Luton Hoo
Encyclopedia
Luton Hoo straddles the Hertfordshire
and Bedfordshire
borders between the towns of Harpenden
and Luton
. The unusual name "Hoo" is a Saxon
word meaning the spur of a hill, and is more commonly associated with East Anglia
.
, but a family called de Hoo occupied a manor house
on the site for four centuries, until the death of Lord Thomas Hoo in 1455. The manor passed through many notable Someries' families through the centuries, from the family de Hoo to the family Rotherham, to the family Napier. Successive houses on the site seem to have changed hands several times until in 1762 the then owner, Francis Hearne (MP for Bedford
), sold the estate
for £94,700 to John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute
. Following an unhappy period as Prime Minister
from 1762 to 1763, Bute decided to concentrate his energies on his Bedfordshire estate at Luton Hoo.
The present house was built for the 3rd Earl of Bute
by the neoclassical
architect
Robert Adam
. Work commenced in 1767. The original plan had been for a grand and magnificent new house. However, this plan was never fully executed and much of the work was a remodelling of the older house. Building work was interrupted by a fire in 1771, but by 1774 the house, though incomplete, was inhabited. Dr. Samuel Johnson
visiting the house in 1781 is quoted as saying, "This is one of the places I do not regret coming to see....in the house magnificence is not sacrificed to convenience, nor convenience to magnificence".
Luton Hoo was one of the largest houses for which Adam was wholly responsible. While Adam was working on the mansion the landscape gardener Capability Brown
was enlarging and redesigning the park; formerly approximately 300 acre
s (1.2 km²) it was now enlarged to 1,200 acres (4.9 km²). Brown dammed the River Lea to form two lakes, one of which is 60 acres (240,000 m²) in size. In the early 20th century, part of the park overlooked by the south-west facade mansion was transformed into formal gardens.
Robert Adam's completed mansion was transformed by the architect Robert Smirke
(later Sir Robert, 1781–1867) circa 1830, following the occupation of the 3rd Earl's grandson, the 2nd Marquess of Bute
. Smirke redesigned the house (with the exception of the south front) to resemble its present form today, complete with a massive portico, similar to that designed by Adam but never built. Smirke was a leading architect of the era. His early work and domestic designs, such as that at Eastnor Castle
, were often in a medieval style; he seems to have reserved his Greek revival style for public buildings such as the British Museum
. Hence Luton Hoo, neither gothic nor strictly Greek revival, is an unusual example of him using a classical style for domestic use, which perhaps he felt would be sympathetic to Adam's original conception.
In 1843 a devastating fire occurred and much of the house and its contents were destroyed. Following the fire the house remained a burnt shell until the estate was sold in 1848 to John Leigh, a Liverpool
solicitor
and property speculator. He rebuilt the derelict shell in the style and manner of Smirke, rather than to Adam's earlier plan. The Leigh family continued to own Luton Hoo until 1903, when on the death of John Leigh's daughter-in-law, who had late in life married Christian de Falbe, the Danish
ambassador
to England, the estate was sold to the diamond magnate, Sir Julius Wernher
.
In around 1863 "there was found a Hoard of Roman Coins near Luton, on the estate of John Shaw Leigh, Esq., of Luton Hoo. The coins, which must have been nearly a thousand in number, had been deposited in an imperfectly burnt urn composed of clay and pounded shell, and consisted of denarii and small brass, ranging from the time of Caracalla to that of Claudius Gothicus".
and Arthur Davis (architect). It was at this time that the mansard roof
was added, in order to increase the amount of staff accommodation. This alteration, coupled with the newly installed casement window
s was in the Second Empire style of architecture.
The lavish redesigning of the interior in the belle epoque
style resulted in a magnificent backdrop for Wernher' acclaimed art collection. The marble-walled dining room was designed to display Beauvais
tapestries, while the newly installed curved, marble staircase surrounded Bergonzoli's statue "The Love of Angels". At the centre of the house the massive Blue hall displayed further tapestries, Louis XV
furniture, and Sèvres
porcelain. Sir Julius Wernher's widow, later Lady Ludlow, added her collection of English porcelain to the treasures of the house.
