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Where was Call The Midwife filmed?
Call The Midwife is based on the memoirs of a young trainee midwife. Leaving home in 1957, Jenny finds herself housed in a convent in the East End of London where she makes friends with other midwives and medically-trained nuns.
Jenny discovers a sharp contrast between the East End's slum living conditions and the bravery and warmth of the new mothers. Even after leaving the convent, Jenny keeps up with the lives of her midwifery family.
Read on to find out where Call The Midwife was filmed, and take a look at our TV Map of Britain to find your favourite TV show hotspots.
This Catholic college was the original filming location for Nonnatus House in seasons one and two of Call The Midwife. In 2013 it was sold for redevelopment and production transferred to a studio set.
Call the Midwife is set in late 1950s/60s Poplar in East London. Modern Poplar is nothing like it used to be. So it is mostly filmed on a permanent exterior set at Longcross Studios. The streets, houses and landmarks are all lovingly researched and reconstructed in a time-out-of-time immersive experience. Local houses and shop fronts are represented on the set, including Violet’s shop, with Hendy Street and Fred Buckle's allotments not far off.
Originally built in 1853, the house was acquired in 1952 by the Ministry of Supply and became an Officers' Mess. The Manor House is now part of Longcross studios and has been appearing as Nonnatus House convent since 2013. This is the focus of the action and the set is built around it, with the square and the arch outside. Its exterior frontage has stone steps leading up to a columned stone portico. Inside, the house features wood-panelled meeting rooms, a grand central staircase and the midwives' kitchen and dispensary.
30 miles away from London's East End, Chatham Historic Dockyard makes a perfect period set for exterior filming. It features typical old cobbled streets where the stars of Call the Midwife are often seen passing on their bicycles. Several building exteriors are also used. These include the front of Doctor Turner’s surgery and Poplar Police Station, which is the frontage of the Victorian Ropery with some added props.
This imposing frontage was used as a location for the London maternity hospital in Call the Midwife. The prominent coat of arms above the door was modified by CGI to look like a clock.
HMS Cavalier is a Royal Navy CA-class destroyer, first launched in 1944, and retired to Chatham in 1972. This ship is sometimes used as a filming location, such as when Sister Evangelina and Trixie deliver the baby of the Swedish Captain’s daughter in the opening episode of season two.
In 2019, Call The Midwife went on location to the Outer Hebrides to shoot a Christmas Special. The scenes were based around St Clement’s Church in Rodel, while the cast stayed in the grand Amhuinnsuidhe Castle on the island of Harris.
Nurse Val and Nurse Lucille visit a lighthouse during their trip to Scotland. It’s actually the remote Eilean Glas Lighthouse on the east coast of the island of Scalpay.