Haddon Hall
"I love Thornfield, I love it because I have lived in it a full and delightful life" Jane Eyre declares in Charlotte Brontë's Jane Erye. The place Eyre came to love so passionately in Masterpiece's 2006 production is in reality Haddon Hall, the ancestral home of the Dukes of Rutland, overlooking the River Wye near Bakewell, Derbyshire in England.
Haddon Hall entered English history when William the Conqueror's illegitimate son Peverel took possession of it in 1087, and did not pass into English hands again until the early 13th century. In 1703, the Rutland family seat was moved from Haddon Hall to Belvoir Castle, and Haddon Hall was left as it was, untouched for two centuries, suspended in time and memory until the 1920s.
By then, there was a flurry of public interest in the house. A light opera, Haddon Hall, featured music by Arthur Sullivan of Gilbert and Sullivan fame in 1892, and a 1902 novel called Dorothy Vernon was named for the impetuous heiress of the Hall who famously eloped in 1563, against the wishes of her father.
Fans of the Masterpiece production of Jane Eyre will remember certain rooms and grounds at Haddon Hall with great fondness, and perhaps a quickened pulse: the courtyard where Rochester paces as Jane watches him from her room; the Banqueting Hall where Rochester first interviews Jane, assessing her witch's ways; the River Wye itself, near where Jane and Rochester sit talking on so many occasions; and the Long Gallery, the room where the party of guests, including Blanche Ingram, talk, flirt, and size up the plain, little governess who is somehow always present when Mr. Rochester is there. The Long Gallery, with its tall windows, gold wallpaper, carved candle sconces, enormous fireplace, and gold chairs is a fairy world of wealth and privilege to Jane, and a prison to Rochester until she arrives.
Filming at Haddon Hall for the Masterpiece production had only one drawback for its cast and crew, according to Producer Diederick Santer: the house had no central heating, and when filming began there in March, everyone involved was as freezing as the girls at Lowood School. The lovely ladies in their summer gowns would rush back into their parkas once filming was done, and all were glad when the Hall warmed up in June. Art Director Patrick Rolfe added that the production team also had to cover many modern radiators and light switches by building new walls over the old ones that looked just like the original walls.
Haddon Hall has been used for many productions, including Elizabeth (1999), the 2005 production of Pride and Prejudice, and Moll Flanders, but it is the story of Jane Eyre that continually attracts filmmakers: Franco Zeffirelli filmed Jane Eyre there in 1996, Masterpiece in 2006, and Focus Features in 2010 (coming to theaters in 2012).
Bakewell, Derbyshire DE45 1LA, United Kingdom | Email: info@haddonhall.co.uk
As the current Duke of Rutland and his family still live in Haddon Hall, it is never entirely open to visitors, and has more limited hours than other houses which are strictly museums. It is open various dates and times throughout the year, with special events, music, performances and tours detailed on the website.
