The East of England is bursting with Dickensian charm and Old English ambience with locations depicting the period stretching from Hertfordshire to North Norfolk. Countless period dramas have come to the Eastern Region where narrow cobbled streets, bowed bay windows and fairytale turrets are all in abundance.
Kings Lynn, Norfolk
Dickensian London shimmers with authenticity in Kings Lynn. The main buildings of King Street, Tuesday Market Place and King Staithe Square are fine Georgian houses of the type the upper classes would have occupied in Dickens’ time. On the other hand, Nelson Square and the cobbled lanes down to the River Great Ouse could be used to depict the houses, workshops and slums of the lower classes. So much so that it has been used on many occasions for period filming.
Showreel: Revolution; Martin Chuzzlewit; The Return of Sherlock Holmes
Elm Hill, Norfolk
The narrow, traditional cobbled streets of Elm Hill are actually like walking through a Dickensian film set. With the absence of modern day street lighting and road markings, it makes a Production Designer’s dream come true!
Showreel: Stardust; Lovejoy
Luton Hoo Estate
Fantastic site offering disused victorian farm buildings which have been used in the past to recreate a period London streets. There is a large walled garden, a glasshouse which is in slight disrepair, but is due to be restored to it's former glory. The site has numerous private roads one of which is tree-lined.
Wisbech, Cambridgeshire
In the 18th century, Wisbech landowners, merchants and warehouse owners grew wealthy and built their rows of elegant houses along the banks of the River Nene.
Showreel: David Copperfield
Hitchin, Hertfordshire
Hitchin is famous for its traditional open market, which is the largest in the Home Counties. The market has been in the town for over 500 years. The streets of Hitchin radiate outwards with markets, shops and a charming riverside frontage close at hand.
St Albans, Hertfordshire
St Albans is Hertfordshire's oldest town and has attracted many film and TV productions in the past because of it's medieval streets, cobbled roads and historical buildings which haunt of Dickensian London.
Balls Park, Hertfordshire
Balls Park is an impressive, empty Jacobean mansion that was a former University of Hertfordshire campus. Bleak House filmed here in 2005, turning the clock back to create Victorian England in the interiors of the mansion. The variable room sizes that could be used as interiors for a wide variety of different locations, provides a considerable amount of scope.
Showreel: Bleak House; Foyle's War; Amazing Grace