Norwich Cathedral and Close work well on screen. Internal and external shots of the Cathedral, Cloister, and buildings in the Close have featured in a number of period and modern productions. These range from the recent film Dean Spanley to The Antiques Roadshow to BBC productions of George Eliot's The Mill on the Floss and P.D. James' Death in Holy Orders.
Sam Neill as Dean Spanley outside the East End of Norwich Cathedral
Why should a film production team want to shoot in Norwich Cathedral Close?
The forty-four acres of the Close provide a surprisingly rich and varied source of film backdrop with the added advantages that the forty-four acres are private property, so we can control the traffic - often a major issue for film crews, and heritage property, so their external and internal appearance is already tightly regulated (eg no satellite dishes outside and lots of period features inside).
The Close can be anything from a street scene of different periods, to a cottage, to a playing field, to stables.
See the Close as a film backdrop.
The Cathedral team are experienced in meeting the needs of film-makers and we extend to them our Benedictine tradition of hospitality. During the recent filming for Dean Spanley Sam Neill, who played Dean Spanley, was given a private tour of the Cathedral by one of our volunteer guides while still in period dress!
Toa Fraser, the Director of Dean Spanley, recently described how he had found filming here memorable. 'It was a privilege to work in and with Norwich Cathedral as a key part of the storytelling of Dean Spanley. We used the Cathedral and an old monastic building in the Close, and shot inside and out. On the last day of the shoot, we filmed in the Cathedral cloisters. It had been a tough but fulfilling, happy shoot. It was bitterly cold. We shot a scene in which Jeremy Northam locks horns with his father, Peter O'Toole. It was O'Toole's last moment on set, and as Northam and O'Toole performed their scene we roared our delight. We said our goodbyes, and I sat alone in the cloisters, listening to the choir practising Hark the Herald Angels Sing: a moving moment I'll never forget. We are indebted to The Very Reverend Graham Smith, Philip Thomas and the staff of Norwich Cathedral for their assistance and generosity.'
Find out more about Dean Spanley.
To find out more about using Norwich Cathedral and Close as a film or TV location please contact Phil Thomas, Estates Manager (01603 218309)