Fieldhead crosses over to Wuthering Heights

This kind of news can open a new category which can be defined as Brontë crossovers: Birstall's Oakwell Hall (on which Shirley's Fieldhead is modeled) is used as location for the ITV Wuthering Heights miniseries as can be read in the Yorkshire Evening Post:
Picture source: spicycaldron in flickr. Whole set.

IT'S already well known to lovers of the work of Charlotte Bronte.
Now Birstall's Oakwell Hall is set to play a starring role in a major television adaptation of Wuthering Heights, her sister Emily's classic tale of romance and revenge.
The Elizabethan manor house has been picked as one of the locations for the filming of the drama, which is being made for ITV by production company Mammoth Screen.
Oakwell Hall's first brush with fame came in 1849, when Charlotte Bronte used it as the basis for a house called Fieldhead in her novel Shirley.
The historic building was also chosen as a location for a 1920s silent movie version of Shirley.
And council chiefs in Kirklees are delighted that the hall is now poised to renew its acquaintance with the world of the Yorkshire-born Bronte sisters.
Coun Liz Smaje, Kirklees Cabinet member for culture and leisure, said: "This is a fantastic opportunity for Oakwell to be linked with a high-profile film production.
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"It is popular as a historical film location – this, though, will be by far the biggest production the site has seen."
Wuthering Heights cast members include former Coronation Street favourite Sarah Lancashire and Andrew Lincoln, who played Egg in cult BBC Two show This Life.
Band of Brothers actor Tom Hardy will portray Heathcliff while newcomer Charlotte Riley has landed the part of Cathy.
Filming means the hall will be closed to the public for four weeks from Monday.
It will re-open on August 3 as part of this year's Yorkshire Day celebrations.
Members of the public will be able to use Oakwell's front lawn during shooting, although access to some parts of its formal gardens may be restricted at certain times.
The rest of the surrounding country park will be open as usual.
The hall was built in 1583 by John Batt and today offers visitors an insight into the workings of a post English Civil War household. (Paul Robinson)

Some more details can be read on the Friends of Oakwell Hall website:

Filming schedules mean closing the Hall from Monday, July 7 until the grand reopening on August 3rd. But the rest of the country park will be open as usual and you may even spot some stars as you enjoy the scenery. Free events planned for this period will be unaffected. (...)
There will be nine full days of filming, with another week on either side to prepare and dismantle sets.
To accommodate the large-scale production, the Hall, which is managed by Kirklees Culture and Leisure Services, will be closed to the public for four weeks from Monday, July 7. However, the rest of the country park will be open as usual for visitors to enjoy and free events planned for this period, including family activity days, will be unaffected. Visitors will be able to use the front lawn and will have access to the formal gardens at the rear of the Hall as normal. However, during certain periods of filming, visitors to the formal gardens may be restricted in how close they can go to the Elizabethan manor house.
Inside the Hall, rooms are being temporarily redressed, including substituting furniture and adding props and atmospheric lighting to recreate the interior of 'Wuthering Heights'.
All the alterations are being done in agreement with, and under the supervision of, museum managers. Before the production company arrives, museum staff will be removing historic items of furniture, ornaments, paintings and wall hangings for safe storage. Afterwards, the Hall's rooms will be restored to exactly as they were - a 1690s post English Civil War household.
There will be a grand re-opening of the Hall to the public to coincide with Yorkshire Day on Sunday, August 3.
Councillor Liz Smaje, Kirklees Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure, commented: ‘This is a fantastic opportunity for Oakwell Hall to be linked with a high profile Bronte film production, together with other prestigious Yorkshire sites such as East Riddlesden Hall.' (...)
‘Wuthering Heights' will bring Oakwell's Bronte connection full circle as far as film is concerned. Featured as ‘Fieldhead' in Charlotte Bronte's classic novel ‘Shirley', Oakwell was used as the location for the 1920s silent film version of the book. Stills from that film are part of the museum's collections.

Categories: In the News, Movies-DVD-TV, Wuthering Heights