The Wernhers' great art
collection, equal to that of their neighbours in nearby Buckinghamshire
, the Rothschild
s', was later further enhanced by the marriage of Julius Wernher's son Harold Augustus Wernher
to Anastasia de Torby
, the morganatic daughter of a member of the former Russian Imperial family, generally known as "Lady Zia". She brought to the collection an incomparable assembly of renaissance enamels and Russian artefacts, including works by the Russian Imperial court jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé
. For many years the collection and house were open to the public. Many of the Fabergé items were, however, stolen in the 1990s.
Following Lady Zia's death in 1977, the estate passed to her grandson Nicholas Harold Phillips
, whose untimely death in 1991 caused the sale of the Mansion House. The priceless collection is now on permanent display at Ranger's House in London
. In 1997 the grounds were rented out for that year's Tribal Gathering
dance music festival, and again in 2005 (although the latter event was cancelled due to the 7 July 2005 London bombings
).
called Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf, and Spa, which opened its doors on 1 October 2007. It has 144 bedrooms and suites. Part of the restoration project involved rebuilding the second floor of the mansion, which was included in the plans drawn up by the original architects. The owners, Elite Hotels, claim that furnishings have been selected to restore the house to its former glory. The entirety of the soft furnishings were supplied by Interiors of Chiswick in London.
Luton Hoo's lake is also home to the 1st Luton Sea Scouts and Explorer Units.
which was established by John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, in the late 1760s. Successive owners of the estate adapted the garden to match the changing fashions in gardens over the years. Numerous heated glasshouses were built by the Leigh family in the last quarter of the 19th century for the production of fruit and flowers. The largest of the glasshouses, built by the firm of Mackenzie and Moncur for Sir Julius and Lady Alice Wernher, is evidence of the extravagance of the Edwardian period. The Walled Garden is currently undergoing extensive restoration work.
, Never Say Never Again
, Four Weddings and a Funeral
, Eyes Wide Shut
, The Secret Garden
, Princess Caraboo
, Wilde
, The World Is Not Enough
, Quills
, Enigma
and Bright Young Things
. More recently outbuildings were used as a location for the John Landis
film Burke and Hare , and stood in for Bleeding Heart Yard in the BBC TV series Little Dorrit
using sets designed originally for the BBC's 2005 BAFTA award winning Bleak House
. On 13 and 14 October 2010 filming of the Steven Spielberg
film War Horse
was taking place at Luton Hoo.
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
and Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
borders between the towns of Harpenden
Harpenden
Harpenden is a town in Hertfordshire, England.The town's total population is just under 30,000.-Geography and administration:There are two civil parishes: Harpenden and Harpenden Rural....
and Luton
Luton
Luton is a large town and unitary authority of Bedfordshire, England, 30 miles north of London. Luton and its near neighbours, Dunstable and Houghton Regis, form the Luton/Dunstable Urban Area with a population of about 250,000....
. The unusual name "Hoo" is a Saxon
Old English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
word meaning the spur of a hill, and is more commonly associated with East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
.
Early History
Luton Hoo is not mentioned in the Domesday bookDomesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
, but a family called de Hoo occupied a manor house
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
on the site for four centuries, until the death of Lord Thomas Hoo in 1455. The manor passed through many notable Someries' families through the centuries, from the family de Hoo to the family Rotherham, to the family Napier. Successive houses on the site seem to have changed hands several times until in 1762 the then owner, Francis Hearne (MP for Bedford
Bedford
Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Bedford. According to the former Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town...
), sold the estate
Estate (house)
An estate comprises the houses and outbuildings and supporting farmland and woods that surround the gardens and grounds of a very large property, such as a country house or mansion. It is the modern term for a manor, but lacks the latter's now abolished jurisdictional authority...
for £94,700 to John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute
John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute
John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute KG, PC , styled Lord Mount Stuart before 1723, was a Scottish nobleman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain under George III, and was arguably the last important favourite in British politics...
. Following an unhappy period as Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
from 1762 to 1763, Bute decided to concentrate his energies on his Bedfordshire estate at Luton Hoo.
18th century
John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute
John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute KG, PC , styled Lord Mount Stuart before 1723, was a Scottish nobleman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain under George III, and was arguably the last important favourite in British politics...
by the neoclassical
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...
architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Robert Adam
Robert Adam
Robert Adam was a Scottish neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam , Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him...
. Work commenced in 1767. The original plan had been for a grand and magnificent new house. However, this plan was never fully executed and much of the work was a remodelling of the older house. Building work was interrupted by a fire in 1771, but by 1774 the house, though incomplete, was inhabited. Dr. Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson , often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer...
visiting the house in 1781 is quoted as saying, "This is one of the places I do not regret coming to see....in the house magnificence is not sacrificed to convenience, nor convenience to magnificence".
