Charlestown: A leading role

02 Feb 2021

Over the past 40 years, Charlestown harbour has performed numerous leading roles on both television and movie screen.  Sharp eyed location scouts have been quick to spot the potential of the unique setting and transformed it into unimaginable scenes.  The 18th-century Georgian harbour with its resident tall ships, grade ll listed granite quays and original cobbles, is the perfect filming location for period and costume dramas such as Poldark, war sagas and love stories.

 

To date, over 100 TV programmes and films have utilised the iconic architecture which has starred in popular dramas such as Dr Who, Taboo and Mansfield Park. The harbour has also caught the attention of Hollywood, appearing in films such as Rebecca, Alice in Wonderland and Treasure Island.  Look out for the galleon used on a night shoot in The Three Musketeers; Charlestown is its permanent home.

 

Among the film and television stars to have tread the worn cobbles and soaked up the breath-taking views out over St Austell Bay are Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland, Helena Bonham-Carter, Joseph Fiennes, Karen Gillan, Tom Hardy, Sam Neill, Charlie Sheen, Matt Smith, Eleanor Tomlinson, Aidan Turner and Mia Wasikowski.

 

You can find out more about filming in Charlestown Harbour at the nearby Shipwreck Treasure Museum https://www.shipwreckcharlestown.co.uk/the-area/poldark/

 

Heida Reed as Elizabeth and Jack Farthing as George Warleggan during filming of Poldark in Charlestown.

Poldark: George and Elizabeth Warleggan