Sherlockian Sojourns #68: As Seen on Screen - 'Leave It To Belvoir'

Another day, another sojourn. After a leisurely early morning, myself and my friend jumped in his car for the forty-five minute drive to our first port of call, Belvoir Castle (pronounced ‘Beaver Castle’), home of the Duke and Duchess of Rutland, about seven miles west of Grantham in Leicestershire. A castle was first built on the site immediately after the Norman Conquest of 1066 and has since been rebuilt at least three times. The final building is a Grade I listed mock castle, dating from the early 19th century. In ‘Young Sherlock Holmes’ (1985), when Holmes (Nicholas Rowe) and Watson (Alan Cox) look up to see Waxflatter (Nigel Stock) demonstrating his flying machine, the crenellated towers of 'Brompton School' are those of the Castle. However, these scenes were filmed in two halves with Waxflatter being here, and the others being in the quad of Eton College (visited on a previous sojourn), with them all never appearing together in the same shot.  [I have also visited two other locations used for Brompton School – Brasenose College Oxford & Radley College]. The Castle also provided the castellated home of Chester Cragwitch (Freddie Jones).

On arrival it became clear that as with Chatsworth the previous day, an event was going on, namely a Garden Show. It was therefore initially difficult to find a parking space, and we managed to confuse one of the parking attendants due to not noticing an overflow car park and therefore claiming to him that all car parks were full. Making our way to the entrance, we paid slightly increased entry prices (for the Gardens only as no filming took place in the Castle interior).

It was then up a steep path to the top of the hill where the Castle and Gardens were situated. On the way there were shield-shaped signs outlining the Castle’s history from 1066.

‘Do you think that there’ll be a 1985 one at the top mentioning the filming ?’, I joked to my friend.

On reaching the top, the final shield was labelled ‘Today’, initially causing me to express mock annoyance, until my friend pointed out that this did indeed mention the ‘YSH’ filming.

 

 

We then made our way around the Castle, comparing screenshots, initially without success. My friend still recovering from the climb, I popped through a gate to see the back of the Castle, but ended up finding it difficult to find my way back. In the meantime, my friend had followed me, but found on his return that the gate had been locked behind him. I had managed to find my way out and even found the part of the Castle used in the film. I then managed to get to my friend and we made our way back to the front of the Castle.

 

   

Pausing for an ice-lolly and can of Coke for my friend to top-up his blood sugar levels, we then made our way to the side of the Castle used in the film, taking multiple photos.

     

Retracing our steps, we made our way back down to the car park, and having not gone into the Castle itself, I went into the next-door ‘Engine Yard Retail Village’ looking for souvenirs. In ‘The Duchess Gallery’, I purchased a thimble and key-fob with a painting of the Castle on (they didn’t have any postcards), getting the cost of the parking deducted from my total.

Having eaten our lunch in the car park, we drove on to our next port of call, Flintham Hall, in the village of Flintham just outside Newark, which was the location chosen to portray the lair of Charles Augustus Milverton (Robert Hardy) in Granada’s ‘The Master Blackmailer’.

The Manor of Flintham dates back to the 10th Century and by the late 13th Century it was owned by Sir John de Hose (Throsby 1790). His descendants, the Hoses, then the Husseys, owned Flintham until it was purchased by Richard Hacker in the 17th Century. The Hall in its present form is as remodelled by Thomas C Hine of Nottingham, in 1853/7 in an Italianate style, encasing earlier buildings on three sides and built of brick, partly rendered, and ashlar with hipped and gabled roofs. The lake was put in at this time and the lime avenue planted. The Hall is on the site of an older medieval and Jacobean house which was rebuilt in 1798, and faced in 1853/7 in Ancaster stone. The east front, a two-storey service wing incorporating part of the 17th Century house, has an off-centre late 20th Century Doric portico which now faces a blank wall which is the western boundary of the churchyard. The north front, c1798 with mid-19th Century embellishments, abuts part of the service wing and faces the stable yard.

Having finally found somewhere to park, we followed the directions of a local. Although it is not possible to visit the Hall itself, it is visible from nearby parkland. After a short walk down a track, we decided that we had gone wrong and returned to the main road through the village, making our way to a nearby church which abutted the wall enclosing the Hall. However, there was no way through, and so having checked if there was a way through higher up a side-road which there was not, we retraced our steps, and on my own this time, I made my way along the track again. Having continued for a further two minutes, the track turned a corner, and the Hall was visible to the right. Photos taken, I rejoined my friend.

    

Returning back to my friend’s home via Newark itself to look for bargains, we spent the evening of National Cinema Day watching Sherlockian films – starting with a Douglas Wilmer TV episode of ‘The Devil’s Foot’ (co-starring Second Doctor, Patrick Troughton), followed by ‘Basil The Great Mouse Detective’, and finally ‘Young Sherlock Holmes’ with the flying machine scenes being a particular study.

The next day, I made my way home via London Anime & Gaming Con to meet Elsie Lovelock who voices Mary Morstan in the Anime of ‘Moriarty The Patriot’.