A COUNTRY estate in North Yorkshire has been transformed into one of the settings for a TV adaptation of one of the world’s best known love stories.
Stockeld Park, a private estate near Harrogate, was taken over by a film crew to film scenes for the latest version of Emily Brönte’s classic, Wuthering Heights, to be shown during August Bank Holiday weekend.
The two-part costume drama stars Andrew Lincoln, Sarah Lancashire and Tom Hardy, with Stockeld Park standing in for Thrushcross Grange, the family home of the novel’s tragic heroine Cathy.
In real life Stockeld Park is home to Peter and Susie Grant and their five children, and has been in Mr Grant’s family for more than 150 years.
To recreate the authentic Victorian look the entire contents of the family drawing room, library and hallway had to be removed and replaced with specifically chosen period pieces, some of which were valuable antiques selected for their historical reference.
The library was transformed into a dining room and a large Victorian dining table was set with antique china ready to film scenes for Cathy’s wedding party.
Even the tarmac driveway received a pea gravel make over for the arrival scene of a horse drawn carriage carrying the newly married Cathy and Edgar.
Mr Grant said: "It was quite incredible to see our drawing room filled with Victorian ladies with bustles and gentlemen in breeches, dancing to the sounds of a harpsichord.
"It’s certainly a far cry from my wife and I and our children playing on the Nintendo Wii."
Wuthering Heights will be shown on ITV1 on Sunday, 30 and Monday 31, August, from 9pm.
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