Corbridge on Screen: Film and TV Locations

Corbridge is not a famous film town, but it turns up on screen more often than you might expect. Its stone high street, the 1674 bridge and the country around it suit period drama and crime drama alike, and the Roman town draws documentary makers. This guide gathers the productions we can confirm from published reports, with notes on what you can still see today.

Vera in Corbridge

ITV's Vera, starring Brenda Blethyn as DCI Vera Stanhope, was filmed across Northumberland for fourteen series, and Corbridge is one of the villages the crew returned to.

Series 11

The Hexham Courant reported that the crew filmed at GB Motors on Princes Street on Monday 5 April 2021, during the making of series 11. Later that year a house in the village appeared in the series 11 episode "Vital Signs", and locals spotted Vera's battered Land Rover crossing the bridge over the Tyne in June 2021.

The Rising Tide

The biggest Vera shoot in Corbridge came in late 2022, for The Rising Tide, the first Vera Christmas special, broadcast at Christmas 2023. The crew filmed ahead of the village's Christmas Tree Festival weekend and dressed the centre of Corbridge as the fictional town of Kimmerston. According to reports at the time:

• the old Lloyds Bank building became a solicitor's office
• Tea and Tipple was turned into the "Bread and Olive Delicatessen"
• Corbridge Garden Rooms became "Kimmerston Garden Rooms"
• scenes were shot in the car park of The Angel of Corbridge

If you are watching the episode, look for the high street shopfronts and the festive dressing, which was in place for real for the tree festival that followed.

Best for:

Filming locations are usually private businesses and homes. Please be considerate if you go looking for them, and don't photograph people's houses or block driveways.

Elizabeth (1998) at Aydon Castle

Aydon Castle, a fortified manor house about a mile north-east of Corbridge, was used in Shekhar Kapur's Elizabeth (1998), the film that made Cate Blanchett's name as Queen Elizabeth I. Film location guides say the castle stood in for the apartment of Sir Francis Walsingham, played by Geoffrey Rush, and for the torture chamber where John Ballard, played by Daniel Craig, is interrogated.

Aydon is one of the best preserved 13th-century manor houses in England, and it is easy to see why it appealed to a period film: much of it survives from the years when it was fortified against Scottish raids. It is cared for by English Heritage, but it has been closed to visitors while repair work is carried out, with reopening expected in 2027. Check the English Heritage website before you plan a trip.

Documentaries at Corbridge Roman Town

Corbridge Roman Town has featured in several history programmes. In February 2021 Dan Snow's History Hit channel released Hadrian's Wall: Settlement and Supply, filmed on site with English Heritage curator Dr Frances McIntosh, which explains how Corbridge supplied the soldiers on the Wall. English Heritage has also published its own short films about the site and the finds in its museum, including the Corbridge Hoard of armour.

If a programme has whetted your appetite, our guide to visiting Corbridge Roman Town covers opening times, the museum and what to look out for among the ruins.

Nearby on the Wall

The best-known screen location close to Corbridge was Sycamore Gap, the tree in a dip of Hadrian's Wall that appeared in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991). It is about 15 miles west of the village. The tree was illegally felled on the night of 28 September 2023, and the site is now a place people visit to remember it. Our guide to walks around Corbridge covers routes closer to home.

Visiting the locations

Most of Corbridge's screen locations are on or near the high street, so you can see them in a short walk from the Market Place. A good loop takes in Princes Street, the shops on Hill Street and Middle Street, and the bridge, with a stop for coffee at Tea and Tipple or a drink at The Angel. Corbridge Roman Town is a ten-minute walk west of the centre. For more ideas, see our guide to things to do in Corbridge.