Where was Grantchester filmed? All filming locations explored

Grantchester is set to return with season 9 on June 16, 2024, with the crime-busting duo, inspector George Keating (Robson Green) and the new vicar, Alphy Kotteram (Rishi Nair). The new season will see the two go on adventures as they solve some of the most mysterious cases in the Cambridgeshire village.

One of the things that this 1950s crime show fans love about it is the unspoiled and picturesque setting of every season, which is a real village in England. Most of the scenes in the show were filmed in Grantchester, which is located just a few miles away from Cambridge.

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Grantchester was filmed in Grantchester, Cambridgeshire

Grantchester filming (Image via @grantchesterUK/ X)

The titular place of the British crime TV series is a very real town and the main setting of the show. The country homes, quaint and quiet streets, and thatched-roof cottages in almost every episode of the show are from the village of Grantchester, England. It is a historic village in South Cambridgeshire and is just about an hour away from London.

Describing the little village, the show's location manager, David Halstead, said that it was a "small, quiet little village," that has around 300 houses and a church.

"It's a small, very pretty, quiet little village, probably about 300 houses and a church....it did have four pubs—down to three now—and its own gin distillery, which has come in handy," Halstead said.

Some notable settings in the show are the church sanctuary and the churchyard, which were filmed in the ancient church of St. Andrew and St. Mary in the village.

A screenshot from the show on PBS (Image via @GrantchesterUK/ X)

Another familiar exterior in the show is the vicarage, which is a 300-year-old vicarage and sits directly adjacent to the church. The crew also filmed along the River Cam and in the Grantchester Meadows, which are recognizable in the scenes depicting romantic walks, deep conversations, and picnics.

Ahead of the recent season, the show also shot outside The Green Man, which is one of the several pubs in the village. Unfortunately, it closed down in 2020.

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Grantchester's other filming locations explored

Many of the scenes for season 9, as with the show's previous seasons, were shot on location within the village. The show has also ventured around other parts of Cambridgeshire, bringing a variety of picturesque settings to rural England. Most interior scenes in the show were filmed across various out-of-town locations.

Lemsford, Hertfordshire

While the exterior of the vicarage was a real one, the scenes inside the vicar's house were not. Interior shots were filmed in a private residence, an old building on a farm site located in Lemsford, a small village in Hertfordshire, about an hour away from the village.

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The Eagle (Cambridge), Windmill Pub (Chipperfield), and Hammersmith (west London)

While the three pubs in the village—The Red Lion, The Ruper Brooke, and The Blue Ball Inn—serve as a backdrop in the show, none are used for filming. Instead, the crew filmed interior pub scenes in different areas just outside the village.

Windmill Pub in Chipperfield, Hertfordshire, doubled as The Red Lion on the TV series. The crew also filmed pub scenes in The Eagle in Cambridge and in an empty pub in Hammersmith in west London.

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Bluebell Railway in Sussex

The crew also shot a few scenes in the series at the Horsted Keynes railway station, a preserved railway station on the Bluebell Railway in Sussex. It's the largest station in the area and also a famous filming location, and it was shot as the Cambridge railway station in the TV series.

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King's College and King's Parade in Cambridge

When the cast and crew film in downtown Cambridge, their go-to is the King's College campus at Cambridge University. The buildings give the show an authentic 1950s feel without much dressing, with their instantly recognizable historic architecture.

Another favorite setting for the filming, according to Halstead, is the King's Parade.

"I mean there are great streets in Cambridge that you can make feel like the 1950s in minutes. We use King's Parade quite regularly," he noted.

The crew also shot some scenes along Trinity Lane, which is at the center of Cambridge, and Senate House Passage, which leads to the gates of King's College Chapel. The Passage has preserved its 19th-century aesthetic.

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Grantchester seasons one to eight are available for streaming from MASTERPIECE with a PBS Passport, with season 9 premiering on Sunday, June 16, 2024.