This page details the different filming locations being used in Emmerdale since its conception in 1972.
Currently, exterior village scenes are filmed on the purpose-built set while most interior scenes are shot at The Leeds Studios. Other outdoor scenes set outside Emmerdale village are often shot in Leeds.
Overview[]
Location shooting originally occurred in the village of Arncliffe in Littondale, one of the less frequented valleys of the Yorkshire Dales. In exterior shots, the village's hotel, The Falcon Inn was used to represent the The Woolpack. Eventually, the location of the shooting location became publicly known, which is perhaps what prompted the move to the village of Esholt in 1976, where it stayed for the next 22 years. This location also became a tourist attraction and the village pub (previously 'the Commercial Hotel') has retained the adopted name of The Woolpack Inn.
The original Emmerdale Farm buildings are near the village of Leathley. Creskeld Hall (Home Farm) is one of the few original filming locations used in the entire run of the series and has been involved in many storylines and is regularly used to this day.
Since 1998, a purpose-built set on the Harewood House estate in Leeds has been used (building on the estate started in 1996). The first scenes shot in the purpose-built set were broadcast on 19th February 1998 from the front of the Woolpack (although some scenes were shot there from 1997). The Harewood set is a replica of Esholt with a few minor alterations.
The houses in the new village at Harewood are timber framed structures covered in stone cladding. The village is built on green belt land so all the buildings are classed as "temporary structures" and must be demolished within ten years unless new planning permission is given. There is no plan to demolish the set and new planning has now been drawn up. The new village included a church and a churchyard full of gravestones some of them for the characters who have died in the serial.
The site incorporates a 1500 ft grass airstrip, and a Cessna 172 is hangared in the farm at the entrance. The aircraft, in an open barn, is visible from Eccup Lane.
Much location footage is carried out in other areas of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, such as the fictional market town of Hotten which is actually shot in Otley, a market town on the outskirts of Leeds. The Benton Park School in the Rawdon area of the city and the primary school in Farnley were also used as shooting locations. Indoor scenes are mostly filmed at Yorkshire Television's 'Emmerdale Production Centre' on Kirkstall Road, Leeds (located next to the main Yorkshire Television's Leeds Studios).
List of filming locations[]
- Beckindale/Emmerdale (1972-1975) - Arncliffe
- Beckindale/Emmerdale (1976-1998) - Esholt
- Beckindale/Emmerdale (1998-present) - 1998 Purpose-Built Set
- Hotten - Otley
- Home Farm Holiday Park - Rudding Park Holiday Park
- Daventry - Morey
- Archie's Hill - Old Hollings Hill, Esholt
Buildings[]
- Beckindale Shop (1975-1998) - Esholt Post Office
- Beckindale Abbey - Bolton Abbey
- Butlers Farm - Brookland Farm
- Demdyke Row - Cunliffe Lane/Bunkers Hill
- Emmerdale Farm (1972-1993) - Lindley Farm
- Hawthorn Cottage - Bank Side Farm
- Home Farm - Creskeld Hall
- Hotten General Hospital - The Leeds Studios (exterior)
- Melby Farm - Burden Head Farm (demolished in 2023).
- The Mill (1972-1975) - Hartington Mill
- Oakwell Hall - Stockeld Park
- Toll Lane Fish Farm - Lindley Bridge Fish Farm
- St. Mary's Church - St. Oswald's Church
- St. Mary's Vicarage - Esholt Vicarage
- Whiteley's Farm - Wood Top Farm
- The Woolpack (1972-1975) - The Falcon Inn
- The Woolpack (1976-1998) - The Commercial Inn
- Wylies Farm - Stockton Grange Farm