Filming British romance is all about location

Readers and audiences have been falling in love with British romance stories for centuries. Books by authors like the Brontë sisters and Jane Austen still fly off the shelves, and they’ve been adapted for the big and small screen dozens of times. Wuthering Heights alone has been adapted over 30 times, and director Emerald Fennell’s blockbuster film is having a major moment. And Netflix just released a teaser for a new take on Pride and Prejudice, coming in fall 2026. 

British romance is loaded with big juicy themes like forbidden love, yearning, and class conflict. But how do great filmmakers adapt 19th-century writing into epic cinema? It’s all about the location. From endless moors to massive estates, Britain plays a leading role in bringing romantic classics from the page to the screen. 

In this video, we take a tour of Britain’s natural landscapes and historic architecture to find out what makes these settings so transportive and cinematic.

Read more about British romance on film:

Vox writer Constance Grady’s take on Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights”

Town & Country’s guide to the filming locations of Wuthering Heights (2026)

Focus Features breaks down the locations of Pride and Prejudice 

Claire O’Callaghan’s extensive research and writing on the Brontë sisters and their works

Paul Whickman’s published works

Learn more about the moors and Yorkshire Dales National Park

Discover the history and iconography of Chatsworth Estate

If you enjoy our reporting and want to hear more from Vox journalists, sign up for our Patreon at patreon.com/vox. Each month, our members get access to exclusive videos, livestreams, and chats with our newsroom.

This video is presented by Great Britain. Great Britain doesn’t have a say in our editorial decisions, but they make videos like this one possible.