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4 hours ago
Is Cathy’s eclectic house a real place?
Emerald Fennell’s hotly anticipated Wuthering Heights film finally lands in cinemas today – and it’s a certified feast for the senses. Away from the action (we won’t spoil anything here), we’re treated to sweeping moorland vistas and intricate interiors that bring a dose of vibrancy and playful vivaciousness to Emily Brontë’s classic 1847 Gothic novel.
With Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie clinching the lead roles as Heathcliff and Cathy, joined by the likes of Alison Oliver, Shazad Latif and Adolescence star Owen Cooper, here C&TH takes a peek behind the curtain at the backdrops that bring Wuthering Heights to vigorous life.
Emerald Fennell & Margot Robbie on set. (Warner Bros.)
Emerald Fennell’s new adaptation of Wuthering Heights was filmed in the Yorkshire Dales – including at Arkengarthdale, Healaugh Crag, Bridestones Moor, Booze Moor, Swaledale and Low Row, all boasting the very same bruised skies and windswept moors Brontë was inspired by 179 years ago.
But where Fennell famously whipped out her contact book to secure a never-filmed-in-before English country manor for her sophomore film Saltburn (2023), she has employed more movie magic in Wuthering Heights: the action was mostly filmed on sets.
Jacob Elordi on location in the Yorkshire Dales, in Wuthering Heights. (Warner Bros)
Filming on sets is far more expensive than shooting at a real property due to construction logistics – but sets also bring a level of control unavailable on location, from listed property restrictions to the atmospheric but havoc-wreaking dark skies and gusty winds the Yorkshire Dales are defined by.
As such, most of Wuthering Heights was filmed at Warner Bros. Studio Leavesden in Watford, where everything from Harry Potter (original and reboot), Wonka and Barbie have been filmed, the latter starring both Robbie and Fennell under Greta Gerwig’s direction.
Margot Robbie as Cathy & Shazad Latif as Edgar in Thrushcross Grange. (Warner Bros)
Sets are a blank canvas creativity can truly be unleashed upon, and looking at Fennell’s reinterpretation of Cathy’s martial home Thrushcross Grange, this element was a real selling point for the director and her creative team, particularly production designer Suzie Davies.
As we see in Architectural Digest’s tour of Thrushcross Grange on set, the entire property and its garden were constructed for the film and surrounded by a changing sky and geographically accurate landscape visible through the windows. Rooms are gregariously decorated, with a merging of period-accurate features and surreal design choices, from bespoke ceiling roses and silver dripping walls to a red fur-lined staircase and wallpaper the exact shade of Robbie’s skin – all complete with a perfect replica doll’s house.
Margot Robbie in Cathy’s bedroom, which is wallpapered with scans of the actress’ skin. (Warner Bros)
Meanwhile interior scenes at Cathy and Heathcliff’s childhood home Wuthering Heights were also filmed on sets, but the exteriors were shot at Old Gang Mill, an 18th century grade II listed smelting mill near Langthwaite. Another filming location you will spot twice is Knole House, a 500-year-old National Trust property all the way down in Kent.
It’s perhaps an understatement to say North Yorkshire is leaning in to the Wuthering Heights mania. For one, Visit North Yorkshire’s website is currently emblazoned with the words ‘Discover the Wuthering Sights’. Meanwhile Visit England has compiled a two-day itinerary taking in the landscapes and locations that feature in the film.
The natural base, however, is Haworth – the small village the Brontë sisters called home back in the 19th century. Their former home has been protected, cared for and transformed into the Brontë Parsonage Museum, which hosts displays, exhibitions, events and the annual Brontë Festival of Women’s Writing.
BTS shooting Wuthering Heights in the atmospheric Yorkshire Dales. (Warner Bros.)
The Yorkshire Dales are walking country, and by foot is the best way to see Wuthering Heights’ filming locations. Maps can be downloaded online, or if you like to have a real-time navigator, the AllTrails app is pre-loaded with Brontë worthy walks, including Haworth to Penistone Hill Circular which passes by the Brontë Parsonage and takes in the moorland landscapes that shaped the sisters’ writing. Meanwhile the Brontë Waterfalls Circular mimics a favourite walking route of the sisters, while Gunnerside Gill and Surrender Bridge Circular focusses on the 2026 film’s locations including Old Gang Mill, Surrender Bridge and Low Row.
Heading out set-jetting? There are plenty of lovely places to stay in Wuthering Heights country: here are three of our favourites.
To feel really close to the film’s stars, why not rest your head at the hotel they all stopped in during filming? This is Simonstone Hall Hotel, which we’re sure will be booked out for the foreseeable – perhaps even by Robbie who has returned since filming wrapped – so make sure you get in there quick.
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Creative though they were, we don’t think the Brontë sisters could have conceived of luxury like this. Tucked on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, Grantley Hall is the most opulent of bases for Wuthering Heights explorations – and the spa is ideal for soothing weary feet at the end of a long day of hiking.
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A new venture from Michelin-recognised chef Tommy Banks, this 18th-century coaching inn comes a bit closer to the kind of properties the Brontë sisters would recognise – but it’s no less comfortable for 21st century guests. The focus downstairs is on top-notch ingredient-led food, but upstairs guests are invited to retire in soothingly cosy rooms with neutral tones and natural materials throughout.
Wuthering Heights is in UK cinemas now.
