Hatfield House in Hertfordshire has been home since 1607 to the Earls of Salisbury It is a majestic Jacobean mansion in 42 acres of gorgeous gardens and parkland, unmissable for its wealth of cultural and historical treasures. But for movie fans it’s special too: this veteran of the silver screen has starred in productions too numerous to list here.
Hatfield House’s long screen career includes appearances as Wayne Manor in Batman starring Michael Keaton, Kim Basinger and Jack Nicholson, and in period dramas such as Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Its sumptuous interiors also turn up in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – this movie had the dubious distinction of being nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award and Angelina Jolie was in the running for Worst Actress. Hatfield House put in a sterling performance, though.
A long history from Elizabeth I to the present day
The house drips with history. Elizabeth I grew up there, kept pretty much as a prisoner during her half-sister Mary’s reign. Beneath one of the oak trees in the garden she was told that she was about be crowned Queen of England. In the archives are treasures such as the death warrant for Mary Queen of Scots, signed by Elizabeth and William Cecil, and on a more whimsical note, are hats, gloves and silk stockings left by Elizabeth.
The Cecil dynasty prospered from their Royal business – William Cecil’s son Robert drove English politics until the James I took the throne after Elizabeth’s death. The shrewd operator became first Earl of Salisbury and did a palace swap with the king in 1607. Since then, the house has been home to the Salisbury family who live in a suite of ground floor rooms
The Marble Hall is a jaw-dropping location, tailor-made for period movies, beneath a carved minstrel’s gallery every inch is covered with lavishly sculpted Tudor oak panels and priceless tapestries and paintings. Modern technology was used to graft Cate Blanchett’s face onto the celebrated ‘Rainbow’ portrait of Queen Elizabeth for the Golden Age film.
The Long Gallery had its ceiling entirely covered in gold leaf by the 2nd Marquess – he saw a gold ceiling in Venice and just had to have one of his own. The Sherlock Holmes film that was released at Christmas in 2009 starring Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr has scenes that were shot here.
Spielberg and Hatfield House
After their incredible Golden Globe-winning success with Saving Private Ryan, the knockout partnership of Stephen Spielberg and Tom Hanks followed up with the Emmy award-winning television mini-series Band of Brothers. The story follows the soldiers of Easy Company from basic training in the US to the D-Day landings in Normandy and on through to the end of World War II. The accuracy of the plot was checked by recorded interviews with survivors, and Hatfield House played its part in the filming by building a concentration camp film set hidden deep in a cleared area of the the estate’s pine woods. The watchtowers of Hertfordhire’s only concentration camp are still standing as the forest slowly reclaims the abandoned clearing.
This website has heaps of information on historic stately homes and many other locations across the east of England that have appeared in the movies and in top TV series.
Michael Pedley - I have been a full-time travel writer for the last 13 years, working since 1996 for Holiday Which? until 2008 when I left behind the cosy ...
