A Very English ‘Atonement’ Tour

 

When location scouts for 2007 Oscar winner ‘Atonement‘ were searching for a place to play Tallis House, the film’s grand country home, production designer Sarah Greenwood knew just where to look — Country Life, a magazine dedicated to England’s “premium properties.” There she found Stokesay Court, a stately Victorian manor near the village of  Onibury,  five miles northwest of Ludlow in Shropshire, one of England’s most rural counties, and the year-long search was over. 

 

 

 

 

To see the stately manse for yourself, schedule a tour with the estate’s current owner. The intimate tour will set you back £15 (about $24), and includes a guided walk through the building’s elegant 19-century interior. It’s impressive, but not entirely original — in 1992, the estate’s owners all of its contents to fun repairs. The tour ends in proper British form, with the option of either morning coffee or afternoon tea and home baking. After that you’re free to roam around the grounds and soak up the fresh country air. You might have a hard time leaving, though. As director Joe Wright said, “It was an absolutely wonderful time. Our time in Shropshire was heaven.”

 

To find out more about film in the UK, pick up Film+Travel from Museyon Guides. Tom Beer takes you on a tour that travels the UK from ‘Atonement’ to ‘Trainspotting‘.

 

image: jo-h/Flickr