Abandoned UK filming spots that'll rent to you
Derelict pools, former goods sheds and industrial ruins that are managed, insured and available to book — no trespassing required.
Genuine derelict buildings — unoccupied, unmanaged, not accessible to the public — cannot be booked for filming. Using them involves trespassing, carries serious insurance voids, and creates real safety risk for your crew. This guide covers something more useful: buildings that retain the aesthetic of abandonment or industrial heritage but are managed, insured, and available to book through a proper enquiry process.
Victoria Baths, Manchester
Victoria Baths Manchester is an Edwardian municipal swimming pool that opened in 1906 and closed in 1993. The building is Grade II* listed and has been managed since 2004 by a charitable trust that is slowly restoring it. Filming is available throughout the process — the main pool hall with its original tiled apron, wooden diving boards still in place, and the long-drained pool tanks creates an environment of extraordinary visual character.
The contrast between the ornate Edwardian decoration (mosaic floors, decorative tiles, elaborate ironwork galleries) and the drained, echoing spaces is exactly what productions needing an atmosphere of faded institutional grandeur come to Manchester to find. Day rates run approximately £500–1,500 depending on areas used.
Mayfield Depot, Manchester
Mayfield Depot is a Victorian railway goods warehouse that was closed and largely derelict from 1986 until its recent repurposing as an events venue. The main goods hall — vast, brick-vaulted, with the original overhead crane trackways still running — retains a genuine industrial emptiness even now that it hosts events and concerts. For productions that need large-scale post-industrial spaces with authentic rather than designed character, it is the best single option in Manchester.
The regeneration process has added some amenities (power distribution, toilet facilities, temporary structure) without sanitising the industrial shell.
1830 Warehouse, Castlefield, Manchester
The 1830 Warehouse at Castlefield is the oldest railway warehouse in the world — the original terminus of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway. It is now managed by the Science and Industry Museum and available for evening and weekend hire. The building’s age and its long years as a working and then storage facility have given it a patina of genuine use that no designed set replicates.
Tobacco Factory, Bristol
Tobacco Factory Bristol was a Wills’ tobacco processing building in Southville. The building has been repurposed as an arts venue and workspace, but the industrial character — high ceilings, original factory floor, exposed steel and timber — is intact. For productions that need a factory aesthetic without the planning complications of a genuinely disused building, it is one of the best resources in the south-west.
Beamish Living Museum, County Durham
Beamish Museum is not an abandoned site — it is a carefully maintained open-air museum of north-east English life from the 1820s to the 1950s. But for productions that need period derelict or industrial character in a northern English context, it functions as a managed equivalent. The reconstructed colliery village, 1900s town and inter-war farm are available for filming by arrangement with the museum’s commercial team. Characters and vehicles from the period are available as additional supporting resources.
Gateshead Quays, Newcastle
Gateshead Quays on the south bank of the Tyne includes industrial buildings in various states of regeneration. The combination of the Baltic Centre (converted flour mill), the Sage Gateshead (contemporary), and the surrounding post-industrial landscape gives the area a mix of managed heritage and working regeneration character. Individual buildings in the area are available through their owners; the Gateshead Council film office can direct you.
Bingley Hall, Birmingham
Bingley Hall Birmingham is a former exhibition hall with a Victorian provenance and a post-industrial interior. Available for large-scale productions needing an enormous interior with industrial character. The scale is the advantage here — it’s bigger than most comparable venue options.
The honest caveat
The most atmospheric genuinely abandoned locations in the UK — old asylums, disused industrial sites, derelict churches — are not on any booking platform because they’re not under managed ownership. The visual references you find online for these spaces are almost always from trespassing or from productions that obtained one-off owner permission. If you want that quality of abandonment, the route is: identify the owner through Land Registry, make a direct approach, negotiate terms, and get proper insurance and legal release in place before you arrive.