the Neath Abbey undercroft
We had our first Magical Merlin Locations Tour on Tuesday. Joining me were our own archaeologist_d, Bess from the merloc website, and various camp followers. Our destination was the undercroft at Neath Abbey, used in filming two episodes of Merlin - and not generally open to the public. Indeed, I had to fill out forms and pay a fee and organise insurance - which was a rather interesting process, given that Merlin's Locations Manager would have to do pretty much the same when organising a shoot.
how it's used in Merlin
The undercroft was used in episode 202 The Once and Future Queen as the crypt where we find King Odin mourning his son. And then it was used again for episode 313 The Coming of Arthur as the hall in which we find the Round Table.
This post is very image intense!
the place itself
So, we rocked up to the office as scheduled, and were handed A Rather Large Key. It was entirely appropriate for the beautiful door to which it belonged!
This is the door, as you'll probably recognise from Merlin! (Apologies again for the photos - my camera was still dead at the time, so I was relying on my BlackBerry. Luckily my Pentax has since been resurrected.)
And this is the door from the inside looking out… This may look familiar from ep 202.
This is The Key in my little hand!
The undercroft is a lovely long room, surprisingly light given that the windows are all protected and made opaque. This shot is from just within the door, looking down towards the south end of the room. There are four of those columns running down the centre lengthwise. The Round Table was placed pretty much in the middle, with the alcove behind Arthur being what you can see to the right of this photo.
You can just see two Locations Geeks and a camp follower comparing angles and screenshots from the far end. You can also see a number of old floor tiles and other artefacts stored towards the far end of the room. We had promised faithfully not to touch these, of course, but that didn't stop us looking with great interest. I'll post some photos on the merloc website's Neath Abbey gallery.
Here's a sample in the meantime.
This is taken from the corner opposite the door, looking across the previous perspective. You can see the fireplace here, before which the knights are… knighted; it is directly opposite the alcove.
This is further into the room, looking back towards the door, which is at the far end of the wall on the right. The fireplace would have been on my immediate right.
Another one of the fireplace. You can see the marble blocks, at about shoulder height, in ep 313.
In fact, here's a screenshot, with the fireplace to Lancelot's right. (Note the cobwebs!) (Also, please note that all screen captures and publicity shots belong to Shine/BBC and are used with respect but without permission.)
Oops! How did that get in here? This is us! That's me on the right, printed screen caps in hand, then archaeologist_d and her lovely daughter, and then Bess on the left. Bess's delightful husband took the photo.
OK, back to the serious stuff! Look! A fake cobweb was left hanging from high up the column!
The tallest of our camp followers managed to stretch high enough to get it down for us. Trophy!
Time for some overlays…
Here is the alcove in the middle of the western wall.
Here is a lovely publicity shot of our three heroes at the Round Table. (And, btw, that table must break up into segments, like pieces of pie, because the door is the only way in!) (As always, these images belong to Shine/BBC and I am borrowing them without permission.)
And here they are combined… Darn! Sorry, Gwen. Got the mise en scene a bit wrong.
Locations Geeks examine a fireplace.
Arthur and his team enter the hall.
It's a wonder they didn't all notice each other!
Here's a screen cap of Merlin and Lancelot settling for the night before the fire.
And a photo from almost the right angle, including a very patient camp follower.
And the two combined… I like this one! LOL!
A couple more illustrative screenshots of that side of the room. 'Gaius? Gaius…!'
My photo, such as it is.
A screenshot by wherethewind of King Odin from ep 202.
The two combined.
And to finish with, we are back outside again with a gratuitous shot of some greenery…
…that was once lucky enough to be this close to Colin.
Our tour group then headed into the town of Neath for a late pub lunch, courtesy of the wonderful Bess and her husband. It was a great experience, and I want to thank everyone again for their company! ♥ Thanks are also due to Cadw and the patient Mr Dave Thomas for making this expedition possible.
ETA: And belated thanks to gealach_ros who found this location for us in the first place! ♥