Luton Hoo was one of the largest houses for which Adam was wholly responsible. While Adam was working on the mansion the landscape gardener Capability Brown
Capability Brown
Lancelot Brown , more commonly known as Capability Brown, was an English landscape architect. He is remembered as "the last of the great English eighteenth-century artists to be accorded his due", and "England's greatest gardener". He designed over 170 parks, many of which still endure...
was enlarging and redesigning the park; formerly approximately 300 acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
s (1.2 km²) it was now enlarged to 1,200 acres (4.9 km²). Brown dammed the River Lea to form two lakes, one of which is 60 acres (240,000 m²) in size. In the early 20th century, part of the park overlooked by the south-west facade mansion was transformed into formal gardens.
19th century
Robert Smirke (architect)
Sir Robert Smirke was an English architect, one of the leaders of Greek Revival architecture his best known building in that style is the British Museum, though he also designed using other architectural styles...
(later Sir Robert, 1781–1867) circa 1830, following the occupation of the 3rd Earl's grandson, the 2nd Marquess of Bute
Marquess of Bute
Marquess of the County of Bute, shortened in general usage to Marquess of Bute, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1796 for John Stuart, 4th Earl of Bute.-Family history:...
. Smirke redesigned the house (with the exception of the south front) to resemble its present form today, complete with a massive portico, similar to that designed by Adam but never built. Smirke was a leading architect of the era. His early work and domestic designs, such as that at Eastnor Castle
Eastnor Castle
Eastnor Castle is a 19th century mock castle, two miles from the town of Ledbury in Herefordshire, England, by the village of Eastnor. It was founded by John Cocks, 1st Earl Somers as his stately home and continues to be inhabited by his descendents. Currently in residence is the family of...
, were often in a medieval style; he seems to have reserved his Greek revival style for public buildings such as the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
. Hence Luton Hoo, neither gothic nor strictly Greek revival, is an unusual example of him using a classical style for domestic use, which perhaps he felt would be sympathetic to Adam's original conception.
In 1843 a devastating fire occurred and much of the house and its contents were destroyed. Following the fire the house remained a burnt shell until the estate was sold in 1848 to John Leigh, a Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
and property speculator. He rebuilt the derelict shell in the style and manner of Smirke, rather than to Adam's earlier plan. The Leigh family continued to own Luton Hoo until 1903, when on the death of John Leigh's daughter-in-law, who had late in life married Christian de Falbe, the Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
to England, the estate was sold to the diamond magnate, Sir Julius Wernher
Julius Wernher
Sir Julius Charles Wernher, 1st Baronet was a German-born Randlord and art collector who became part of the English establishment.-Life history:...
.
In around 1863 "there was found a Hoard of Roman Coins near Luton, on the estate of John Shaw Leigh, Esq., of Luton Hoo. The coins, which must have been nearly a thousand in number, had been deposited in an imperfectly burnt urn composed of clay and pounded shell, and consisted of denarii and small brass, ranging from the time of Caracalla to that of Claudius Gothicus".
20th century
In 1903 the house was bought by Sir Julius Wernher, who had made his fortune from the diamond mines of South Africa. Wernher had the interior remodelled in the early 20th century by the architects of the Ritz Hotel, Charles MewesCharles Mewès
Charles Frédéric Mewès was a French architect and designer.-Biography:Charles Frédéric Mewès was born at Strasbourg. He came from a Jewish family of Baltic origin. The whole family left Alsace in 1870 during the Prussian invasion. At 20, he joined the office of Jean-Louis Pascal, a then famous...
and Arthur Davis (architect). It was at this time that the mansard roof
Mansard roof
A mansard or mansard roof is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterized by two slopes on each of its sides with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper that is punctured by dormer windows. The roof creates an additional floor of habitable space, such as a garret...
was added, in order to increase the amount of staff accommodation. This alteration, coupled with the newly installed casement window
Casement window
A casement window is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges. Casement windows are hinged at the side. A casement window (or casement) is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges. Casement windows are hinged at the side. A casement window (or casement) is a...
s was in the Second Empire style of architecture.
