The Bath Preservation Trust has several period properties in Bath, which ones allow filming?
No.1 Royal Crescent Museum, The Herschel Museum of Astronomy, The Museum of Bath Architecture, Beckford’s Tower.
Why say yes to filming?
Each of our special museums has a very different character in terms of their individual stories, their interiors, exteriors and atmospheres, and it is a wonderful thing to be able to showcase these to a wider audience.
What impact has filming had on No. 1 Royal Crescent?
Some visitors have told us that they have seen The Royal Crescent - and sometimes No.1 specifically - in a film or TV drama, and that it inspired them to visit us. The dramatic façade of the Crescent really lends itself to Regency dramas. Thanks to the Featheringtons, our front door has now become synonymous with Bridgerton! And the penultimate scene in Persuasion (2007) with Sally Hawkins’ Anne running to find Captain Wentworth is referenced quite a lot. I think a lot of people who have seen these shows will try to see the Royal Crescent when they visit Bath.
Do you have any good anecdotes of Bridgerton fans visiting No. 1 RC?
There are fans who want to visit all the Bridgerton locations, and make the pilgrimage to us as the Featherington House, and then there are super fans who want to know everything about what the filming was like and who we all met. Our staff who were involved with the filming all really love it and are more than happy to talk about what being on the set was like, and how lovely everyone was. So, we can cater to all level of fans. Our curator has read all the books and is just waiting to do a super fan tour of the museum! Most Bridgerton fans want to know which main cast members were in the house and how swoon-worthy they were (they all were, even all the supporting actors).
What measures do you have to put in place to make sure filming won’t damage your buildings?
We spend a lot of time working with the location team and show’s art department to ensure that what they want to achieve doesn’t harm the building. We try our best to make everything possible, and it’s always a really good partnership, with the production team being very considerate of what they might need to put in place to protect the museum. The location managers and their team are always brilliant. We normally have to move some objects and pack some things away and put down protective floor covers. Boxing in CCTV cameras and covering over modern plug sockets always looks a bit odd but when you see it on screen some sort of magic happens so that they become invisible. It can be a nerve-wracking experience for a curator, but the teams we have worked with have all been really considerate and respectful of the historic spaces and buildings, and that makes it easy for us.
Has a crew ever asked for something unexpected?
On one occasion while filming the first series of Bridgerton, they needed another indoor space at the last minute for the Featheringtons between takes, so we opened up our museum shop to see if it would do. Before we knew it Nicola Coughlan, Polly Walker and the gang were sitting amongst our postcards and magnets in those fantastic costumes gossiping over coffee and cake.
Are there any less enjoyable aspects to filming?
No, not really, the hours can be long, but the production teams do most of the hard work and are still always lovely and treat us as part of the team, even offering us snacks and drinks from the catering tent (always appreciated by museum staff). It’s fun to see the sets take shape and come alive, and great to feel like you are part of making that happen.
What do you think makes a location ‘filming friendly’?
We are really open to making the vision of the production possible at our locations, and be as helpful as we can for all aspects of a shoot. A lot of our spaces that get used for filming are actually never seen on screen. Corridors and toilets get used by cast and crew as green rooms and our Servants’ Hall at No.1 Royal Crescent frequently becomes the hair and make-up station for principal actors. Seeing Lily James twirling around in full 1920s costume during filming for Pursuit of Love in that space next to our second-hand book stall was bizarre but brilliant.
