With the longest facade of any country house in England, a first glimpse of Wentworth Woodhouse is seriously impressive. Despite this claim to fame, it’s not as well known as many of Yorkshire’s other historic estates – but you may well recognise it from on screen. Wentworth Woodhouse has played host to a wide variety of productions including Oscar-winning feature films such as Darkest Hour and Downton Abbey worldwide hit TV series including ITV’s Victoria and BBC’s Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Charles III, Billionaire Boy. Most recently it doubled for Paris in series 2 of hit BBC drama Gentleman Jack.
Situated in the village of Wentworth in South Yorkshire, it was built for the 1st Marquess of Rockingham in the mid-17th century but was taken over by Military Intelligence during World War II and the owners never returned. It was eventually donated to the council and later used as a college and then student campus. Unlike many other Yorkshire estates, today it’s owned by a trust.
Broad open spaces and striking architectural features, such as the exquisite column-flanked Marble Saloon, make ideal backdrops for period dramas, and monies raised from filming and photography shoots help keep the estate running. Most recently Wentworth Woodhouse hosted some of the filming for the Netflix Sherlock Holmes spin-off, The Irregulars.
