Where is BBC drama Howards End filmed?
Here’s where you’ll find the country home, the ruins and the London townhouse in the latest adaptation of EM Forster’s classic novel
EM Forster’s Howards End is one of the most famous homes in English literature. It represents a rural Britain lingering in the past and struggling to keep up with the comparative chaos of urban life at the beginning of the 20th century.
The novelist’s inspiration for Howards End came from his childhood home, Rooks Nest. After his father died from tuberculosis, Forster’s mother took him to the countryside in the hope that they could lead a healthier life there. He lived at the house, near Stevenage in Hertfordshire, from around the age of two to 12 years old.
In the Oscar-winning 1992 film adaptation starring Emma Thompson, Howards End was reimagined at Peppard Cottage in Oxfordshire.
Now, the BBC has adapted the novel for television, with Hayley Atwell playing Margaret Schlegel and Matthew Macfadyen as Henry Wilcox.
Here’s where you can find the 2017 filming locations for the country home, the ruins and the London townhouse…
Which country house acted as Howards End in the BBC drama?
The expansive residence of the Wilcox family was filmed at a property in Hambledon, near Godalming, Surrey.
The house – which dates back to the 16th century – is private, but the property is renowned for its five-acres worth of gardens which are open to the public.
Where is the Schlegel family’s London home filmed?
The exterior of the Schlegels’ London home (Wickham Place) is filmed in Myddelton Square in Clerkenwell. All of the Georgian houses on the square are Grade II listed.
Where is the Wilcox's Shropshire estate filmed?
The beautiful home with steps leading up to arch windows, and vast gardens resplendent with a lake is undoubtedly one of the Wilcox's most beautiful properties.
Evie gets married there in episode three, and her wedding was filmed at West Wycombe House in Buckinghamshire.
The Palladian house is a National Trust site and has been home to the Dashwood family for over 300 years. It is surrounded by 45 acres of landscaped park. Both the house and park are open to the public.
Where is Aunt Juley’s house filmed?
The Schlegel siblings and Henry Wilcox journey down to Aunt Juley's for a holiday by the coast, and her stone house looks out onto grass verges that lead to white cliffs and wild sea.
Harry Warren House on Studland Bay in Dorset was the filming location for these scenes. It is a 19th-century country house set in four acres of seaside grounds.
And what about the pier?
The ornate pier that Margaret and Henry go walking along is in fact Swanage Pier - it has been restored from the Victorian era and is located in Dorset.
Where are the ruins where the Wilcox family go on a walk in episode one?
This scene was filmed at the ruins of Waverley Abbey in Surrey, where a group of monks founded a monastery almost 900 years ago that sits alongside the River Wey.
The abbey has previously been used as a backdrop to the films Elizabeth (1998) and Disney's Into the Woods (2014).
Waverley Abbey is open to the public free of charge.
The final two episodes of Howards End air on Sunday 28th March 2021 from 9/8c on PBS Masterpiece in the US
Read on to find out more about the cast of Howards End, why Matthew Macfadyen almost turned down Howards End, and why Manchester by the Sea screenwriter Kenneth Lonergan turned his hand to Howards End.
