"The Remains of the Day" film locations on the Mendip Hills in Somerset.

One of my favourite films is “The Remains of the Day” released in 1993 starring Emma Thompson as Miss Kenton, the housekeeper, and Anthony Hopkins as Mr Stevens, the butler.  The story is set in the stately home of an aristocrat during the 1930s when a significant group within the British political and aristocratic establishment thought it desirable to come to an “arrangement” with Hitler’s Germany. 

Many of the film’s locations are in Somerset. Two of them, Deer Leap near Priddy and The Old Bristol Road at Stockhill Wood, are on the Mendip Hills where I spent many a visit enjoying the views and walking my much missed dog, Rosie.

There are several other Somerset locations used in the film.  The characterful George Inn at Norton St. Phillip is where Mr Benn courts Miss Kenton.  Stevens drives along Kewstoke Road past Birnbeck Island into Weston-super-Mare, which plays the part of Clevedon.  The old Grand Pier, since destroyed by fire and rebuilt, is where Miss Kenton and Mr Stevens spend time before their tearful final farewell. 

A view from Deer Leap on the Mendip Hills in Somerset.  The location of a scene in the film "The Remains of the Day".

On his way to visit Miss Kenton in Clevedon Mr Stevens’ car runs out of petrol at Deer Leap as the sun is about to set.  Stevens finds his way to a pub for the night, the actual location being the Hop Pole Inn, Woods Hill, Lower Limpley Stoke.  The next morning Dr Carlisle, who met Stevens in the pub the previous night, gives Stevens a lift back to his car.  They travel north along the Old Bristol Road past the Forestry Commission’s Stockhill Wood and Waldegrave Pool, although in reality they are heading in the opposite direction to Deer Leap! 

The Old Bristol Road at Stockhill Wood on the Mendip Hills in Somerset.  The location for a scene in the film "The Remains of the Day".

A view near Waldegrave Pool from the Old Bristol Road on the Mendip Hills in Somerset.  It appears in the film "The Remains of the Day" as Dr. Carlisle drives Stevens back to his car.