'I could tell something magic was being made'

The curator of a building which became one of the pivotal sets on an Oscar-winning picture said she could tell "something magic" was being made.

Lucy Armstrong-Blair takes care of Cwmmau Farmhouse, in Whitney-on-wye, Herefordshire, for the National Trust, which was used in the filming of Hamnet, featuring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal.

On Sunday night, Buckley was awarded best actress at the Oscars for her role in the movie.

Armstrong-Blair, who was present for the filming, said: "You could tell there was something special when the film was being set here. You could tell on the set there was something magic going on, it felt special."

Cwmmau Farmhouse was used in the film as the childhood home of Buckley's character, Agnes Shakespeare, the wife of Mescal's character, William Shakespeare.

The property was built in the early 1600s, originally as a boar hunting lodge before becoming a farmhouse.

It replicated the real farmhouse which was located in Shottery, a hamlet about one mile west of Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire.

Asked about what the two stars of the film were like to work with, Armstrong-Blair said: "They were lovely, Paul Mescal was very much into his method [acting] but Jesse Buckley, in particular, was lovely.

"She was friendly, she was smiley, she was always happy to come round after takes and have a chat."

Discussing the Irish actresses win, Armstrong-Blair said: "I'm so glad Herefordshire even played a small part in that.

"She and her whole team have brought it to international prominence, and I just think that is fabulous.

"So I would very much like to think Herefordshire takes this chance to celebrate along with her."

The curator also said one moment that particularly stuck with her was a death scene, and recalled hearing the "screams" echo around the property's ground multiple times.

"It was particularly gruelling to hear it going on, I think it was about eight times it had to be filmed," she said.

"We all sat there and listened to screams over a period of some hours."

Armstrong-Blair added: "What they don't show you, obviously, in films, it looks like there's only one or two people really living through something enormously dramatic in their lives but the people behind the scenes, it is a hive of activity.

"There are hundreds of people. They're doing the lights, they're doing the sound, they're following around after people, they're carrying things, everybody has to be really silent.

"What you see on screen is not even half of what is going on behind the scenes, which is a flurry of activity."

Armstrong-Blair said the National Trust was "very grateful" to Hollywood, who had helped its property financially.

"They did some great work," she said. "They re-built some fences, they donated money towards all sorts of projects.

"We were actually able to preserve the plaster work in the room upstairs where one of the major scenes happened.

"We've had a lot of work done here that we might not have done otherwise."

The farmhouse has now been turned into a holiday cottage, with room for 10 people at a cost of about £1,200 per night.

For anyone wanting to experience the world of Hamnet with their own eyes, Armstrong-Blair said: "It's a holiday cottage so you can stay here for as long as you like, and you can get 10 people together.

"It's a great place for entertaining, for chilling out at anytime of year really."

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