Longbourn P & P 2005
Groombridge Place, “a 17th Century moated manor house” was used for the Bennet home of Longbourn in the 2005 Pride & Prejudice. Located in Turnbridge Wells, in Kent, the home stands within the popular Groombridge Gardens, which were designed and constructed in the 1600’s to entertain the privileged guests of the manor. The gardens have been expanded over the centuries, and an Enchanted Forest was created; one can imagine the likes of which would have certainly enchanted Regency travelers, with roaming alpacas, deer, and giant rabbits (as well as a rare zeedonk, a cross between a zebra and a donkey), as well as playgrounds, exotic plants, and statues of giant reptiles! The Enchanted Forest also houses the Raptor Centre; founded in 1977, it is now the largest rehab and conservation center for birds of prey in southeast England.
It is believed a settlement has been present on the grounds where Groombridge Place (a private home, not open to the public, unfortunately) stands since the Saxon times, around 1000 AD. In 1239, William Russell was granted the Lordship of Groombridge, and he built a moated castle on the site. The lordship passed to Henry de Cobham in 1261, who became the 1st Baron Cobham. Groombridge then passed to the Earls of Clinton and then to Thomas Waller around 1400, whose family held the estate until the 1600’s (Charles, Duc d’Orleans, was actually held at Groombridge after Agincourt, writing most of his poetry there before returning to France some 24 years later). In 1604, Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset, purchased the estate and built a number of houses in the town, but his grandson’s gambling problem necessitated selling Groombridge to a John Packer in 1618, and the architect Phillip Packer built the present-day house in 1662. After his death, Groombridge Place remained largely devoid of inhabitants, and in 1919, the house was bought by Mr. S.W. Mountain, who made a number of improvements. In 1991, Groombridge estate was sold, the furniture auctioned off, and the leisure gardens opened to the public.
By the time pre-production was beginning on P & P, the house had actually recently been bought by a chairman of a film and television production company, who readily agreed to let the production crew turn Groombridge into a 18th-century lesson in “British realism”; instead of your typical polished costume drama home, this Longbourn would be slightly messy, looking more than a little worn out. In short, Longbourn would look lived in—it would look like the home of 5 unmarried girls with a scatterbrained mother and working, uninterested father. (Check out this Telegraph article, “A house in want of a fortune.”)
The production was fortunate to want to use the house as the Bennet family home at a time when the property had changed hands (for only the second time in 400 years), and the new owner was persuaded to delay his own plans for interior redecoration until after the Bennets and production crew had moved out. Sarah Greenwood (Production Designer) and her art department were able to transform the house interior to late 18th Century shabby chic. ‘Longbourn’ became a house overrun with young women. The home of a genteel family but not a wealthy one, where the only tranquillity is to be found in Mr Bennet’s library. On the exterior, Lizzie’s duckboard bridge was built across the moat, windows were changed to match the period portrayed, and the tidy courtyard became the manure-rich, animal refuge of the various farmyard creatures kept for the family table. (Working Title Films)
The Director, Joe Wright, says “It is quite unusual for a film of this size to be shot entirely on location where the camera had the luxury of seeing outside from inside and vice versa.” Part of the Director’s idea was to create a reality which allowed the actors to relax, and cast members “instead of retiring to their movie trailers between scenes, would head for their own Groombridge bedrooms.” (Press & Media)
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