The lavish redesigning of the interior in the belle epoque
Belle Époque
The Belle Époque or La Belle Époque was a period in European social history that began during the late 19th century and lasted until World War I. Occurring during the era of the French Third Republic and the German Empire, it was a period characterised by optimism and new technological and medical...
style resulted in a magnificent backdrop for Wernher' acclaimed art collection. The marble-walled dining room was designed to display Beauvais
Beauvais
Beauvais is a city approximately by highway north of central Paris, in the northern French region of Picardie. It currently has a population of over 60,000 inhabitants.- History :...
tapestries, while the newly installed curved, marble staircase surrounded Bergonzoli's statue "The Love of Angels". At the centre of the house the massive Blue hall displayed further tapestries, Louis XV
Louis XV of France
Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...
furniture, and Sèvres
Sèvres
Sèvres is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris.The town is known for its porcelain manufacture, the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres, making the famous Sèvres porcelain, as well as being the location of the International Bureau of Weights...
porcelain. Sir Julius Wernher's widow, later Lady Ludlow, added her collection of English porcelain to the treasures of the house.
The Wernhers' great art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
collection, equal to that of their neighbours in nearby Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, the Rothschild
Rothschild family
The Rothschild family , known as The House of Rothschild, or more simply as the Rothschilds, is a Jewish-German family that established European banking and finance houses starting in the late 18th century...
s', was later further enhanced by the marriage of Julius Wernher's son Harold Augustus Wernher
Harold Augustus Wernher
Sir Harold Augustus Wernher, 3rd Baronet, GCVO, TD -Biography:He was the son of Sir Julius Wernher, 1st Baronet and his wife Alice Sedgwick Mankiewicz...
to Anastasia de Torby
Anastasia de Torby
Countess Anastasia Mikhailovna de Torby, CBE , also named Lady Zia Wernher, was the elder daughter of Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia, a grandson of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, by Countess Sophie of Merenberg.-Biography:Like her mother, Anastasia was born of a morganatic marriage, and was...
, the morganatic daughter of a member of the former Russian Imperial family, generally known as "Lady Zia". She brought to the collection an incomparable assembly of renaissance enamels and Russian artefacts, including works by the Russian Imperial court jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé
Peter Carl Fabergé
Peter Karl Fabergé also known as Karl Gustavovich Fabergé in Russia was a Russian jeweller of Baltic German-Danish and French origin, best known for the famous Fabergé eggs, made in the style of genuine Easter eggs, but using precious metals and gemstones rather than more mundane materials.-Early...
. For many years the collection and house were open to the public. Many of the Fabergé items were, however, stolen in the 1990s.
Following Lady Zia's death in 1977, the estate passed to her grandson Nicholas Harold Phillips
Nicholas Harold Phillips
Nicholas Harold Phillips was a British landowner in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire with royal connections. As a descendant of Sophia, Electress of Hanover, he was in the line of succession to the British throne.-Life:...
, whose untimely death in 1991 caused the sale of the Mansion House. The priceless collection is now on permanent display at Ranger's House in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. In 1997 the grounds were rented out for that year's Tribal Gathering
Tribal Gathering
Tribal Gathering was a dance music festival that catered for different types of dance music cultures such as drum and bass, techno, rave and house. -History:...
dance music festival, and again in 2005 (although the latter event was cancelled due to the 7 July 2005 London bombings
7 July 2005 London bombings
The 7 July 2005 London bombings were a series of co-ordinated suicide attacks in the United Kingdom, targeting civilians using London's public transport system during the morning rush hour....
).
21st Century
Part of the Luton Hoo Estate—notably the mansion house—has been converted into a luxury hotelHotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
called Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf, and Spa, which opened its doors on 1 October 2007. It has 144 bedrooms and suites. Part of the restoration project involved rebuilding the second floor of the mansion, which was included in the plans drawn up by the original architects. The owners, Elite Hotels, claim that furnishings have been selected to restore the house to its former glory. The entirety of the soft furnishings were supplied by Interiors of Chiswick in London.
Luton Hoo's lake is also home to the 1st Luton Sea Scouts and Explorer Units.
