‘Harry Potter’ to ‘Pride and Prejudice’: The Wiltshire village that feels like stepping into a period drama
There is nothing quite like visiting the real locations from your favourite movies and TV shows, knowing that years prior, those very scenes you hold so dearly were shot on the same spot you’re standing on, instiling a sense of connection larger than ourselves and our own world, as the past echoes within us, shortening the distance between the present and a time far removed.
Of course, it doesn’t just apply to filming locations, as you can get the same feeling from visiting somewhere a classic novel was written, or a legendary historical event was held, which is what inspires us to travel and to visit these locales steeped in history.
Visiting movie locations is a specific brand of tourism, although the excitement you’ll get from it really depends on your attachment to the film, like, for instance, I couldn’t believe it when I stood in the exact place that served as the charity shop from the teen classic Wild Child, a film I’d watched over and over when I was young, but it meant absolutely nothing to my then-boyfriend.
Hence, whether you love period dramas (or a certain wizarding world), or are indifferent to them, you might find a trip to the Wiltshire village of Lacock the most exciting thing in the world, or the most boring.
I’ll be honest, there’s really not much there besides houses, a few pubs, and an Abbey, but if you’ve ever found yourself indulging in the likes of the iconic BBC miniseries Pride and Prejudice, Downton Abbey, 2017’s Beauty and the Beast, Cranford, the Kate Beckinsale-starring Emma, Harry Potter, The Other Boleyn Girl, or Wolf Hall, then you might want to consider paying it a visit.
The main street that runs through the village served as Meryton in Pride and Prejudice, where the Bennet sisters often met with others, including the sly Mr Wickham and Mr Darcy, and at the Red Lion pub, which stands as a working restaurant and boozer today, is where Lizzie and Darcy first met, with the building serving as the Meryton Assembly Room.
The picture-perfect shop windows and old buildings make stepping into the village like seeing a historical drama come to life, and the place is impeccably preserved, on account of being owned by the National Trust, thereby allowing visitors to easily imagine themselves as Lizzie Bennet or Emma Woodhouse, and it’s certainly the closest you can get to immersing yourself in a world that feels like turning back the clock, even just for an hour or two.
Now, if you want to go to Hogwarts, you’ve got to walk down the road to Lacock Abbey, where the cloisters were used as the hallways of the wizarding school, while various parts of the building served as Snape’s classroom, the room where Harry finds the Mirror of Erised, and Quirrell’s classroom (cauldron included).
Then there are the various houses in the village that appeared in the Harry Potter franchise, too, like Potter’s parents’ home, the Babberton Arms, and Slughorn’s residence, so if you’re a keen fan of the fantasy franchise, Lacock still retains that magic, although you probably won’t find any witches or wizards lurking about, but you can certainly pretend to be one.
