Five years after Maggie O-Farrell’s novel Hament rose to popularity in 2020, Chloe Zao’s movie adaptation is finally hitting the big screen starring Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley. A reimagining of Shakespeare’s family history through tragedy, the film is set in and around the playwright’s home of Stratford-upon-Avon – but you won’t find any real scenes of the historical English market town in the movie. Here are the Hamnet filming locations in England, revealed.
1. What is the story of Hamnet?
Hamnet is a work of fiction by Maggie O’Farrell based on Shakespeare’s life, imagining the grief both Shakespeare and his wife Agnes (also known as Anne) Hathaway experienced after the loss of their only son, Hamnet.
Historians know that Hamnet was Shakespeare’s only son who died aged 11, but how the family dealt with this tragedy is undocumented – apart from, perhaps, in the writing of Hamlet. Both novel and film imagine that the writing of Hamlet was a way for Shakespeare to grieve his son.
Directed by Chloé Zhao (Nomadland) with Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal as the film’s leads, Hamnet was released in November 2025 in the US and January 2026 in the UK. It follows the early romance of Shakespeare and Agnes in Stratford-upon-Avon, following the family during and after Hamnet’s death, when Shakespeare then moved to London to put on his plays.
2. Where is Hamnet filmed?
Though it is set in Stratford-upon-Avon, filming for Hamnet didn’t take place in the medieval market town. In fact, the movie hasn’t included any of the real Shakespeare historical sites in its filming locations – but that hasn’t stopped the film from feeling incredibly authentic to Shakespeare’s England. Instead, filming took place across Wales and Herefordshire, primarily in the village of Weobley as a stand-in for Stratford-upon-Avon, and the Cwmmau Farmhouse as Agnes’ childhood home.
3. Hamnet filming locations in England
Weobley
As one of the best-preserved Tudor villages in England, Weobley is as close to 16th century Stratford-upon-Avon as the team behind Hamnet were going to get – without filming in the town itself. Both places share many parallels; they were both thriving market towns, and both boast classic Tudor architecture. Weobley was even known for its wool and glove-making trade, a profession that Shakespeare’s family were known for.
Weobley is known as the ‘black and white village’ thanks to its timbered and half-timbered buildings, many of which date to medieval times (as do many buildings in Stratford-upon-Avon). The town itself is surrounded by beautiful countryside and fields, making the perfect rural backdrop to transport viewers back to 16th century England.
Cwmmau Farmhouse
In Hamnet, Cwmmau Farmhouse serves as the childhood home of Agnes Hathaway – a real site you can still visit today at Hewlands Farm, the original building in Stratford-upon-Avon, called Anne Hathaway’s Cottage.
This Grade II-listed 15th-century farmhouse had never been on camera before, and the National Trust-managed Tudor building is a seamless stand-in for Agnes’ home, with its beautifully preserved timber frames surrounded by woodlands and meadows.
Lydney Park Estate
In the book and film, Agnes is closely connected to nature – in her first labor scene, she gives birth to their first daughter Susanna under a spectacular ancient tree. The scene was filmed in the forest in the Lydney Park Estate in the heart of the Forest Of Dean in Gloucestershire, around 90 minutes south of Weobley.
London Charterhouse
To lift his career as a playwright off the ground Shakespeare moved to London, leaving his family behind. Hamnet shot this part of his life at London’s Charterhouse, an extraordinary heritage site in the heart of London with buildings dating back to medieval and Tudor times. It’s now an almshouse, or charitable residence for elderly people in need.
4. Visit the real locations with Trafalgar
Stratford-upon-Avon
The county of Warwickshire is known globally as Shakespeare country, and is where you’ll find Shakespeare’s birthplace and Agnes Hathaway’s real family home in historic Stratford-Upon-Avon.
On Trafalgar’s tours to England, you’ll visit Stratford-upon-Avon to learn about the life of William Shakespeare, visiting his birthplace and Anne Hathaway’s thatched cottage, with time to explore this iconic town and its Tudor architecture.
The Globe
Although the filming for the Globe in Hamnet didn’t take place in the real London theatre but in an exact replica set, a visit to the Globe is just about the best way in the world to immerse yourself in Shakespeare’s world.
For Hamnet, the Globe was recreated in a studio – not even this mighty film crew could pause the real theater to shoot there.
In the film, you might notice the Globe theater on-screen looks a little different to the theater in London today. That’s because the recreation was based on the first Globe, built in 1599 by Shakespeare’s acting company, Lord Chamberlain’s Men. This burned down in 1614, and was reconstructed in 1615 as a much more ornate playhouse. The theater that sits on London’s Southbank today is a reconstruction of the second rendition of the Globe, built in 1997.
Discover Hamnet filming locations in England on a Trafalgar England tour.