Murder Before Evensong at Chillington Hall

Channel 5’s hit new series Murder Before Evensong, produced for television by The Lighthouse, has already been watched by millions around the world. Each of these audience members will see one of Staffordshire’s most iconic locations in the show, with Chillington Hall – in South Staffordshire – featuring as Champton House.  The house is key part of the narrative in both the series and the original novel, one of The Reverend Richard Coles’ Canon Clement Mysteries.

We spoke to Chillington Hall’s Curator, Claire Dolman, about the location, its history in film and television production – and of its experience hosting the show.

Can you give us a sense of Chillington Hall’s history in production?

Chillington Hall was first used as a film location for an episode of the Granada production ‘Flower of Gloster’, in 1967. Flower of Gloster was Granada’s first series to be entirely shot in colour, though its first broadcast was in black and white.

In 2020, the late director Terence Davies filmed his final film ‘Benediction’ here for about a month, starring Jack Lowden and Peter Capaldi. Our spare rooms were transformed into waiting rooms, hospital wards, offices and apartments – so you might not realise just how much of the film’s locations are dressed as other locations.

Since then, we’ve been used for various dramas and docu-dramas, including the hit ITV series ‘Joan’ starring Sophie Turner – but always dressed as somewhere else.

Can you tell us about the experience Chillington Hall had with Murder Before Evensong?

We were delighted that Chillington was chosen to play Champton House in the new Channel 5 series ‘Murder before Evensong’ (The Lighthouse for Channel 5 in the UK) because, at last, the house is being filmed in its entirety as Champton House. Viewers will see all the rooms, corridors and gardens – and really get to know the place.

Murder Before Evensong came to us via the Location Scout and Manager Midge Ferguson. He had led on locations for Benediction, so knew Chillington Hall, and he thought it ticked all the boxes as far as the script was concerned, and he knew that we have the room here to park production vehicles etc. Also, we’re within a relatively easy commute from the production office in Birmingham and close by the other key locations.

The production visited us three times before making a decision. It was my job to answer any questions, show them anything they needed to see, and to basically make them feel at home. You do feel a bit as if you’re at a big job interview or audition or something, but it’s all part of the process!

Murder Before Evensong were with us for a few weeks in February 2025, and then again for about a fortnight in March 2025. Only part of that time was for filming – the rest was for preparing sets; sorting out props; working out how to get a dozen huge production vehicles though our tiny, ancient, country lanes, and all the other behind-the-scenes work you might not anticipate.

What happened once they had wrapped?

After filming, there are days of taking their dressing down, and packing away props onto lorries to go back to warehouses in places like Leeds and London. I found it fascinating to see all of that, in addition to seeing the scenes being filmed.

It is a truly extraordinary experience. Sixty complete strangers turn up at six in the morning one day, fill your house with expensive-looking equipment, and completely take over – but three weeks later, as you shepherd the last trailer through the gate at midnight and the production rolls off towards its next location, you feel as if you’re waving goodbye to friends. My colleague remarked sadly as we walked back through the empty and silent house that she felt ‘a bit like you do when you put all the Christmas decorations back in the loft’.

How often are you approached by the sector?

We have been visited and missed out on a few big productions in the last few years, and the first time that happened I felt a bit disheartened and disappointed, but I now understand why we were not chosen – for very good reasons. Every advert, music video, television programme and film represents a huge investment of time, money and effort on the part of everyone involved. If a location is not right, it’s just not right. It is in no-one’s interest – including the location’s – to pursue an idea that isn’t going to work as perfectly as it might elsewhere.

What advice would you give to any location owners who are keen to work more with the sector?

If any property owners were considering whether or not to invite a film crew into their home or business, I couldn’t promise them that the entire process would go smoothly and that nothing would go wrong. Plans might change unexpectedly, and you will suddenly be asked if you might accommodate a situation that you had not anticipated or previously agreed to.

But – you will look back on the time you spent with them as an overwhelmingly positive experience, and the thrill you get when you recognise your home on screen takes some beating.

Claire Dolman, Curator

Chillington Hall

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Catch-up with Murder Before Evensong here, and find out more about Chillington Hall itself here.