The long-awaited Julian Fellowes period drama Belgravia has finally arrived on ITV - and fans are already hooked.
Set in 19th century London, Belgravia tells the story of the Trenchards and their ascent towards the upper echelons of aristocratic society in the capital’s well-heeled eponymous new district.
Starring Tamsin Greig, Philip Glenister, Alice Eve and Harriet Walter in leading roles, Belgravia has unsurprisingly drawn comparisons to Fellowes’ other popular period drama, Downton Abbey.
Set as it is two centuries ago, Belgravia features some stunning backdrops and viewers are treated to some wonderful period shots.
So where was Belgravia filmed? We reveal all...
Belgravia filming locations
Despite the show being set in Belgravia, the majority of it was filmed outside the capital because of the difficulties inherent in filming a period drama in London.
Similarly, the beginning of the series is set in Brussels but not filmed there.
The show’s executive producer Gareth Neame told History Extra that while a lot of sets were built for filming, country houses around the UK were used as interiors for homes, including the 18th century Georgian mansion Basildon Park, which is close to Reading, and the Edwardian Manderston House in Berwickshire, Scotland.
Neame told the website a lot filming took place in Edinburgh’s New Town, to replicate the Belgravia as it would have been two hundred years ago.
He said: “The real challenge was it’s quite impossible to shoot in Belgravia. It’s the heart of London, it’s filled with embassies; there’s no way you can shut down these parts of London and have horses and carriages going around for four days.
"It would never happen, so what we did was to go to the New Town of Edinburgh. We shot all of the exteriors for Eaton Square and Belgrave Square, we shot around there, and then in post-production we added all of the stucco and the porticos.”
Other locations where filming took place include Hopetoun House, near Edinburgh, which stood in for the Trenchard family home in Brussels, and Syon House in west London.
Filming also took place in Bath’s Assembly Hall, Hampton Court Palace, West Wycombe House in Buckinghamshire, Wrest Park in Bedfordshire, Chatham Dockyard and Wrotham Park, Hertfordshire.
Where is Belgravia set?
The series is set among the upper classes of 19th century London, in the new development of Belgravia, an area of capital recently developed as somewhat of a city for the wealthy.
In real life, the new development of Belgravia was built on previously unclaimed marshland by the celebrated master builder Thomas Cubitt and his brothers, who also developed areas including Pimlico and Bloomsbury.
Interestingly, in the show Trenchard mentions how his wealth was earned by going into partnership with Thomas Cubitt, who himself started out as a carpenter before becoming an extraordinarily successful property developer of great renown.
How many episodes of Belgravia are there?
The show made its ITV premiere on Sunday, March 15 and consists of six episodes, each around 45 minutes long.
If you miss an episode, you can catch up on ITVHub.
