Somerset, as a region, has a lot things going for it including Cheddar Cheese, Scrumpy Cider, Glastonbury Festival and of course… Hollywood blockbuster films!
The West country is a very popular tourist destination with urban and rural attractions ranging from the depths of Cheddar Gorge to the wide sandy beaches of Western-Super Mare.
Known as one of the country’s most relaxing and peaceful counties, Somerset will surprise you with the blockbusters that have been filmed there.
The popular comedy duo of Nick Frost and Simon Pegg based their highly popular action/comedy Hot Fuzz in the town of Wells, just a stones throw from the honeypot of Cheddar Gorge and Cheddar Woods Resort & Spa. The ‘Sandford Pub’ can be found in the form of The Crown in the Somerset town of Wells. The Market Square of Wells hosted the firefight at the finale of the film, where policemen Pegg and Frost shoot it out with the village villains.
The natural beauty of this area really lends itself to historic films depicting the English countryside as it once was, so the county has also played host to historical award winning films such as Elizabeth the Golden Age. Wells Cathedral hosted Academy Award winners Cate Blanchett and Clive Owen during their depiction of King Philip II’s 1558 attempted armada against England. Elizabeth’s famous address to her troops is filmed at Brean Down headland near Weston-Super-Mare.
The city of Bath was seen as the perfect location to film parts of Tom Hopper’s Les Miserables. Les Miserables, although set in France, was almost entirely shot in England with the Avon Weir in Bath the setting for a very dramatic scene within the film. With many scenes being filmed around the centre of the City, it would be difficult not to recognise the historic architecture lending itself to the 19th Century classic. The famous scene of Javert’s Suicide was filmed at the River Seine in Bath.
The second series of the award winning TV show Broadchurch was mainly filmed in the North Somerset town of Clevedon. The Clevedon pier has also hosted the biggest boy band in the world, One Direction, for their new music video ‘You & I’. The band may be a mystery to you but your children will undoubtedly be able to tell you all about THE Harry Styles! This star struck town is situated just west of Bristol, about a 30-minute drive from Cheddar Woods Holiday Park and Resort.