Eastnor Castle Film Location Anecdotes
With filming at Eastnor Castle having taken place over a period of almost 40 years, there have been some interesting things happen, taking place either in the course of filming or because of the nature of the production. Here are just a few anecdotes which show the variety of what a 'day in the life' of a castle can be like when used as a film location."One More Time" - Eastnor Castle sits in the heart of Herefordshire amongst rolling hills with just a few small towns and villages in the direct vicinity. So when Sammy Davis Jnr arrived on set for the start of filming this MGM movie production it caused quite a stir locally. A major movie star coming to the area in the late 60's was not an everyday occurrence! The local people found it so hard to believe they actually invaded Eastnor to get a sight of him!
"The Casebook Of Sherlock Holmes" For the filming of this TV production the castle was virtually emptied of ground floor treasures. A leopard was brought into the Great Hall in a small cage and controlled by two Chipperfields animal staff. The idea was for the animal to prowl round the rooms. On entering the staircase hall, where the producer, cameraman and sound engineer were safely secured in an iron cage outside the Little Library door, the leopard looked for somewhere to escape. As it happened the little glazed window had not been blacked out, so the leopard took a flying leap at it, smashed the glass and scratched the wall beneath, which can still been seen today. Fortunately the leopard sustained no serious injury, getting away with just a slightly sore nose. On completing the filming, power cables that had been installed in the castle's Chapel via the terrace, were thrown out of the window and consequently bounced up and crashed through the Octagon Room centre windows. These windows are made of special, tinted glass to protect the room contents from fading. There was quite a problem getting them replaced because of the security of the house.
"Little Lord Fauntleroy" - BBC TV spent 5 weeks filming at the castle for this 1994 production. A major requirement they had was the recreation of part of New York in the old kitchen gardens. The decorated and painted scenes had to be mounted on extensive amounts of scaffolding and timber and at one end was a large mirror that reflected the street scene to great effect. Hence New York came to Herefordshire!
"The Pallisers" - For this BBC TV production the castle was renamed Omnium Castle.