Northwest Vision and Media, create the bigger picture
Muncaster Castle
"The ornaments of a house are the friends who frequent it" is the adopted motto of the Pennington family who run Muncaster Castle.
This welcoming attitude is extended to potential filmmakers who
have an endless choice of backdrops amongst the castle and its
surroundings. A Church with an ancient graveyard, wild woods,
landscaped gardens, amazing views, shops, an indoor maze, the World
Owl Trust and the castle itself dating from medieval times. Those
fortunate enough (or perhaps unfortunate) may also end up recording
more than they intend. There have been a few
‘interesting’ web-cam shots taken from the allegedly
haunted Tapestry Room.
Aside from the spook factor, the beautiful grounds of Muncaster have housed a wide variety of productions from live satellite-broadcast news pieces to documentaries and features.
As Peter Frost-Pennington says:
“We've crawled around the graveyard at midnight, photographed
lingerie models in the Library, reconstructed murders in the woods,
and played host to medieval banquets.
A variety of local, national and international broadcasters
including Sky, BBC, ITV, GMTV, National Geographic and The
Discovery Channel have shot at the castle. To name a few;
‘Castle Ghosts of England’, ‘Parsons on
Class’, ‘Strange But True?’ ‘I'll Show Them
Who's Boss’ and ‘Twisted Tales’.”
Muncaster has around 18Km of electrical and fibre-optic cabling around the Castle and its gardens, fitted primarily for the “Darkest Muncaster experience", a winter evening show of lights, sounds and special effects. For filmmakers this means that 240v electricity points can be provided at most spots around the gardens and castle.
For overnight stays there is on-site accommodation (there will soon be over 50 B&B bedrooms in and around Muncaster) and unlimited parking. A bar is also available on site, which can be opened on request!
As a bonus for crews, some of the staff at the castle are from a TV production background so they understand better than most what filmmakers need. Their wide experience of working with the media means they understand what is required to produce good quality work in the time available. “We never work a 5 day, 9-to-5 working week. There are some constraints, but we try our best to accommodate everyone.”
Alan Saywell, Cumbria’s Film Officer said:
“Muncaster is a fantastic location for all kinds of
productions. A vast estate complements the castle and its
surrounding grounds make equally good areas for filming. The owners
also have a very film-friendly attitude, which always helps! In my
time at the film office, there have been plenty of requests and
filming activity at Muncaster which is no surprise considering the
beauty of the location”.
Contact Muncaster Castle:
Muncaster
Castle
Ravenglass
Cumbria
CA18 1RQ
Phone 01229 717 614
Fax 01229 717 010
Reception is open 8.30am - 6pm Monday to Friday
9am - 5pm Saturday and Sunday
General enquiries - info@muncaster.co.uk
Media/Press enquiries - becky@muncaster.co.uk
www.muncaster.co.uk
Contact the Cumbria Film Office:
For
filming enquiries in Cumbria please contact Alan Saywell, Cumbria
Film Liason Officer on 01228 400 338
