| Jane Eyre (1996) | |
|  | | Haddon Hall |
| | Charlotte Bronté's classic novel Jane Eyre is one of the best-loved of all the Victorian novels. It combines social commentary with gothic romance - and there is plenty of Derbyshire to see in Zeffirelli's treatment. |
| | | WEB LINKS | |  | Charlotte Bronté online | | Haddon Hall | | The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites. | | | FACTS | | Charlotte Bronté's Jane Eyre was written more than 150 years ago.
Jane Eyre was originally considered by some critics to be 'coarse' and 'unsuitable reading for well-brought up ladies'. | | | PRINT THIS PAGE | | | View a printable version of this page. | |  |
| | When Franco Zeffirelli decided to embark on another classic novel, he chose Italy and Derbyshire to do the location shooting.
But Charlotte Bronté had already laid the foundations for this when she stayed at Hathersage, in the north-east of Derbyshire, in 1845.
Bronté spent two weeks in the vicarage. During that time she renamed the village 'Morton' for the purposes of her novel and decided on the surname, Eyre, having seen the name on a head stone whilst wandering around the local graveyard.
She wrote: "There are great moors behind and on each hand of me; there are waves of mountains far beyond that deep valley at my feet."
Where else could she be talking about but Derbyshire?!
Large sections of this two-hour classic were shot at Haddon Hall, near Bakewell.
It has been described as the most romantic house in England and was chosen by Zefferelli as the location for Mr Rochester's Thornfield.
But the film crew had to temporarily add a false roof and tall chimney to the building to bring it into line with the Italian director's own interpretation of what was "authentically English"
 | | Wingfield Manor |
After the fire at 'Thornfield', Zeffirelli used Wingfield Manor.
It's ruinous state lent itself perfectly to the aftermath of a blaze.
The filming brought a plethora of stars with it: Charlotte Gainsbourg, William Hurt, Joan Plowright, Anna Paquin, Geraldine Chaplin and Elle Macpherson were among the many names involved.
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