A historic Wiltshire manor and garden that hosts tens of thousands of visitors every year has featured on a hit TV show as the owners expand their business.
Iford Manor Estate, near Bradford on Avon, has recently been featured in More4’s series ‘Saving Country Houses with Penelope Keith’, in which Penelope follows the owners of Britain’s country houses as they do whatever it takes to keep their historic homes in one piece.
Charting the goings-on behind the scenes at Iford Manor, episodes six and eight see owners Marianne and William Cartwright-Hignett overseeing the renovation of an historic greenhouse, taking visitors on a champagne tour of the Grade 1 listed gardens, William’s favourite part of the week – lunch service in the restaurant, and the trials and tribulations of opening a riverside pub, The Cross Guns at Avoncliff.
William said: “It was great fun filming Saving Country Houses. It was all go last Summer when we had recently made the decision to buy two local pubs – The Inn at Freshford and The Cross Guns at Avoncliff, so the film crew had plenty of material to work with and captured some eventful moments!”
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The site is also on the screens in the recently released ‘Mother’s Pride’ film.
Created by the team behind hit film ‘Fisherman’s Friend’ and featuring a cast of well-known actors including Martin Clunes, James Buckley and Gabriella Wilde, Mother’s Pride tells the story of a failing pub, a divided community and a grieving family whose lives are changed by brewing real ale.
A spokesperson for Iford said the story has appeared uncannily familiar to Marianne and William since taking on the village pubs and brewing their own cider at Iford Cider!
Marianne comments “It was a joy to experience the making of this fun, family-friendly film here at Iford and we can’t wait to see it on the big screen.
“Most of the filming took place in our neighbouring village of Norton St Philip, which is another historic and unique setting.
“We are sure that everyone local to Bath will enjoy spotting the familiar sites, and we hope that the film might inspire others to head out into the countryside and pubs just 15 minutes outside Bath for a pint of real ale – or cider!”
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