Waddesdon Manor set for re-opening with Covid-19 safety precautions in place

Starting with Carry On, Don’t Lose Your Head in 1966, Waddesdon has hosted a stellar cast of directors including: Ridley Scott (The Counselor, 2012), Stephen Frears (The Queen, 2006) and Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, 2011).

It has also been been the backdrop for scenes from the classic James Bond Never Say Never Again (1983), to Downton Abbey, Midsomer Murders, MasterChef, The Crown and Antiques Roadshow.

It has even starred in a J-pop video (World Order’s Informal Empire, 2015).

This is the first opportunity to visit the Manor in 2020 as lockdown restrictions have been lifted

Pippa Shirley, Waddesdon’s Head of Collections & Gardens says, “After months of closure, I think we are all craving opportunities to see and reconnect with extraordinary spaces, places and things, in reality rather than on screen.

"It’s been so exciting to plan for visitors again, and we can’t wait to see them meeting old friends in the collections or discovering new ones. Waddesdon is a house with so many stories to tell, and it’s been incredibly rewarding to present ourselves a bit differently, to offer a close-up on some unexpected aspect of what we do, and some of the surprising ways in which the house comes to life.”

When lockdown happened, the house was in the midst of being prepared for reopening from its winter closure, during which the Collections are ‘put to bed’.

This instantly went on hold and in the intervening months a small team of house staff worked to ensure that the paintings, furniture and works of art remained safe and secure in their seclusion.

As the lockdown eased, and the staff began to think about how the house could reopen, it was clear that there were some interesting angles to explore.

Thanks to recent filming part of the house is shown as it is used as a location – a rare opportunity for visitors to see something that is usually kept firmly behind the scenes.

In planning the route, staff also had to consider a one- way flow, avoiding pinch points and narrow doorways.

An unexpected bonus is that in some places, visitors can have closer encounters with objects in the collection than they usually do.

Waddesdon’s interiors have been used for filming over the last 40 years.

The rooms visitors regularly see have also been used as locations in film, for example: A Little Chaos (Alan Rickman and Kate Winslet, 2014), Our Kind of Traitor (Ewan MacGregor and Damian Lewis, 2016), Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (Robert Downey Junior and Jude Law, 2011), Half Moon Street (1986), and The Queen (Helen Mirren and Michael Sheen, 2016).