie Macdonald, featuring many of them in The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.
Oscar-winning actor and national treasure, Jim Broadbent, can be seen travelling through some of Gloucestershire's amazing natural landscapes in the film, including Stroud, Birdlip, Mickleton, Cheltenham and Cranham Woods.
Filming at Bourton-on-the-Water
Also known as the Venice of the Cotswolds, the picturesque scenery of Bourton-on-the-Water has made it a hot spot for tourists in Gloucestershire — while also providing a perfect backdrop for movie scenes.
Parts of the iconic ice chase scene in the Bond blockbuster Die Another Day were in fact shot in a rather unlikely car park in the village, as well as at the ex-RAF aircraft runway at nearby Upper Rissington. A familiar small-screen star, Brum, can also be seen zooming through the village during the opening credits of the hit BBC children's TV show — plus, you can visit the little yellow wonder at the Cotswold Motoring Museum, too!
Filming at Woodchester Mansion
Over the years, the 19th century Victorian Gothic Woodchester Mansion has provided the spooky setting for a variety of TV shows, including Most Haunted, Ghost Hunters International, Magick Eve, The Famous Five, BBC’s Dracula, and His Dark Materials.
Most notably and most recently, the mansion became the set of Netflix's hit monarchy-inspired series, The Crown, acting as the famous Gordonstoun School in season two.
Filming at Swinhay House
The magnificent modern mansion, Swinhay House near Wotton-under-Edge, featured in the third series of Sherlock, playing the part of master blackmailer Charles Augustus Magnussen’s state-of-the-art lair, Appledore.
In real-life, it’s the private home of Gloucestershire-based engineering giant Renishaw boss Sir David McMurtry. The 10-storey showstopper cost a reputed £30 million to complete and occasionally opens for events and tours.
Filming at Whittington Lodge Farm
The photogenic poppy field at Whittington Lodge Farm, near Cheltenham, appeared in powerful war film Atonement.
Starring Keira Knightley, James McAvoy and Saoirse Ronan, the poppy field within the grounds of the family-run farm provided a stunning background to the drama unfolding between the characters on screen.
Filming at Badminton House
Set in a vast 52,000 acres, the 17th century setting of Badminton House was the background to scenes in the post-apocalyptic horror film 28 Days Later and the Oscar-winning Pearl Harbour, among many others.
The Grade I listed building in South Gloucestershire most recently featured in the immensely popular Regency-themed Netflix romance series, Bridgerton.
Filming at Berkeley Castle
The ancient fortress of Berkeley Castle, near Stroud, is every history enthusiasts dream, with the real-life cell of King Edward II and regular live action re-enactments meaning there's always something new to learn upon every visit.
It's been used for scenes in many a film including Wolf Hall, the hit BBC children’s television series The Ghost Hunter, as well as the first televised version of The Other Boleyn Girl. Plus, you might spot Berkeley Castle in Johnny English Strikes Again as the location for the G8 summit — thanks to some seriously good CGI, it appears as if on a remote island in the middle of the ocean!
Filming at Stanway House
Another Gloucestershire filming location for Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall, starring Damian Lewis, was Stanway House in the Cotswolds.
The impressive Jacobean manor house also played host to film crews for the Johnny Depp drama, The Libertine and costume drama Vanity Fair, in addition to television series including Jeeves and Wooster, The Wyvern Mystery and The Buccaneers.
Filming at Clearwell Caves
The magical underground caverns of Clearwell Caves, which date back almost 330 million years, are enjoyed by endless streams of tourists every year. Its Christmas and Halloween events are legendary in and around the Forest of Dean, where it resides.
The caves have also provided the backdrop to the award-winning, time travelling adventurer Dr Who not once or twice, but four times, with parts of episodes including The Christmas Invasion; The Satan Pit; The Time of Angels; and Flesh and Stone all being filmed there. Small screen hits such as Merlin and His Dark Materials have also been shot at the Coleford attraction.
Filming at Snowshill
The quaint Cotswold village of Snowshill provides a picturesque backdrop for movie scenes, with its stone buildings and foliage-lined streets.
The winter scenes in the classic rom-com, Bridget Jones’s Diary were filmed in the parish, in the middle of July, meaning the whole village was transformed into a winter wonderland with artificial snow and Christmas lights!
Filming at Chavenage House near Tetbury
Dating back to the late 16th century, the Elizabethan-style Chavenage House in Beverston is another iconic Cotswold film location.
The incredibly popular period romance series, Poldark, was filmed within its impressive grounds, its greenery providing the perfect backdrop for the moody drama. The likes of Lark Rise to Candleford, Cider with Rosie, Tess of the d’Urbervilles and Wolf Hall, were all shot at the Elizabethan manor house, too.
Filming at Chipping Campden
The historic town hall and local school in Chipping Campden were featured in scenes of hit 2001 rom-com Crush, starring Andie MacDowell, Imelda Staunton and Anna Chancellor.
More recently, Netflix supernatural drama, Lockwood & Co. also featured scenes filmed on the picturesque pavements of the Cotswolds village.
Filming in Bibury
One of the most photographed streets in the Cotswolds, Arlington Row in Bibury near Cirencester, features in a street scene in fantasy adventure movie Stardust, which starred Sienna Miller and Claire Danes.
With its thatched roofs and stone cottages, its easy to see why the quaint village was chosen as the setting for the fairy-tale flick.
Filming in Cirencester
The hilarious BBC Three mockumentary This Country is filmed in and around Cirencester, written and starring local brother and sister duo Charlie and Daisy May Cooper — who both grew up in the Cotswold town.
As well as being able to see plenty of familiar scenes from the Cotswold market town, This Country also features comical references that only proper locals will get!
Filming at Owlpen Manor near Dursley
The Tudor manor house and gardens of Owlpen Manor near Dursley has hosted a number of television series, game shows and documentaries, including Most Haunted and The Other Boleyn Girl.
More recently, Owlpen Manor was used as the principal filming location outside of London for Oscar-nominated movie, Phantom Thread starring Daniel Day-Lewis.
