My children grew up with the amazing exploits
of the boy wizard, Harry Potter, and together we’ve watched all eight films
(several times). With a new stage play in London’s West End and five planned
Fantastic Beasts films, the magical world created by J.K. Rowling will continue
to entertain us for many years to come. I couldn’t miss an opportunity to visit
the studio in England where the movies were filmed: Warner Bros. Studio Tour
London – The Making of Harry Potter.
Originally an aircraft factory twenty miles
northwest of London, the Warner Bros. Studio in Leavesden opened its
doors to Harry Potter fans in 2012 with original sets, props and costumes gleaned
from more than ten years of filming. (Now the Fantastic Beasts franchise is
being filmed there too.) You can visit the studio on your own or book a day
tour out of London but in either case your timed-entry tickets must be
purchased in advance.
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| The Warner Bros. Studio in Leavesden |
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| Studio Lobby |
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| Flying Ford Anglia from The Chamber of Secrets |
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| Harry Potter's First Bedroom, The Cupboard Under the Stairs |
We booked a group tour through
International Friends, the same company that took us to Highclere Castle
and Downton Abbey filming locations. (You can read about this tour in the post
A Very Downton Day.) The itinerary allowed four hours to tour the studio
exhibits, eat lunch in the Backlot Café (including a frothy mug of Butterbeer)
and browse the Studio Shop. Here are some highlights of my visit, from entering
the Great Hall of Hogwarts Castle, to window shopping in Diagon Alley and
boarding the Hogwarts Express on Platform 9-3/4.
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| Doors Open to the Great Hall of Hogwarts Castle |
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| The Great Hall |
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| Professor Dumbledore's Costume and the Owl Podium |
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| The Magical Sorting Hat |
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| Harry Potter's Bed in the Gryffindor Boys' Dormitory |
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| The Gryffindor Common Room |
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| The Lady & the Unicorn |
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| The Griffin Stairwell |
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| Professor Dumbledore's Office |
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| The Potions Classroom |
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| The Burrow, Home of the Weasley Family |
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| Nagini the Snake at Malfoy Manor |
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| The Backlot and Hogwarts Bridge |
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| The Knight Bus |
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| Number 4, Privet Drive |
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| The Dursley Living Room |
After the studio tour we journeyed to nearby
Oxford, the City of Dreaming Spires. Oxford is home to Britain’s oldest
university with 38 independent colleges. The Sheldonian Theatre is the official
ceremonial hall for graduations and was Sir Christopher Wren’s first major building
project.
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| The Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford |
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| The Emperor Heads |
Radcliffe Camera is a reading room for the university’s Bodleian Library which receives a copy
of every book printed in Britain – over 12 million items to date. The
Bodleian’s Divinity School and Duke Humfrey’s Library were used for the
Hogwarts infirmary and library in the Harry Potter films.
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| Radcliffe Camera |
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| Entrance to the Bodleian Library |
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| The Divinity School |
Oxford has its own Bridge of Sighs
connecting two sections of Hertford College. Don't you think it looks more like
Venice’s Rialto Bridge?
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| Bridge of Sighs, Oxford |
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| Bridge of Sighs, Venice |
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| Rialto Bridge, Venice |
Famous residents of Oxford include astronomer
Edmund Halley who discovered the comet that bears his name; and Charles Dodgson
who is better known as Lewis Carroll, author of Alice’s Adventures in
Wonderland. Dodgson was a lecturer at the college of Christ Church and the real
Alice was the Dean’s daughter.
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| Edmund Halley's House |
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| Alice Merchandise in Oxford |
The Martyrs' Memorial commemorates the
Oxford Martyrs who were burnt at the stake for heresy in 1555. It’s said that
mischievous students have sold unsuspecting tourists a tour of the underground
church beneath the ‘spire’. The supposed stairs to this
church actually lead to public toilets.
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| The Martyrs' Memorial |
Next time we’ll return to London for a
visit to Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery.
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