The Witcher: First pictures of Harrogate district filming for major Netflix show

Two beauty spots in the Harrogate district are set to feature in the second series of a major Netflix show starring Henry Cavill as Geralt.

The Witcher, which has a cast and crew of around 250 people, was filmed at both Plumpton Rocks near Harrogate and Fountains Abbey near Ripon.

In the first series, most filming was done in countries such as Hungary, Austria and Spain. However, due to coronavirus restrictions Netflix had to look for locations in the UK.

In October last year, the Stray Ferret showed a picture taken by reader Jo McGregor at Fountains Abbey of a film crew in action. The National Trust would only say at the time it was a “major TV series”.

Ahead of the release of series two of the Witcher on Friday, the National Trust and the owner of Plumpton Rocks have now confirmed the details and released behind the scenes pictures.

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Justin Scully, general manager of Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal, said:

“It was great to see such an exciting amount of activity happening onsite last year. Filming for The Witcher was by far the largest scale filming we’ve ever had here.

“Our visitors really enjoyed seeing such a big production happening around the property and had fun guessing what was being filmed, which we had to keep confidential at the time.

“There was a huge amount of work that went on behind the scenes to make it all happen.

“We worked for months with the production team from Netflix as well as specialist filming conservators so that we could ensure the safety of visitors, staff and of course the abbey and water garden.”

The National Trust added that the location fees it received will be spent on essential work at Fountains Abbey.

Robert de Plumpton Hunter, who owns Plumpton Rocks and has spearheaded a major £700,000 renovation at the site over the last several years, told the Stray Ferret:

“Netflix brought a major crew for the Witcher to Plumpton Rocks, where they filmed for about two weeks.

“Particularly during coronavirus it was great for Harrogate’s economy. I am looking to forward to watching it.”

More pictures from behind the scenes:

A crew member uses a VFX ball to capture lighting information from the set within the ruins of Fountains Abbey. Photo: Netflix

An elaborate set and special effects light up the abbey ruins during a dramatic scene. Photo: Netflix

MyAnna Buring as Tissaia de Vries in the ruins of Fountains Abbey. Photo: Netflix

Snow globe from Netflix’s The Witcher to come to Ripon

Netflix will bring to Ripon a giant 18ft snow globe to promote the second series of The Witcher.

The fantasy series featuring Henry Cavill premieres on December 17 and part of it was filmed in our district at Fountain’s Abbey and Plumpton Rocks.

The globe, which has a monster from the show inside it, is on a tour of the UK and will be at Ripon Market Square on Monday.

The Witcher is based on a series of books and video games and features battles between humans, elves, witchers, gnomes, and monsters.

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Is Henry Cavill filming at Fountains Abbey this week?

Parts of Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Garden are closed this week for filming of a “major TV series”, understood to be The Witcher, which stars Henry Cavill.

Readers of the Stray Ferret have sent in pictures of the National Trust-owned site this week sporting a more medieval look.

There were no actors on site when reader Jo McGregor took the image shown here. However, Cavill plays the series lead called Geralt in the Netflix show so could well be on location.

Netflix confirmed it had resumed production of The Witcher in August. The film crew has travelled around much of northern England for the upcoming second series.

The film set believed to be used for The Witcher. Photo: Jo McGregor

A fan site dedicated to the Witcher believes it is likely that the black tents resemble those of the Nilfgaardian Empire, which is featured in the series.

It also revealed the crew filmed at Plumpton Rocks near Harrogate.

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The Stray Ferret approached the National Trust about the filming but the charity was tight-lipped. A spokesperson said:

“Parts of the abbey ruins and Studley Royal water gardens are being used for a major TV series. We can’t say anything more at this stage.

“But if you follow our social media pages you may see more details when they become available.”

The water garden was completely closed to the public today due to filming. It will be partially open again tomorrow.