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Jane Austen film and TV locations

A grand, three-storey house, painted in an off-white/cream colour is surrounded by vibrant green grass on a blue-sky, winter day. To the left of the scene is a medium-height tree with wooden tables and chairs underneath. Most of the trees in the picture are evergreen but a few in the distance have bare branches which suggests it's wintertime.
Saltram house and gardens, Devon | © National Trust Images/Chris Lacey

If you're a Jane Austen fan, the names of the settings in her stories are just as recognisable as her characters. Many National Trust properties have featured in TV and film adaptations of Jane Austen novels; Basildon Park has starred as Pride and Prejudice’s Netherfield and Lyme Park became Pemberley. Here's the best of the Jane Austen filming locations among the places we care for.

Basildon Park, Berkshire
Basildon Park took a central role in the 2005 production of Pride and Prejudice, which starred Keira Knightley as Lizzie and Matthew MacFadyen as Mr Darcy. The 18th-century Palladian mansion became Netherfield, Mr Bingley's house; a suitably grand residence for a 'young man of four or five thousand a year'.More about Basildon Park
Belton House, Lincolnshire
In the 1995 BBC TV version of Pride and Prejudice, it was the good fortune of Jennifer Ehle’s Lizzie to dine in the splendour of Belton House, which played Lady Catherine De Bourgh’s residence. As Mr Collins would attest, no greater honour can be bestowed than an invitation to dine at 'Rosings'. Belton also featured in the scenes leading up to Mr Darcy's first excruciating proposal to Lizzie.More about Belton House
A large, grand house with four floors, built of sandy-coloured bricks and photographed in the peachy late-evening light of a summer sunset. Leading up to the front door of the house is a wide, gravel pathway flanked with stone urns on plinths and interspersed with small, evergreen trees but into oval shapes.
Belton House in Lincolnshire | © National Trust Images/Andrew Butler
Box Hill, Surrey
In the final episode of the BBC’s TV version of Emma, Box Hill features as the backdrop for a picnic. The production stars Romola Garai as Emma and Jonny Lee Miller as George Knightley.More about Box Hill
Claydon House, Buckinghamshire
The ballroom scene in the 1996 film of Emma was filmed at this fine Georgian country house. The film stars Gwyneth Paltrow as the self-elected matchmaker, Emma, who inevitably gets a taste of her own medicine.More about Claydon House
Dyrham Park, Gloucestershire
Sanditon, Jane Austen's final novel (and unfinished at the time of her death) was adapted for TV by ITV in 2019. Dyrham Park in Gloucestershire played a starring role as Sanditon House, Lady Denham's home.Meet the cast in this trailer
Lacock Village, Wiltshire
Lacock, a wonderfully preserved village dating from the 13th century, played the village of Meryton in the BBC’s Pride and Prejudice (1995). It was here that the Bennet girls, in particular Lydia and Kitty ‘whose minds were more vacant than their sisters’, shopped for bonnets, sought the latest tittle-tattle from their Aunt Philips, and hoped to attract the attentions of the officers – in particular a certain Mr Wickham.More about Lacock Village
In the corner of a street or square sits a Tudor-style half-timbered building and to its right is a tall dark green tree and a smaller one with white blossom. To the right of this a smaller cottage, half out of the frame. The sky is blue and it looks like a late-spring morning.
Lacock village in Wiltshire | © National Trust Images/Rupert Truman
Lyme Park, Cheshire
Lyme Park is famous for its role as Pemberley, Mr Darcy’s home, in the BBC’s Pride and Prejudice (1995). Jennifer Ehle’s Lizzie was shocked by the approach of the soaking wet figure of Mr Darcy, played by Colin Firth, post-dip in the lake. The scene cemented Firth's sex symbol status and turned Lyme Park into one of TV's most iconic backdrops.More about Lyme Park
Montacute House, Somerset
The Oscar-winning 2004 adaptation of Sense and Sensibility starred Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet as sisters Elinor and Marianne. Montacute stood in as the country home of the Palmers, where Marianne got caught in the rain while trying to escape the heartbreak of Willoughby's rejection. You can spot the famous ‘wibbly wobbly’ yew hedges as she walks through the garden, and later on Colonel Brandon (played by Alan Rickman) pokes his head into the Orangery looking for her.More about Montacute House
Saltram, Devon
Not only did the classical Georgian mansion at Saltram stand in for Norland Park in the 1995 film adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, you can also read letters between Jane Austen and former Saltram resident, Frances Talbot, the first Countess of Morley, which are on display at the house.More about Saltram
Stourhead, Wiltshire
The 18th-century landscaped garden at Stourhead was used as a backdrop in the 2005 production of Pride and Prejudice along with one of its enchanting temples. The Temple of Apollo, set above the tranquil lake, was used as the location for Mr Darcy’s first awkward proposal to Lizzie.More about Stourhead

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