Luckington Court- Location for Longbourn from Pride and Prejudice

Longbourn, home of the Bennets from Pride and Prejudice

One of the most brilliant filming locations ever, is Luckington Court in Wiltshire, used in the Colin Firth/Jennifer Ehle version of Pride and Prejudice from 1995.  Grand enough to be a gentleman's home, but small and cozy enough to make us believe that the owner was not very wealthy and so might have had trouble giving his 5 daughters enough of a marriage settlement to entice suitors.  This is one of those English country houses which actually looks quite livable.  In fact it is still a family home, now rented out for functions such as weddings, receptions or tours such as the ones run by P&P Tours, who take fans of Period Drama to various filming locations such as this or to Mr. Darcy's Pemberley (and his "wet shirt" lake).
When Helen Wilkinson of P&P Tours brings her groups to "Longbourn", many of the ladies who are fans of the BBC adaptation of Jane Austen's classic will dress up in Regency attire to fully immerse themselves in the experience, especially if they are there for a Ball or a Regency dinner arranged by Helen for their enjoyment.  This location is so familiar to so many fans of the BBC miniseries that many a heart will skip a beat when the garden gate comes into view, or the view of the house and church are first spied.

"Are the shades of Pemberley to be thus polluted?"

I think that the fall is when I would most like to visit Luckington Court, as it was so beautiful in the verbal sparring scene, above, with Elizabeth and Lady Catherine, acted to such perfection by Jennifer Ehle and Barbara Leigh-Hunt.

Inside the house, it seems that enough of the interior is recognizable so that one can imagine Mrs. Bennet receiving gentle raillery from her husband.

"I have the utmost respect for your nerves. They've been my constant companion these twenty years."

One of my favorite "behind the scenes" stories from the filming was about the owner of Luckington Court, Mrs. Angela Horn, and how she was accommodated during the long shooting schedule.  She was able to use the kitchen, the housekeeper's room and the nursery (!!), which were set aside and redecorated for her.  She had lived in the house undisturbed for 40 years and was pleasantly surprised by the fact that she enjoyed a film crew of over 70 crawling over her property.  "I will miss the film crew.  They really were awfully nice.  They became like a family.  I cried at the thought of them leaving.  It was like a ghost town when they went but I cheer up by reminding myself that I now have enough money to re-roof the west wing."
-Quoted from The Making of Pride and Prejudice, Penguin Books, BBC books