For the first three
seasons of
Knightmare, the
dungeon rooms were hand-painted by artist
David Rowe and re-lit by Robert
Harris' Travelling Matte Company using a Spaceward Supernova computer graphics system. As the programme moved into the 1990s, however,
Tim Child felt they had reached the limit of what could be achieved with these methods. As he explains in his article '
A History of Knightmare' on
Knightmare.com:
"
The Greater Game demanded a greater fantasy world and the current graphic sources could not deliver it. So it was to Britain's own rich history of medieval castles and ruined abbeys that we turned. From Kent to Wales, the Knightmare team plundered, filmed and photographed. And it wasn't just fortifications. A rich treasure of ancient dwellings was discovered at the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum in Sussex, and then there [were] caves and lakes and great barns."
Footage for Series 4 was predominantly shot in East Anglia, as the programme was made in
Norwich. The next two series introduced locations from across England and Wales, while Series 7 was filmed in the Castile and León region of Spain.
Below is a list of known locations used in Series 4 to 7, in order of appearance. (The dungeon of
Series 8 was entirely computer-generated.)
1.
Framlingham Castle, Suffolk -
Series 4 and 5
2.
Leeds Castle, Kent - Series 4
3.
Hockering Wood, Norfolk - Series 4
4.
Castle Rising, Norfolk - Series 4, 5 and 6
5.
Orford Castle, Suffolk - Series 4, 5, 6 and 7
6.
Castle Acre Priory, Norfolk - Series 4, 5, 6 and 7
7.
Oxburgh Hall, Norfolk - Series 4 and 5
8.
Little Hall, Suffolk - Series 4
9.
Dragon Hall, Norfolk - Series 4, 5, 6 and 7
10.
West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village, Suffolk - Series 4
11.
Castell Coch, Cardiff -
Series 5 and 6
12.
Paviland Cliff, Swansea - Series 5, 6 and 7
13.
Llansteffan Castle, Carmarthenshire - Series 5 and 6
14.
Carreg Cennen Castle, Carmarthenshire - Series 5 and 6
15.
Weald and Downland Open Air Museum, West Sussex - Series 5, 6 and 7
16.
Hedingham Castle, Essex - Series 5, 6 and 7
17.
Llyn Brianne, Ceredigion - Series 5 and 6
18.
Carew Castle, Pembrokeshire - Series 5
19.
Bodiam Castle, East Sussex - Series 5, 6 and 7
20.
Kidwelly Castle, Carmarthenshire - Series 5
21.
Pennard Castle, Swansea - Series 5
22.
Caerphilly Castle, Caerphilly - Series 5 and 6
23.
Coggeshall Grange Barn, Essex - Series 5 and 7
24.
Bungay Castle, Suffolk - Series 5
25.
Chiltern Open Air Museum, Buckinghamshire -
Series 6
26.
Poole’s Cavern, Derbyshire - Series 6
27.
Fountains Abbey, North Yorkshire - Series 6 and 7
28.
Helmsley Castle, North Yorkshire - Series 6
29.
Haddon Hall, Derbyshire - Series 6 and 7
30.
Rievaulx Abbey, North Yorkshire - Series 6
31.
Brimham Rocks, North Yorkshire - Series 6
32.
Gainsborough Old Hall, Lincolnshire - Series 6
33.
Scarborough Castle, North Yorkshire - Series 6
34.
Coca Castle, Segovia -
Series 7
35.
Cuéllar Castle, Segovia - Series 7
36.
Avellaneda Palace, Burgos - Series 7
37.
Simancas Castle, Valladolid - Series 7
38.
Peñafiel Castle, Valladolid - Series 7
39.
Alcázar of Segovia, Segovia - Series 7
40.
La Mota Castle, Valladolid - Series 7
41.
Peñaranda Castle, Burgos - Series 7
42.
Kentwell Hall, Suffolk - Series 7
43.
Montealegre Castle, Valladolid - Series 7
An interactive
map showing all these locations can be found
here.
