Stars of the screen
Find out which historic houses and dramatic landscapes you can see on-screen, from popular TV dramas to brand new films.
A new BBC series airs in January 2023, which brings the art of crafting to Stoneywell’s Arts and Crafts home. With the garden at Stoneywell as the backdrop, and expert help from Dom Chinea and other mentors, talented craftspeople produce and sell their wares in Make it at Market.
In this new craft programme for the BBC, aspiring amateur makers see if they have the skills to make profitable businesses from their home hobby.
The series follows blacksmiths and glassblowers, weavers and woodworkers as they team up with an expert mentor, who provides practical making tips and sound advice on how to make a successful business from their craftwork.
The craftspeople face three challenges:
Then it’s time for the makers to head out to start selling and turn their passion into a full-time business.
The production company were hooked on Stoneywell from their first recce. Several of the existing spaces at Stoneywell could be used as a workable space for the crafters, including the workshop where Donald Gimson used to indulge his woodworking hobby.
Elsewhere, specially constructed sets were used. The set designers took inspiration from the garden and cottage when dressing them. The crafters then moved in with their equipment and set to making.
Stoneywell, a country residence for Leicester industrialist Sydney Gimson, was designed by his brother Ernest Gimson – now considered to be one of the key architects and designers of the Arts and Crafts movement.
Stoneywell exemplifies some of the main principles of this design style: created organically, with integrity, individualism, and skill, celebrating natural materials, which were mostly harvested from the surrounding landscape.
The furniture within is a superb collection of Arts and Crafts pieces. Many were made specifically for Stoneywell when it was completed for Sydney or brought by Donald Gimson, who made Stoneywell his permanent family home from 1953 until it entered our care in 2012.
The cottage and its collection are rare survivors of Arts and Crafts design, but the garden is very different.
As the cottage was purposefully 'borne' from the Charnwood rocky outcrop, the surrounding grounds were left relatively untamed until the 1950s when the garden was developed more formally.
Rhododendrons, azaleas and camelias proved well-suited to Stoneywell's acidic soils, which in time resulted in a rhododendron collection of over 150 named varieties.
Late spring is the peak time for blooms at Stoneywell. Make it at Market was filmed in April and May, when the garden is a kaleidoscope of colour.
The rich palette of the rhododendrons contrast with the bluebells that carpet the meadows, lawns and woodland floor. With the chorus of garden and woodland birds it makes for a tranquil place, for thought and reflection and to get the creative juices flowing.
Jennie Lloyd, Site Manager at Stoneywell, explains how delighted the team were that Stoneywell was chosen as the location for Make it at Market:
‘The cottage and garden really is a hidden gem in the depths of the Leicestershire countryside,’ Jennie says. ‘It’s a special place and a rare survivor, so it was a privilege to welcome the experts and crafters and share the wonders of Stoneywell with them and now, a wider audience.’
Jennie also reflects on how the garden and cottage made for a stunning backdrop to the fascinating making captured in the programme:
As well as showing off beautiful locations, filming directly benefits the places in our care that star in the production. The income from location fees goes straight back into conservation work to care for historic houses and landscapes, so that we’ll all be able to see them both on screen and in real life for years to come.
Find out which historic houses and dramatic landscapes you can see on-screen, from popular TV dramas to brand new films.
Fancy taking a break somewhere you’ve seen on screen? From The Secret Garden to Game of Thrones and Harry Potter, many of the places we care for have been filming locations for much-loved movies and TV shows.
Many of the places in our care have been locations for films and TV dramas. Hear from two of our filming and location managers as they discuss the most popular filming locations and share their best stories from behind the scenes.
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From a show-stopping rhododendron collection to an 11-acre woodland, find out what you can see in Stoneywell's colourful garden here.
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