The Walled Garden
Luton Hoo Estate also possesses a 5 acres (20,234.3 m²) octagonal walled gardenWalled garden
A walled garden is specifically a garden enclosed by high walls for horticultural rather than security purposes, though traditionally all gardens have been hedged about or walled for protection from animal or human intruders...
which was established by John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, in the late 1760s. Successive owners of the estate adapted the garden to match the changing fashions in gardens over the years. Numerous heated glasshouses were built by the Leigh family in the last quarter of the 19th century for the production of fruit and flowers. The largest of the glasshouses, built by the firm of Mackenzie and Moncur for Sir Julius and Lady Alice Wernher, is evidence of the extravagance of the Edwardian period. The Walled Garden is currently undergoing extensive restoration work.
Film location
Luton Hoo has appeared in many films including A Shot in the DarkA Shot in the Dark (1964 film)
A Shot in the Dark is a 1964 comedy film directed by Blake Edwards and is the second installment in the Pink Panther series. Peter Sellers is featured again as Inspector Jacques Clouseau of the French Sûreté...
, Never Say Never Again
Never Say Never Again
Never Say Never Again is a 1983 spy film based on the James Bond novel Thunderball, which was previously filmed in 1965 as Thunderball...
, Four Weddings and a Funeral
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Four Weddings and a Funeral is a 1994 British comedy film directed by Mike Newell. It was the first of several films by screenwriter Richard Curtis to feature Hugh Grant...
, Eyes Wide Shut
Eyes Wide Shut
Eyes Wide Shut is a 1999 drama film based upon Arthur Schnitzler's 1926 novella Traumnovelle . The film was directed, produced and co-written by Stanley Kubrick, and was his last film. The story, set in and around New York City, follows the sexually-charged adventures of Dr...
, The Secret Garden
The Secret Garden (1993 film)
The Secret Garden is a 1993 British drama film based on Frances Hodgson Burnett's 1911 novel of the same name. The film was directed by Agnieszka Holland.-Plot:...
, Princess Caraboo
Princess Caraboo (film)
Princess Caraboo is a 1994 British-American historical comedy-drama film co-written and directed by Michael Austin, based on the real-life 19th-century character Princess Caraboo, who passed herself off in British society as an exotic princess who spoke a strange foreign language; she is portrayed...
, Wilde
Wilde (film)
Wilde is a 1997 British biographical film directed by Brian Gilbert with Stephen Fry in the title role. The screenplay by Julian Mitchell is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1987 biography of Oscar Wilde by Richard Ellmann.-Plot:...
, The World Is Not Enough
The World Is Not Enough
The World Is Not Enough is the nineteenth spy film in the James Bond film series, and the third to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film was directed by Michael Apted, with the original story and screenplay written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Bruce Feirstein. It...
, Quills
Quills
Quills is a 2000 period film directed by Philip Kaufman and adapted from the Obie award-winning play by Doug Wright, who also wrote the original screenplay. Inspired by the life and work of the Marquis de Sade, Quills re-imagines the last years of the Marquis' incarceration in the insane asylum at...
, Enigma
Enigma (2001 film)
Enigma is a 2001 British film about the Enigma codebreakers of Bletchley Park in World War II. The film, directed by Michael Apted, stars Dougray Scott and Kate Winslet. The film's screenplay was by Tom Stoppard, based on the novel Enigma by Robert Harris...
and Bright Young Things
Bright Young Things
Bright Young Things is a 2003 British drama film written and directed by Stephen Fry. The screenplay, based on the 1930 novel Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh, provides satirical social commentary about the Bright Young People: young and carefree London aristocrats and bohemians, as well as society in...
. More recently outbuildings were used as a location for the John Landis
John Landis
John David Landis is an American film director, screenwriter, actor, and producer. He is known for his comedies, his horror films, and his music videos with singer Michael Jackson.-Early life and career:...
film Burke and Hare , and stood in for Bleeding Heart Yard in the BBC TV series Little Dorrit
Little Dorrit
Little Dorrit is a serial novel by Charles Dickens published originally between 1855 and 1857. It is a work of satire on the shortcomings of the government and society of the period....
using sets designed originally for the BBC's 2005 BAFTA award winning Bleak House
Bleak House
Bleak House is the ninth novel by Charles Dickens, published in twenty monthly installments between March 1852 and September 1853. It is held to be one of Dickens's finest novels, containing one of the most vast, complex and engaging arrays of minor characters and sub-plots in his entire canon...
. On 13 and 14 October 2010 filming of the Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
film War Horse
War Horse (film)
War Horse is a 2011 British-American war drama film directed by Steven Spielberg and is intended for release in the United States on 25 December 2011 and in the United Kingdom on 13 January 2012...
was taking place at Luton Hoo.