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LOCATIONS FOCUS: BISHAM ABBEY
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What is the history of your location?
It's now one of England's National Sports Centres, but the 800-year-old Abbey was once a home and place of refuge for the English nobility and aristocracy. The most ancient parts of the Abbey date all the way back to 1138AD, when the Knights Templar were in residence. When they were disbanded in 1308AD the Abbey then became the home of the Earl of Salisbury and then, two centuries later, the Hoby Family.
In 1780 the Abbey was purchased by the Vansittart family and remained in their hands until 1947, when Phyllis Vansittart sold the building to what is now known as Sport England, in memory of her two nephews who were keen sportsmen but were both tragically killed in the second world war.
What does it mean to the local people?
The Abbey has been official training centre for the England football team and the Great Britain hockey squads as well as home to the Lawn Tennis Association, the British Weightlifters Association and the British Judo Association, so the locals have been pretty used to seeing sports stars walking about the village for over half a century now.
The building itself is regarded with a lot of affection within the community and we do our best to make sure that close ties are maintained, including holding functions such a Christmas party for the local children every year, which is great fun. It does a little towards smoothing over the indignation of seeing the place overrun with camera crews every so often!
How long has it been used as a location for the film/broadcast industry?
Sport England only gave the go-ahead for Bisham Abbey to become a filming location two years ago, but it's clearly the kind of location that's in demand as we've seen an awful lot of productions come through in that short time.
Celebrity Fit Club was filmed here, with the celebrities weighing-in in the Great Hall, as well as making good use of the extensive sporting facilities around the grounds. Celebrity footballers taking part in The Match (Sky TV) also trained to take on the legends on the same pitches that the England players use. On the big screen, both Iris and Mike Bassett England Manager were also filmed at Bisham Abbey.
What makes it so attractive as a filming location?
Bisham Abbey really does have more than its fair share of attractions for anyone looking for a beautiful and functional location. Not only is the Abbey an English Heritage listed building, it also has extensive well-kept grounds which are situated on a particularly serene and beautiful stretch of the Thames and it even has its own moorings. Having been an elite athletes' centre for most of the last century it is also one of the UK's top sporting facilities.
With so much filming going on here in the last two years, what we also have now is friendly and efficient staff who have a lot of experience working with film crews and coping with the special demands placed on them by production companies. There's excellent access, ample car and truck parking and we can also offer top-class catering and accommodation for small or large-scale productions.
What do you like the most about it?
A building with such a long history is bound to have had a few different styles imposed upon it along the way and this is certainly the case at Bisham Abbey. You can't see from the outside but, in amongst the buildings, there is an area we call the Triangle Courtyard and, from here, you can see the entire hodge-podge of styles and eras, one next to the other, in all their glorious eccentricity and harmony.
What is your favourite piece of trivia about your location?
The Great Hall in the Abbey is used as a dining room now, though you might recognise it as the room where the weigh-ins took place in Celebrity Fit Club. This room is part of the original building where Henry VIII himself had a room. In fact, you can see approximately where the room was, because of the small window which looks out over the Great Hall. Allegedly the king had it put in so that he could get a good look at the Courtesans in the room below.
If the building’s walls could talk, what do you hope they would keep a secret?
The Abbey is so old and has had so many alterations over the years that we're positive there are rooms and staircases still to be discovered. Some walls are so thick that they must be hiding something - legend has it that there's even a tunnel which runs out of the building and underneath the Thames, though we've never found it.
We may never know for sure what treasures there are to be found, because the building's heritage status means it's really difficult to get in and take a look. At the moment there's a team of archaeologists looking for the foundations of a cathedral down by the Thames.
But the saddest secret is surely that of Lady Hoby, who is said to have beaten her child and left him forgotten in the tower, where he died. Her unfortunate ghost still walks the Abbey in remorse, as some of our staff will attest!
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