Series 1 - Locations
Merlin was full of wonderful characters and daring and nods to Arthurian legend but the gorgeous locations made it even richer.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see them filming until Series 3 but I've been several times to the major location settings that we've come to love over the years. So I thought I'd share something of series 1 locations.
Merlin's very first scene takes place at Ivinghoe Beacon. We see our intrepid Merlin walking along the Ridgeway path that is 5000 years old - Britain's oldest road.
Here is the lion that they talked about in the behind the scenes video diaries.
The iron age fort that Colin must have seen as he walked down the road.
As he walks along into the forest, it's really the road around Pierrefonds and then we see the castle. Happy sigh.
Chateau de Pierrefonds in the heart of Oise France is a perfect castle for Merlin. Built in the 1500s, it was a ruin when Napoleon III got hold of it and asked his architect to rebuild it. Used extensively in Merlin, there are dungeons and crypts and all kinds of rooms that added a richness to Merlin. Here's a few photos.
Courtyard
Griffin Hall and stairs
Great Hall
Banquet Hall
Dungeon
Dragon's lair
Halls
Lady Helen's hallway
Entry to Morgana's room
Location where the mace fight between Arthur and Merlin took place. It's now the gift shop.
Parking lot where a lot of the tourney fight scenes takes place.
But Pierrefonds wasn't the first banquet hall used. Penshurst Place has that honour. An old medieval hall, it was transformed for the Lady Helen singing scene.
Merlin also made use of caves. In the early episodes, they used Chistlehurst Caves in southern England. You can still take a tour although they don't take people near where filming took place. (Later they used Clearwell Caves in the Forest of Dean extensively. It's an iron age mine and still in production. But we don't see it until series 2 so we'll skip past that!)
Sorry but it's really dark in the caves
Speech House Lake in the Forest of Dean was used in the Gates of Avalon and Excalibur episodes and we see it used throughout the show's run. To make it look different, they CGI backgrounds but it's the same lake. Honestly, it's pretty ordinary but I got ridiculously excited to find it, knowing they'd filmed there.
Tree that Merlin hid behind.
Cosmeston Medieval Village outside Penarth, Wales, was used as Ealdor. It's very small, just a few buildings but the way it was filmed, it looked much larger. I was able to get back to where Merlin had been chopping wood but that's now fenced off. Still, it's a lovely place.
Will's house.
Hunith's house
Then there was the Labyrinth of Gedref. :D They used the aMazing Hedge Puzzle near Goodrich, UK for the labryrinth. It's very small but fun to run around, knowing that Arthur and Merlin had been there, too.
The unicorn and other scenes took place in Puzzlewood in the Forest of Dean, an Iron Age open mine. It's quite magical there and I could certainly understand why they used it. However, I don't think I've ever been there on a sunny day, though.
The drinking-of-poison scene took place at Dunraven Bay near Southerdown, Wales. Also used in Doctor Who a number of times, it was Merlin that drew me there. It's quite wild at times but so lovely when the tide goes out and the sun is shining.
Finally, Raglan Castle was used for the Morte d'Arthur episode - and has been used in a number of other episodes since then.
The moat that Merlin used to get to Nimueh.
For further information, merlinlocations is a wonderful resource. It includes locations by episode, how to get there, a little information on what it really is and comments of things to look out for. I highly recommend it, especially if you plan on travelling to any of the locations.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see them filming until Series 3 but I've been several times to the major location settings that we've come to love over the years. So I thought I'd share something of series 1 locations.
Merlin's very first scene takes place at Ivinghoe Beacon. We see our intrepid Merlin walking along the Ridgeway path that is 5000 years old - Britain's oldest road.
Here is the lion that they talked about in the behind the scenes video diaries.
The iron age fort that Colin must have seen as he walked down the road.
As he walks along into the forest, it's really the road around Pierrefonds and then we see the castle. Happy sigh.
Chateau de Pierrefonds in the heart of Oise France is a perfect castle for Merlin. Built in the 1500s, it was a ruin when Napoleon III got hold of it and asked his architect to rebuild it. Used extensively in Merlin, there are dungeons and crypts and all kinds of rooms that added a richness to Merlin. Here's a few photos.
Courtyard
Griffin Hall and stairs
Great Hall
Banquet Hall
Dungeon
Dragon's lair
Halls
Lady Helen's hallway
Entry to Morgana's room
Location where the mace fight between Arthur and Merlin took place. It's now the gift shop.
Parking lot where a lot of the tourney fight scenes takes place.
But Pierrefonds wasn't the first banquet hall used. Penshurst Place has that honour. An old medieval hall, it was transformed for the Lady Helen singing scene.
Merlin also made use of caves. In the early episodes, they used Chistlehurst Caves in southern England. You can still take a tour although they don't take people near where filming took place. (Later they used Clearwell Caves in the Forest of Dean extensively. It's an iron age mine and still in production. But we don't see it until series 2 so we'll skip past that!)
Sorry but it's really dark in the caves
Speech House Lake in the Forest of Dean was used in the Gates of Avalon and Excalibur episodes and we see it used throughout the show's run. To make it look different, they CGI backgrounds but it's the same lake. Honestly, it's pretty ordinary but I got ridiculously excited to find it, knowing they'd filmed there.
Tree that Merlin hid behind.
Cosmeston Medieval Village outside Penarth, Wales, was used as Ealdor. It's very small, just a few buildings but the way it was filmed, it looked much larger. I was able to get back to where Merlin had been chopping wood but that's now fenced off. Still, it's a lovely place.
Will's house.
Hunith's house
Then there was the Labyrinth of Gedref. :D They used the aMazing Hedge Puzzle near Goodrich, UK for the labryrinth. It's very small but fun to run around, knowing that Arthur and Merlin had been there, too.
The unicorn and other scenes took place in Puzzlewood in the Forest of Dean, an Iron Age open mine. It's quite magical there and I could certainly understand why they used it. However, I don't think I've ever been there on a sunny day, though.
The drinking-of-poison scene took place at Dunraven Bay near Southerdown, Wales. Also used in Doctor Who a number of times, it was Merlin that drew me there. It's quite wild at times but so lovely when the tide goes out and the sun is shining.
Finally, Raglan Castle was used for the Morte d'Arthur episode - and has been used in a number of other episodes since then.
The moat that Merlin used to get to Nimueh.
For further information, merlinlocations is a wonderful resource. It includes locations by episode, how to get there, a little information on what it really is and comments of things to look out for. I highly recommend it, especially if you plan on travelling to any of the locations.