"Enola Holmes 2" Features These Historic Filming Locations in England
Netflix’s Enola Holmes took us to a slew of impressive English estates that you can actually visit IRL. The sequel—Enola Holmes 2, which recently hit the streaming platform—features a mix of historic estates and locations in the country, many of which you can also see for yourself. After delving into Enola’s latest case, take a closer look at where all of the action went down—from a dockyard that was used in Robert Downey Jr.’s Sherlock Holmes to a country house with spectacular gardens. Plus, we tapped production designer Michael Carlin for a few notable set design details.
Hull’s Old Town
The opening sequences of the film and the exterior of the home on Bell Place were shot in Hull’s Old Town, a historic area in England that’s filled with centuries-old cobbled streets, free museums, and traditional pubs. The English Civil War was allegedly plotted at the pub Ye Olde White Harte, and the town’s pub called George Hotel is apparently home to the smallest window in England.
Wapping, England
The film’s matchstick factory interior was built in an old printing factory in the Wapping neighborhood of London. It’s not too far from the original Bryant & May factory, which was established in the mid-19th century to make safety matches. That factory lead to the London matchgirls strike of 1888, which eventually lead to the first British trade union for women. The factory building is now part of a residential apartment complex called the Bow Quarter.
To look like an operational match factory, the old printing factory had to have actual moving parts. “The machinery equipment and furniture in the match factory were all manufactured based on engravings of the original Bryant & May factory,” Carlin says. “We also used videos from an Indian Match factory where parts of the process are still done by hand to understand how the process actually worked.”
Yes, all of the actors had to actually learn how to recreate the process of building and packing matches. “It was important that all the matchstick girls knew what they were doing to the point where it came naturally to them,” Carlin explained in a press brief. “It’s quite a process. In the 19th century, the matchsticks had to be manually dipped in four different chemicals—one of which was unfortunately the phosphorus that was poisoning them.”
The Historic Dockyard Chatham
The factory walkout was filmed at the Historic Dockyard Chatham in Kent, England. The exterior of the match factory was built there, and the location was used for the exteriors of The Paragon theatre and the match girls’ house. The former Royal Navy dockyard has an extensive past and is now a museum and attraction. Spanning 80 acres, it features more than 100 historic buildings that date from the Georgian and Victorian periods to today, making it ideal for period productions. The red brick warehouse specifically has been used in various films including Robert Downey Jr.’s Sherlock Holmes.
Halton House
Halton House in Buckinghamshire, England, is where the ballroom scene was filmed. Built by Alfred de Rothschild in 1880 as a country house for entertaining, the home is currently occupied by the Royal Air Force as RAF Halton. It has been used in other productions like Bridgerton and is typically open to the public for events like Heritage Day.
Shepperton Studios
Many of the film’s interiors were shot at Shepperton Studios in Surrey, England, including the prison, Tewksbury’s, The Paragon theatre, Bell Place, some parts of the match factory, and Sherlock’s apartment. The Paragon took 12 weeks to build at Shepperton Studios. "The interior of the theatre and backstage dressing rooms and fly tower were enormous fun to create," Carlin says. "Over a mile of rope was used to hang all the scenery!"
For Sherlock’s apartment, Carlin wanted the flat at 221B Baker Street to stand out. “Baker Street’s a challenge because it’s been done a lot,” he says. “And it’s been done very well, I have to say, so it was very difficult trying to have one foot in the world of Sherlock and try and put a foot somewhere else.”
Carlin emphasized Sherlock’s love for natural philosophy and music and wanted to make him come off as a bit of an obsessive collector. The set is outfitted with everything from skeletons of rare beasts and fossils to microscopes and magnifying glasses. His violin is, of course, prominently highlighted as is the untidiness of the space–which features piles of books and papers all over. It’s exactly what you’d expect of a clever and well-traveled bachelor’s residence.
Queen Anne’s Gate
The exterior of Sherlock’s flat is played by a home on Queen Anne’s Gate, a street in London’s Westminster neighborhood. Known for its Queen Anne architecture, the street has been home to notable public figures, companies, and organizations.
You love beautiful filming locations. So do we. Let’s obsess over them together.
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