"Every good thing in this world started with a dream." The words of Willy Wonka's mother, spoken in the official Wonka trailer, are enough to inspire anyone in search of a bit a magic to watch the 2023 movie about the eccentric chocolate-maker.
Starring Timothée Chalamet, Oliver Colman, Paterson Joseph and Hugh Grant, Wonka tells the tale of how the world's greatest chocolatier and inventor became the adored Willy Wonka we know today.
Although much of the new Wonka film (released in cinemas on 8 December 2023) was created at Warner Bros Studios, some scenes were shot in real-life locations. You may well recognise a few. Still struggling to place them? Read on to discover where your favourite Wonka moments were filmed.
Where was Wonka filmed?
Oxford
Oxford locals will spot a number of familiar sites during the film. Look out for the university’s ceremonial buildings, blanketed in fake snow. Scenes were also shot at Hertford College in the city centre, and the nearby village of Mapledurham, a small cluster of houses on the River Thames in southern Oxfordshire.
Walks in Oxfordshire
Lyme Regis
This seaside town in Dorset has appeared in many memorable books and films, perhaps most famously Jane Austen’s Persuasion (1817), which features a pivotal accident at The Cobb, and John Fowles's novel The French Lieutenant's Woman and its 1981 film adaptation.
The Wonka filming crew focused their attention on The Cobb, a harbour wall built to protect both ships and the Jurassic Coast town. The impressive breakwater in Lyme Regis appears on screen as Willy returns from his travels around the world on a steamship.
Incidentally, several of the steamship scenes were filmed onboard Lydia Eva, a 1930s former fishing boat usually found moored in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.
Bath
It's no surprise that the location scouts picked out the cream-stoned, labarynthine streets of Bath as a place to film some of Wonka's most iconic scenes. Glorious Bath Abbey – with its gardens and orange groves – was at the heart of much of the filming in the Somerset city. Regular visitors to Bath and local residents will spot Pultney Bridge, the elegant, shop-lined bridge that spans the River Avon.
Walks near bath
St Albans
Note the fairground scenes - recognise the real-life location? It's Verulamium Park in St Albans, Hertfordshire. The 100-acre parkland, with its 1930s lake and bandstand, were dusted with fake snow for filming. Additional filming was done on Abbey Mill Lane and the historic Ye Olde Fighting Cocks pub.
London
Look out for Eltham Palace, an English Heritage property in South London. Eagle-eyed viewers may spot another bit of South London heritage, Rivoli Ballroom, an intact 1950s ballroom in Brockley. The red velvet and shimmering chandeliers are the backdrop for one of Wonka's most fabulous musical moments.
