Knebworth House: The stately home making the most of its film credentials

The "fantasy façade" of Knebworth House hides a reddish ceramic location that dates backmost to Tudor times, says Henry Lytton-Cobbold.

It is thing of irony, says the 3rd Baron Cobbold, whose household has lived astatine Knebworth House since 1490, that the gathering itself is "almost similar a movie set".

With its Gothic exterior and Victorian decorative additions from the 1800s, Knebworth "expresses tons of antithetic periods" with its Jacobean hall, Edwardian drafting room, Victorian room and a Regency bedroom.

Such an eclectic humanities mix, helium says, has made it precise fashionable with movie studios.

Directors including Tim Burton and Stanley Kubrick person been inspired by its quality and actors specified arsenic Dame Judi Dench, Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter and Guy Pearce person walked on its halls.

Now, with operation connected a £700m movie and TV studios successful Waltham Cross owed to statesman and Sky gathering a immense caller installation astatine adjacent Elstree, Lord Cobbold hopes his location volition beryllium "their preferred location".

Knebworth has "played" Balmoral astir 5 times, but Lord Cobbold said it was important to not go well-known arsenic 1 place.

"We've lone ever played Balmoral from the inside," helium said. "We privation to proceed to beryllium utilized for each antithetic sorts of things and not to beryllium excessively attached to immoderate 1 show."

Actors tin besides beryllium accommodated, specified arsenic erstwhile Colin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter had to enactment during the wintertime filming of The King's Speech erstwhile the upwind was peculiarly bad.

Unfortunately, Firth got mislaid erstwhile heading for meal and was escorted retired of the gathering into the snowfall by Knebworth's caput of attraction who did not realise who the histrion was.

Firth had to ascent implicit a partition to scope the movie unit country arsenic the courtyard gates were locked and astir missed his marque up call.

But Lord Cobbold, who has worked successful film, said: "We volition ever bash our champion to marque things work... we effort to beryllium arsenic accommodating arsenic imaginable due to the fact that we recognize the mode it works," helium said, "but sometimes things are not possible".

For example, haze, which is utilized to make a diffuse filming environment, cannot beryllium utilized successful each rooms arsenic it causes damage. And erstwhile the producers of the Netflix bid You asked if they could instrumentality a model retired of the Falkland Room, the reply was a polite "no".

"The past clip a model came retired was for Charles Dickens successful the 1860s truthful helium could get an instrumentality in," said Lord Cobbold. "But we couldn't bash it for Netflix."

And erstwhile filming ends, location unit unreserved to cheque their treasures bash not get mixed up with movie props.

"It's ever the astir nerve-wracking bit," Lord Cobbold said, "everything is being piled into the backmost of a motortruck extracurricular and you are nervously wondering whether immoderate of our bits and pieces are successful determination arsenic well.

"But determination person been occasions wherever the props are much invaluable than the things that we've got here, truthful often they're much disquieted astir leaving things behind."

Sometimes, however, Knebworth saves filming fixtures and fittings from the skip.

The existent authorities drafting country doors and panelling successful the armoury, for example, came from the movie Victoria and Abdul.

"We often find erstwhile they bring their astonishing carpenters successful and rework the rooms to their designs, that immoderate of the things they travel up with are alternatively amended than what we've already got," Lord Cobbold said.

Film wealth besides contributes to repairs and conservation, which has made a "massive difference", the custodian said.

"We've been capable to reupholster furnishings and redo wallpaper and tons of things that we different truly wouldn't person a fund for," helium said.

The location is besides processing surface tourism attractions to capitalise connected Hertfordshire's increasing value successful the industry.

Deirdre Wells, main enforcement astatine Visit Herts said wealth raised from accumulation companies was "vital".

"With 1 successful 5 tourists influenced by what they spot connected surface erstwhile making their destination choice, combined with the expanding request for filming utilizing UK destinations arsenic the backdrop, determination is immense imaginable for locations to make surface tourism products," she said.

As for Knebworth, Lord Cobbold said: "We are ever delighted erstwhile a movie institution comes on successful October and tells america we could beryllium a quality successful a caller series.

"We've done astir 90 movies present and we're looking guardant to hitting our 100th and heading disconnected into the adjacent 100."