Leeds Castle itself became a regular location for period movies – from Henry VIII in 1979 to Lady Jane in 1986 and the Hollow Crown in 2016, but it’s not only been used for historical drama. Other scenes in the film brought starring roles for the Cock Inn pub in Boughton Monchelsea – where Louis (Dennis Price) takes photos and meets Henry (Alec Guinness) – and for Harrietsham, in a scene where Louis rides around the village. The film follows Louis D'Ascoyne Mazzini, a distant poor relative of the Duke D'Ascoyne, who plots to inherit the title by murdering the eight other heirs who stand ahead of him in the line of succession – and Leeds Castle was chosen to star as Chalfont Castle, the D’Ascoyne family home. But Penshurst isn’t the only historic Kentish location to attract the eye of TV and film producers.īack in 1948, Leeds Castle near Maidstone caught the eyes of the makers of Kind Hearts and Coronets – the crime black comedy which would be released the following year and go down in history as a classic of British cinema.
The ancient architecture of Penshurst has been a draw for other big productions, from The Other Boleyn Girl in 2008 to the BBC fantasy series Merlin that same year, and the 2003 Thriller, The Gathering.
