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Lucinda Stucley
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The Hartland Abbey Estate as a location for filming and events

The Hartland Abbey estate has been used successfully as a film location for many years.  With its vast diversity of stunning countryside and coastline, the abbey with its beautiful architecture, peaceful surroundings, reawakening gardens and parkland, the estate is a wonderful location for still shoots and all forms of filming.  With 5 miles of unspoilt Atlantic coastline from south of Hartland point down to Spekes Mill Mouth with its beautiful waterfall, and including Hartland Quay, the hotel, the bay, the huge cliffs and the sandy and rocky beaches, there is much to offer the director and location manager.

Hartland village has good small shops, a post office and a garage. There are many excellent hotels, pubs and B&B’s within easy reach.

2007: BBC film Sense & Sensibility at Hartland Abbey; details

Picture Gallery

Hartland Abbey has been used not only as a location but also as a production base.  It contains many different periods of architecture and decoration from mediaeval to Georgian, Regency and Victorian with a strong Gothic influence.  There is plenty of hard-standing near to the house for vehicles and the Abbey has 24 telephone lines which can be reconnected at any time. Helicopters can land within 100 metres of the Abbey.

The Abbey, Hartland Quay, Blackpool Mill and the estate have been used recently by German TV for Rosamunde Pilcher’s The Shell Seekers, for American Vogue (2004), The Dark ( a supernatural thriller 2004), BBC Hercules (2003), BBC A Natural History of Britain with Alan Titchmarsh (2003).  BBC Gardeners World, War Zone, The Shout, Water, An Element of Doubt and Treasure Island have all been filmed here in the past.  The Hartland coastline became a very convincing St Lucia in Water with Michael Caine, thanks to some well positioned palm trees!

Affeton Castle

Affeton Castle is also part of the estate and lies approx 10 miles south of Exmoor in totally unspoilt, hilly countryside.  The small castle and its thatched, Devon longhouse is situated on top of a hill overlooking the a spectacular river valley.  Surrounded by 1,000 acres of traditional farmland with wooded valleys, it is in a very peaceful part of the county with virtually no sights or sounds of modern life.