Peak Experience

 

                        ‘An opportunity has arisen, to be mistress of the king of England.’

 

 

When cast and crew of The Other Boleyn Girl (released 2008) descended on Haddon, they found a perfect location for the Boleyn family home and even employed the Hall administrator as a celluloid servant.  Administrator Janet O’Sullivan cracked jokes in the courtiers’ line-up as King Henry arrived at Haddon – not quite the awed solemn vibe the director was aiming at!

 

Better-known cast included Natalie Portman as Anne, Scarlett Johansson as sister Mary Boleyn, Mark Rylance as their father Sir Thomas, owner of Haddon, and Kristin Scott Thomas as their mother Lady Elizabeth, frustrated and furious to see her daughters become pawns in the men’s deadly power plays.

 

Eric Bana set hearts a-throbbing as passionate young King Henry VIII, gentle lover to Mary, raging, smitten, bewitched by Anne.

 

 

Both sisters bore him children. Anne’s daughter became one of England’s greatest monarchs, Elizabeth I, whose early life was also filmed at Haddon Hall in the outstanding film Elizabeth (dir. Shekhar Kapur ), with Cate Blanchett as the young queen. Producer Alison Owen worked on both films.

 

Getting the period details right for Henry VIII’s visit was a painstaking task. Hanging banners in Haddon’s medieval banqueting hall was the easy bit! Experts took the legs off Haddon’s medieval table and lowered the table top to the floor, before film crew created a platform around the precious antique. A genuine Tudor tapestry had to go too. Although it’s believed to have been a gift to the household from the real Henry VIII, the set designers felt it was too late a period for the time of the film!

 

Filming The Other Boleyn Girl at Haddon Hall

 

Here’s a tip ... for a glimpse of off-duty stars you could do worse than book dinner at The Peacock at Rowsley. This highly reputed hotel was once dower house to Haddon Hall. Portman, Johansson, Bana, Scott Thomas and director Justin Chadwick stayed here while filming, as did Keira Knightley, Matthew MacFadyen, Rosamund Pike and director Joe Wright during the filming of Pride and Prejudice.

 

Mary’s ride takes her under Stanage Edge and through Dovedale. When Mary arrives at the home of her husband William Stafford, we see North Lees Hall.

 

Haddon Hall is about 2 km southeast of Bakewell.  Opening times and other details are on Haddon Hall’s website. Roysley is on the A6 between Haddon Hall and Matlock. Stanage Edge is near Hathersage and Dovedale is in the Staffordshire Moorlands.

 

Haddon Hall and Roysley are served by buses between Bakewell and Matlock, running at least every hour, seven days a week, including the TransPeak service which runs from Manchester to Nottingham.  To plan your journey to Dovedale, visit the Staffordshire journey planner and look for journeys to Waterhouses, Wetton or Ilam, or look for journeys to Thorpe on Traveline. To visit Stanage Edge, you can travel to Hathersage, on the Hope Valley rail line from Sheffield to Manchester - for service details, visit the National Rail website. Alternatively you can travel by bus from Sheffield. Further information about all Peak District bus services can be found by calling Traveline on 0871 200 2233 or visiting Traveline. 

 

Portrait of King Henry VIII  Portrait of Anne Boleyn  Portrait of Mary Boleyn