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From the Princess Bride to Darling Buds of May and Pirates of the Caribbean: the classic films and TV dramas filmed in Kent

05:00, 22 October 2023

“Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die".

“Can we not just look around the house and have a cake in the tea room, instead?”

Of course only one of those lines made it into the script of the classic 1987 fantasy adventure The Princess Bride, but the second – or variations of it – has no doubt been uttered just as many times at Penshurst Place.

The 14th Century medieval house played host to the film’s famous final duel – between Inigo and Count Rugen – which was shot at the historic building’s cavernous Baron’s Hall.

The ancient architecture of Penshurst has been a draw for other big productions, from The Other Boleyn Girl in 2008 to the BBC fantasy series Merlin that same year, and the 2003 Thriller, The Gathering. But Penshurst isn’t the only historic Kentish location to attract the eye of TV and film producers.

Back in 1948, Leeds Castle near Maidstone caught the eyes of the makers of Kind Hearts and Coronets – the crime black comedy which would be released the following year and go down in history as a classic of British cinema.

The Baron's Hall at Penshurst Place
The Baron's Hall at Penshurst Place

The film follows Louis D'Ascoyne Mazzini, a distant poor relative of the Duke D'Ascoyne, who plots to inherit the title by murdering the eight other heirs who stand ahead of him in the line of succession – and Leeds Castle was chosen to star as Chalfont Castle, the D’Ascoyne family home.

Other scenes in the film brought starring roles for the Cock Inn pub in Boughton Monchelsea – where Louis (Dennis Price) takes photos and meets Henry (Alec Guinness) – and for Harrietsham, in a scene where Louis rides around the village.

Leeds Castle itself became a regular location for period movies – from Henry VIII in 1979 to Lady Jane in 1986 and the Hollow Crown in 2016, but it’s not only been used for historical drama.

In 1978’s Dr Who serial The Androids of Tara, the castle and its grounds served as the fortress of Count Grendel, who kidnaps the Doctor’s assistant, Romana, and drags them into a feud over who is the legitimate heir to the throne of Planet Tara.

And 1985 brought the castle an even more unlikely role - in the American crime drama TV series Magnum, P.I. In the Deja Vu episode (Series 6, Episode 1), Magnum and Higgins go to England to prepare for a party at Robin Masters' latest purchase – that’s Leeds Castle of course – for a party.

Filming that took place at Leeds Castle for Kind Hearts and Coronets, starring Alec Guinness and Dennis Price. Image supplied by Edith Chappey, 020 7534 2759
Filming that took place at Leeds Castle for Kind Hearts and Coronets, starring Alec Guinness and Dennis Price. Image supplied by Edith Chappey, 020 7534 2759

While there, Magnum looks up an old friend only to learn he died under suspicious circumstances.

When it comes to classic Kentish drama, it doesn’t come more Kentish than The Darling Buds of May, the small-screen outing that captured both the splendour of rural Kent and the nation’s hearts in the 1990s.

Much of the action centred on Darling Buds Farm, known in real life as Buss Farm, in Bethersden, but other locations also provided the backdrop for the rustic action. Nearby Pluckely together with its church and pub, the Black Horse – renamed the Hare and Hounds in the series – were the setting of several village scenes.

Halden Place Cranbrook, served as Mrs Kinthley's hop garden, while other Kent locations to get a look in were Tenterden, Folkestone, Little Chart, Kent and East Sussex Railway, Shepherd Neame’s brewery in Faversham and Maidstone Grammar School.

Darling Buds of May. The Larkin brood with David Jason as Pop and Pam Ferris as Ma. File pic dated 4th April, 1991
Darling Buds of May. The Larkin brood with David Jason as Pop and Pam Ferris as Ma. File pic dated 4th April, 1991

Over in Sevenoaks, Knole House was used in the 2011 Hollywood blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean – On Stranger Tides. The large inner courtyard plays host to a scene where pirate-turned-privateer Captain Barbosa threatens Joshamee Gibbs with the hangman’s noose, as he tries to ascertain the whereabouts of Captain Jack Sparrow.

Alongside Hever Castle it also appeared in The Other Boleyn Girl and even The Beatles music videos for Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane.

A few miles south at Groombridge Place, the 17th-century moated manor provided the backdrop for the 2005 film adaptation of Jane Austen's classic novel, Pride and Prejudice – the manor house doubling as the Bennet’s family home, Longbourn.

Groombridge Place near Tunbridge Wells
Groombridge Place near Tunbridge Wells

Visitors can still stroll the grounds – and many of the previously mentioned Kent film sites – musing on their favourite scenes and quotes, including Jane Austen’s “Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure.”

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