LOVE AND BETRAYAL IN NORTHERN IRELAND: DEATH AND NIGHTINGALES

I often find BBC dramas rather depressing, and this was certainly the case with Death and Nightingales, recently aired on BBC1 and starring Jamie Dornan. However the 3-parter, which was set and filmed in Northern Ireland, made the most of the natural beauty and historical heritage of this part of the UK. Although the story is set in County Fermanagh, two of the main filming locations are the National Trust property Springhill in County Londonderry and the grounds of Myra Castle near Strangford, County Down.

The drama, a story of love and betrayal set in 1885 in the Fermanagh countryside and based on the novel by Eugene McCabe, has as its main focus the home occupied by Billy Winters (Matthew Rhys) and his stepdaughter Beth (Ann Skelly). The property used for the filming of the interior house scenes was Springhill, a 17th-century plantation home in Moneymore, County Londonderry. The National Trust closed the property for the filming, which it must have done with some reluctance, as the filming took place during the busy months of May and June.

The house was apparently chosen because its history would have reflected the history of the Winters family in the story, in which the Protestant grandfather of Billy Winters would have bought his house around 1800, and the architecture would have been similar to Springhill’s. 12 spaces within the house were used during the filming, including the apartment used by National Trust staff, who had to move out to make way for the filming of Beth’s quarters. Springhill is home to no less than 8 species of bats, and the film crew had to wait until the bats had roosted each evening before commencing night shoots.

Springhill House, Moneymore. Photo by Kenneth Allen, via Wikimedia Commons

The dairy scenes and the boating scenes were filmed at the site of Myra Castle to the west of Strangford, County Down. The original castle, named Walshestown Castle, was built in the 16th century, but nowadays all that remains is a Landcape Park, where visitors can enjoy features including the Summerhouse, the Gate Lodge and the Pond among others.

Walshestown Castle Geograph-3036259-by-Mike-Searle. Via Wikimedia Commons

THE REAL HOWARDS END: PEPPARD COTTAGE, OXFORDSHIRE

The Merchant Ivory classic Howards End, based on the novel of the same name by E M Forster, is a story set in the early 1900s exploring relationships spanning three classes: the Wilcox family (headed by Anthony Hopkins as wealthy businessman Henry Wilcox), the bourgeois and philanthropic Schlegels (with Emma Thompson and Helena Bonham-Carter as the Schlegel sisters), and the working class Basts. The film takes in numerous UK locations, most notably in Oxfordshire and London, with a bit of Italy thrown in.

Howards End, a property which forms a focal point in the plot of the film, is a delightful red-brick country house clad in wisteria and surrounded by flower-strewn woodlands. The real-life house is called Peppard Cottage, a 14th-century country house overlooking Peppard Commond in Rotherfield Peppard, near the pretty riverside village of Sonning, between Reading and Henley-on-Thames. It was once owned by Lady Ottoline Morrell, who used to entertain members of the Bloomsbury group there. The cottage was still privately owned at the time of filming and after, but that did not stop fans of the film flocking to take pictures of it. In 2017 it was reported that the property was up for sale, for a cool £3.95 million. Howards End is not the only screen appearance by Peppard Cottage: it was also seen in Poirot, Inspector Morse and Midsomer Murders.

"Howards End" - geograph.org.uk - 558062. Photo by Graham Horn, via Wikimedia Commons

Howards End is in the fictional village of Hilton, and some of the village scenes were filmed in nearby Dorchester-on-Thames, but others were filmed a long way away in Worcestershire. One such featured Bewdley Station, one of the stops on the charming heritage railway line known as the Severn Valley Railway. Prunella Scales as Aunt Juley is seen in front of the City of Truro locomotive at the station. The George Tavern of the film is actually in the village of Upper Arley, between Bewdley and Bridgnorth.

Bewdley Station

Map of Oxfordshire