Harewood House

Summary

A Grade I listed Palladian country house at Harewood in West Yorkshire, built between 1759 and 1771 for Edwin Lascelles with interiors by Robert Adam and by Capability Brown, seat of the Earls of Harewood, used as a filming location for King Ralph (1991), Victoria (ITV, 2016 onwards), and Downton Abbey (2019 film).

About this location

Harewood House stands in the village of Harewood, eight miles north of Leeds and six miles south of Harrogate in West Yorkshire. It was built between 1759 and 1771 for Edwin Lascelles, later 1st Baron Harewood, to designs by John Carr, who was responsible for the external elevations. The interior was subsequently remodelled by Robert Adam, who supplied designs for all the principal rooms; Henry Holland later made changes to the south front. Adam’s interiors at Harewood — including the gallery, the music room, and the dining room — are considered among the finest of his work in any English house. Thomas Chippendale supplied furniture to Adam’s designs in the 1760s and 1770s; Harewood retains one of the most complete Chippendale commissions in existence. The were laid out by Lancelot “Capability” Brown, who created the 32-acre lake and the broad sweep of parkland that frames the south front. The house was visited by J.M.W. Turner, who painted the outdoor landscape in watercolours around 1797 to 1798.

The estate passed through marriage to the Lascelles family and eventually to the Earls of Harewood. The 6th Earl, George Lascelles, was a first cousin of Elizabeth II and a prominent music critic and opera administrator. The house was occupied during the Second World War as a convalescent hospital for the Red Cross and St John. Since 1996, part of the Harewood estate has been developed as the outdoor village set for ITV’s Emmerdale, which shoots continuous exterior scenes there.

King Ralph (Universal, 1991, directed by David S. Ward, starring John Goodman as a fictional American who inherits the British throne) used Harewood House for royal palace sequences. Victoria (ITV, 2016 onwards, written by Daisy Goodwin, starring Jenna Coleman as Queen Victoria and Tom Hughes as Prince Albert) filmed extensively at Harewood House, using it for Buckingham Palace and other royal interiors. Downton Abbey (Focus Features, 2019, directed by Michael Engler, the film sequel to the ITV series) used Harewood House for filming in November 2018.