THERE is a touch of irony about the filming of hit BBC1 costume drama Cranford.
Author Elizabeth Gaskell was raised in Knutsford and later lived in Manchester.
She wrote about the railway coming to Cheshire – and re-named Knutsford as Cranford.
But the original location could not be used for filming.
“I was fleetingly sad,” screenwriter Heidi Thomas (pictured below) told me.
“But it’s entirely fitting.
“The railway did come to Cranford and it changed it so much that we couldn’t film there.”
As explained in previous Cranford blogs and in this scene-setting feature, Lacock in Wiltshire stood in for Knutsford.
West Wycombe Park provided the exterior of Lady Ludlow’s Hanbury Court.
Many other locations are also used during the five-part Sunday night serial.

I’ve listed them below – click on the real life locations for web links.
(These were the best web links I could find in each case)

Other interiors were shot at Shepperton Studios.
There’s an interview with Philip Glenister (Mr Carter) in today’s MEN.
The online version is here.
To hear audio of Mr G, go to a previous blog entry here.
Location list:
Lacock – Cranford village
West Wycombe Park – Lady Ludlow’s Hanbury Court
West Wycombe Estate – Second link re Hanbury Court
Osterley Park House – The Long Gallery / Hanbury Court glasshouse / Exterior to Mr Carter’s office.
Ashridge Estate – Cranford Heath / Edge of the Heath / Outskirts of Cranford / Lane to Cranford
Godalming, Surrey – Green Pond (Bluebells)
Hambleden Estate – Gregsons’ Hovel
Dorney Court, Windsor – Woodley front entrance / Parlour
Two Yews Cottage, Radnage – Exterior of Mrs Forrester’s cottage / Bess’s field.
Pitstone Quarry, Bucks – The railway cutting
The Dower House – Interior Woodley landing and bedroom / Exterior Butcher’s house.
St Mary’s Radnage – Cranford Church
Bullocks Farm, West Wycombe – Woodley
Syon Park, Brentford – Hanbury Court’s Great Hall
St Frideswide Farm, Water Eaton – The Rectory

Philip Glenister: A Man Ahead Of His Time
Author’s Love Letter To Community
Cranford Blogs