A wild coastline of white-sand beaches and rocky coves; bleak moorland punctured by standing stones silhouetted against a vast, unbroken horizon; spectacular stately homes nestled in picturesque parkland. It’s no wonder this far-flung peninsular is a popular filming location: with a huge variety of dramatic landscapes, Cornwall and Devon were made for the screen.
Featured in huge Hollywood blockbusters and award-winning period dramas, we’ve listed 10 locations in Cornwall and Devon that had film-makers and audiences swooning.
Hartland Point
The rocky pinnacles and rugged landscapes of Devon’s most unspoiled stretch of coastline is a popular filming location: Hartland has featured in the BBC TV series The Night Manager (2016) and more recently, in the Netflix adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s gothic novel Rebecca. In the film, Lily James stars as a young newly-wed who finds her new home in Cornwall haunted by the memory of her husband's first wife.
Botallack Mine
The BBC series
Poldark (2015-2019), based on the novels of the same name by Winston Graham, follows an army Captain's return home from war to find his Cornish estate in ruins and his childhood sweetheart engaged to another man. While the series showcases many of Cornwall's most beautiful spots, the standout location is without doubt
Botallack mine. This now derelict engine house clinging to the cliffside is a vivid reminder of the area’s former industry of tin mining.
Dartmoor
“I have never before in my long and eclectic career been gifted with such an abundance of natural beauty as I experienced filming War Horse on Dartmoor,” Steven Spielberg gave
Dartmoor the hollywood endorsement after filming his 2012 adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s novel. The heather-strewn slopes and rocky tors provide a dazzling backdrop to this heart-wrenching tale of a Devonshire farm boy forced to sell his horse to the army after during World War I and his subsequent attempts to bring him safely home.
Saunton Sands
A favourite spot among surfers and film-makers alike, this westward-facing strand, with its ranks of Atlantic rollers advancing in stately fashion, adds drama to any scene. Saunton Sands was used to represent the beaches of Normandy in the 2014 Hollywood blockbuster, Edge of Tomorrow, starring Tom Cruise as a soldier who must relive the same day again and again in order to save Earth from an alien species.
Teignmouth
This charming South Devon seaside town is home to historic Georgian buildings and long stretches of sandy beaches. Teignmouth was used for the filming of The Mercy (2018) starring Colin Firth and Rachel Weisz. The film tells the story of amateur sailor Donald Crowhurst’s disastrous attempt to win the Golden Globe Race, a single-handed, round-the-world yacht race, aboard a trimaran called the Teignmouth Electron.
Saltram House
Saltram House is an 18th-century mansion set in parkland outside Plymouth. It boasts a beautiful exterior matched by the stately rooms inside, each decorated with a dazzling array of art. Ang Lee’s 1995 film adaptation of Jane Austen’s
Sense and Sensibility features Saltram House as Norland Park, the lost home of the Dashwood sisters, played by Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet.
St Ives
This dazzling seaside town is known as the jewel in Cornwall’s crown and a haven for artists. With its beautiful gold sand beaches and amazing clarity of light, St Ives was chosen to depict tropical locations in the fourth installment in the popular Pirates of the Caribbean series. With Cornwall’s storied history of piracy and smuggling, this match makes perfect sense.
Caerhays Estate
Overlooking the secluded and sandy Porthluney Cove, the elegant 19th-century
Caerhays Estate is nestled near St Austell, on the Cornish coast. The location was used as a backdrop for Tim Burton’s fantasy film,
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (2016). Starring Eva Green as the headmistress of a home for children with paranormal abilities, the film is based on the novel by Ransom Riggs.
Powderham Castle
Situated beside the Exe estuary, just south of Exeter, and surrounded by a picturesque deer park,
Powderham Castle is the long-time seat of the earls of Devon. This stately pile was featured in the 1993 film adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Booker Prize-winning novel,
The Remains of the Day. Powderham Castle was one of several houses used to depict the fictitious ‘Darlington Hall’, the house at which Anthony Hopkins’ character serves as a butler in the 1920s and 1930s.
Eden Project
A global garden for the 21st century, the spectacular
Eden Project houses the largest enclosed rainforest in the world. Hundreds of octagonal and pentagonal plastic cells supported by steel frames form the biomes, giving the Eden Project a unique look that attracted location scouts for the Bond franchise. The Eden Project featured in the 2002 film
Die Another Day as Gustav Graves’ ice palace. In the movie, Halle Berry’s stunt double can be seen rappelling down the outside of the building.
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