Where was The Dig filmed? The House & ALL the Filming Locations
Posted by Ra Moon
Based on the 2007 novel and the real-life story of one of the greatest archaeological discoveries in England, The Dig was primarily filmed in Suffolk and Surrey.
The astonishing discovery of the Anglo-Saxon treasure took place at Sutton Hoo, near the town of Woodbridge in the late 1930s.
The astonishing discovery of the Anglo-Saxon treasure took place at Sutton Hoo, near the town of Woodbridge in the late 1930s.
The film stars Carey Mulligan (Collateral, Promising Young Woman) as the wealthy landowner Edith Pretty who hires self-taught archaeologist and astronomer Basil Brown, played by Ralph Fiennes (Grand Budapest Hotel, The Constant Gardener) as well as Lily James (Baby Driver, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again) as Peggy Piggott.
While several websites are already reporting on the movie locations, none of them picked up the magnificent manor house featured in the film.
Atlas of Wonders tracked down this key location and more; let's dig a bit deeper into the filming locations of The Dig:
The Yorkshire Evening Post reported that the opening scene with Ralph onboard a boat was filmed on the ferry from Felixstowe to Bawdsey in Suffolk, which still transports foot passengers and bicycles across the River Deben to this day.
However (update), we were able to determine that the location was actually the Butley Foot Ferry crossing the Butley River near Orford, also in Suffolk (thank you Ian Exton for finding this).
Edith Pretty’s gorgeous manor house is one of the highlights of The Dig.
Built between 1897 and 1903, the Norney Grange is a Grade II listed property located in Norley, a locality of Shackleford in Surrey.
The house also appeared in the 2015 BBC 2 television drama London Spy.
Image courtesy of Netflix - Map
Norney Grange was designed by Charles Voysey. According to the owner Mr. Russell Clapshaw, Voysey experimented in Norney, trying to discover Englishness in architectural style.
The leaded light windows are of the Tudor style, while the shaped roofs above the inglenooks are Gothic. Also, some elements display foreign styles, like the iconic Roman round window above the front door.
The metalwork on the front door and the bars for opening and closing windows are Belgian art Nouveau.
The interior of the house is largely intact. The wood-paneled entrance hall, the library with fireplace, and the dining room with a green marble chimney featured in the film preserve many of the original period fittings.
The manor is deliberately asymmetric both outside and in most of the inside rooms.
Russell explains that “the major achievement of Voysey is the intense feeling of unity between house and garden”, thanks to the scale and proportion. “The sense of unity with nature makes for an architectural experience of a high order”.
Sadly, the estate is not open to the public for visiting.
According to BBC News, the Sutton Hoo excavations of the undisturbed ship burial were recreated in a field in Godalming in Surrey, near the house.
This National Trust property is open all year round, and the movie shows excavation in action, so it wouldn’t have been appropriate for the Netflix team to undertake any filming on the burial site.
Image courtesy of Netflix - Map
However, director Simon Stone was adamant that filming take place in Suffolk. So most of the landscapes featured in The Dig were filmed there, like when Brown is riding his bicycle through the countryside.
Pictured, the All Saints Church in Ramsholt (about 6 miles from Sutton Hoo), one of only 38 round tower churches in Suffolk.
East Anglian Daily Times reports that establishing shots were filmed at the Suffolk Heaths Area of Outstanding National Beauty, the Shingle Street village, and Aldeburgh beach.
Image courtesy of Netflix - Map
One of our favorite cinematographic moments of the film is the scene where the sailing barge Cygnet appears on the screen.
Built in 1881, this small cargo vessel was refitted as a private yacht. The boat is based near the Snape Maltings arts complex on the banks of the River Alde.
Image courtesy of Netflix - Map
The Ipswich Museum facade is the east entrance of the Ealing Town Hall (New Broadway, London).
In reality, the staircase inside the "museum" leads to the first-floor registry office.
Image courtesy of Netflix - Map
The scene where Edith takes a train to visit the doctor in London was filmed at the historic Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway station in South Oxfordshire.
The monument that workers cover with sandbags to protect it from air raids is the Gladstone Statue in Temple, London.
Also, the filmmakers used Pinewood's Underwater Stage for the underwater sequence with the plane.
The Bull Hotel where the archeologist crew from the British Museum stay during the excavation is the Stag and Huntsman pub in Hambleden.
The scenes in the town square were also filmed in this small and beautiful hamlet in Buckinghamshire.
We immediately recognized this location because it also featured as the village where Disenchanted was filmed.
Image courtesy of Netflix - Maps
The final passionate love scene was filmed in a brick structure located at the Boyton and Hollesley Marshes in the Alde and Ore estuary.
The supporting cast is completed by Johnny Flynn as photographer Rory Lomax, Ben Chaplin as Stuart Piggott, Archie Barnes as the kid Robert Pretty, Ken Stott as Charles Phillips, and Monica Dolan as May Brown.
Image courtesy of Netflix - Map
Where is the church and cemetery where Mr. Pretty was buried in the movie? Can you help to improve this article about the filming locations of The Dig?
To complete and correct this report, any feedback, info, or images that you may have are more than welcome, thank you!
NOTICE: If you’re using this information on your website, please credit and link to this page as a source.
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To complete and correct this report, any feedback, info, or images that you may have are more than welcome, thank you!
NOTICE: If you’re using this information on your website, please credit and link to this page as a source.
*****
Ra Moon
Atlas of Wonders is looking for wonderful Filming Locations all around the world. We are constantly updating and improving our posts with new details and images. Follow us here:
The Ipswich Museum scene is set in Ealing Town Hall, east entrance (single doorway opposed to the west wing's double doorway)[ 51.5130°N 0.3076°W]. Basil's arrival by bike shows him arriving from right to left whereas the scene was filmed left to right. In reality, the staircase inside the "museum" leads to the first floor registry office
ReplyDeleteWas the scene in the cinema filmed at the Riverside Theatre in Woodbridge?
ReplyDeleteThe ferry at the start is the Butley Foot Ferry, across the Butley River near Orford, Suffolk.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure this house also featured in an episode of Foyle's War.
ReplyDeleteAll comments are reviewed prior to publication