Where is All Creatures Great and Small filmed?

While some of the sites are sets, which means they're closed off to the likes of you and me, the good news is that the show is shot largely on location at multiple picturesque spots across Yorkshire, with our location guide below offering an overview of the most prominently featured.

Without further ado, read on for everything you need to know about All Creatures Great and Small filming locations.

Where is fictional village Darrowby filmed?

While the original 1970s adaptation of All Creatures Great and Small used Askrigg as its stand-in for fictional village Darrowby, Channel 5 set their sights on Grassington, in the southern Dales.

Various period buildings at Grassington were perfect for the show's 1930s setting, including local pub The Devonshire, which stood in for the exterior of the fictional The Drovers Arms.

Local bookshop The Stripey Badger was also utilised in the show, for scenes featuring greengrocer's GF Endleby.

Rachel Shenton, who plays Helen Alderson, said: "It was the willingness of the people and enthusiasm of the people which helped so much. We couldn’t have wished for more.”

And Siegfried Farnon actor Samuel West told journalists that he hoped that "if this [the show] is a success, it can bring some tourism their way" at filming locations like Grassington.

He continued: "I hope you can tell what a happy time we all had, and that wouldn’t have been nearly as true if we hadn’t been living in the heart of the place."

West later added: "Grassington is the most delightful place, and for the first couple of weeks I made sure I bought plenty of wine from the wine shop and books from the bookshop.

"But actually going back in February this year, just after we'd wrapped and just before lockdown, it was like returning to - being a prodigal son. They threw open the doors and said, 'How are you – and when are you coming back?'"

Is Skeldale House a real place?

In real life, Alf Wight (who went by the pen name James Herriot) ran his veterinary practice from 23 Kirkgate in the village of Thirsk – and in his books he reimagined it as "Skeldale House" in the the village of "Darrowby". That original building is now home to a museum, The World of James Herriot.

So, to film the Channel 5 series, producers used the exterior of a private house in Grassington. Meanwhile, the interiors were created inside a studio.

"The Skeldale set is like a functioning house – it works!" said James Anthony-Rose (Richard Carmody). "You walk down the corridor, and then you're in another room, and there's not much pretence to it at all. It all works. The taps work. You turn a corner and you're in the living room.

"And so, yes, in that sense, I felt completely immersed in the whole world of All Creatures as soon as I stepped over the threshold. It was a very warm feeling and one that I’ll always remember."

Is The Drover's Arms a real pub?

The interior of The Drovers Arms is filmed in the Green Dragon Inn, a 13th century pub found in the Yorkshire village of Hardraw.

Where was Mrs Pumphrey's house filmed?

Broughton Hall, a Grade I listed Georgian property located near Skipton, has often been used in the past as a filming location for projects like Netflix's The English Game.

Channel 5 utilised the property for the home of wealthy local resident Mrs Pumphrey (played by the late Dame Diana Rigg in season 1 and Patricia Hodge from season 2 onwards), whose spoilt dog Tricki-Woo demands only the utmost attention from James Herriot.

Some scenes were also shot on the estate - Broughton Hall's park dates back to the 18th and 19th century, and was no doubt perfect for period shots.

"It's beautiful, it really is, but it makes for very long days for me because we do tend to have rather a lot of scenes on the days we film there," said Hodge.

"An amusing detail that I discovered… when we film at Broughton Hall, of course, they have to tape every single one of the windows in wartime fashion. Windows had to be cross taped, each pane, so that they would withstand any blast that happened and stop them from shattering and becoming dangerous.

"Well, you can imagine the number of windows that they have to tape up at Broughton Hall. And they do every single one immaculately. I always stare up at them and think, 'Someone has got to get up and remove every single one of those tapes when we’ve finished filming.'

"So I’m always very admiring of people who do that. It's laborious."

Where is the Chapman's cottage filmed?

In the 2020 Christmas special, James and Helen paid a visit to Bert and Anne Chapman (played by Dave Hill and Cleo Sylvestre) after their dog Suzy gets intro trouble during labour.

The elderly couple live in a tiny, cosy cottage – and surprisingly, this was all shot on location rather than in a studio.

"We were based in Skipton, but we drove miles and miles - I mean, it was really well up in the Dales," Sylvestre told RadioTimes.com. "It was so remote, this farmhouse, I didn't really catch where it was! But it was absolutely beautiful... it was brilliant and quite muddy!"

Where was the bus stop scene filmed?

When James Herriot first makes the perilous journey from Glasgow, Scotland, to the deepest depths of the Yorkshire Dales in season 1 episode 1, he accidentally jumps off the bus to Darrowby at the wrong point - and is forced to walk the remainder of the way on foot.

The scene, while showcasing just how much Herriot has to learn, also highlights the vast expanse of the countryside - with not a soul or dwelling to be seen.

The picturesque shot of endless fields was filmed on location at beauty spot Malham Lings in North Yorkshire.

Nearby Malham is also used later in the series, for the scene where Herriot swims in the waterfall pool, Janet's Foss, at Malham.
The general area, including Malham Cove, has been used for multiple film and television projects, including The Trip and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 1).

All Creatures Great and Small seasons 1 to 3 are available to watch now on My5. If you're looking for something else to watch, visit our TV Guide or take a look at the rest of our Drama coverage.

Like this? You might want to try Outlander. Available now on Lionsgate+.

You can order James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small from Amazon.

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