Turning Chavenage into Trenwith

Chavenage House in Tetbury, Wiltshire, is used in the new BBC drama Poldark as Trenwith, the Poldark family home.

via Wilts and Glos Standard

Both the interior and exterior of the Elizabethan house were used. Filming took place in the Great Hall, where the Poldark family dine and in the Oak Room. There are frequent shots of Ross (Aidan Turner) arriving and leaving the grounds. In fact, the very first day of filming was at Chavenage, with Ross riding up to the house.

Owner of Chavenage House, Rona Lowsley-Williams told the Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard, 'The film crews knew exactly what they wanted. They took up all the gravel when they came to film in April, then they left and we had to put it back down for the summer weddings, then when they came back to film in September they took it all up again!”

And that wasn't the only change. All signs of modern living such as light switches, cables

Oak room via Chavenage.com

and radiators, had to be covered up and the guttering painted black. The wallpaper and curtains were changed and lead lattice put on windows. 

“Part of the reason they picked Chavenage is that when you look out you cannot see anything man made, no buildings or electricity wires – just countryside,” Rona said.

Chavenage is open to the public and throughout the filming there were Thursday and Saturday tours.  Rona explained, 'I think the visitors rather liked seeing the actors. The crew would make us wait until they heard that filming was done on their walkie-talkies.”

If Poldark is granted a second series then filming will return to Chavenage next year.

BBC