Written by on Apr 24, 2014. Posted in On Location

BBC to film period drama Poldark partly on location at Chavenage House near Bristol

The BBC will be filming its new period drama Poldark partly on location at the historic Chavenage House near Bristol in south-west England. Mammoth Screen is basing Poldark at Bristol’s Bottle Yard Studios that recently hosted Channel 4 production New Worlds.

Set in 1783, the eight-part miniseries will chart the story of Ross Poldark’s personal and business struggles in an economically crippled Cornwall. Chavenage House is being dressed to fit the TV drama’s specific 18th Century setting and will stand in for the Poldark home.

“We chose to film at Chavenage because we wanted the Poldark family house to have a wonderful lived-in feel, which it most certainly does,” a spokesman for the show told the Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard.

A spokesman for Chavenage House added to the outlet: “We are delighted that they have decided to choose Chavenage as one of the main locations in the series. In the 70s there was a run of tried-and-tested dramas like Brideshead Revisited. It was a golden age of costume drama ... I think the company are looking for the next Downton Abbey.”

Chavenage House is being dressed to fit the TV drama’s specific 18th Century setting and will be the Poldark home.

The Bottle Yard Studios opened in 2010 and offers 300,000 square feet of production space. New Worlds was based at the facility for seven months and also doubled the area for Massachusetts.

Bristol and Cardiff are becoming increasingly active production hubs. The BBC has a base at Roath Lock in the Welsh capital and Pinewood Studios recently announced plans to develop an additional film studio in the city.

High-end television production has grown more popular in the UK since the launch of a new TV tax credit last year.

(Image: Channel 4)