Apologies to my friends and family, but my personality will be Wuthering Heights until further notice, and by that I mean I'll be spending my time braiding my hair with ribbons. erotically slapping bread dough, pining, yearning, and—ideally—wandering the moors in search of Jacob Elordi. Though, the last item on that list involves a trip to the Yorkshire Dales, the epic setting that inspired both Emily Bronte's gothic romance and Emerald Fennell's passionate on-screen adaptation.
In the spirit of taking period girlie cosplay to its peak, we rounded up some of the hauntingly beautiful locations from Wuthering Heights, plus tips on where to stay and what to do when you're walking in Heathcliff and Cathy's moody footsteps.
The Yorkshire Dales
While much of Wuthering Heights was filmed on a soundstage, England's sweeping moors are absolutely central to the plot. They're where Cathy and Heathcliff have their most charged moments, they're where they fall in love again and again, and they're where Cathy waits in vain hoping that Heathcliff will return to her.
Supervising Location Manager Aurelia Thomas tells Cosmopolitan that Emerald Fennell wanted to film on "bleak and epic" moors that hadn't been seen in previous Wuthering Heights adaptations. They settled on the North Yorkshire Dales.
"We came to these moors that are in the North Yorkshire Dales, and suddenly it was like, bingo," she explains. "They look wonderful, and they go on, and it's this vastness. You want the love story to feel so intense, and part of that intensity—almost a third personality in this big love story—is those moors."
Booze Moor was one of Thomas's favorite locations to film in, and was specifically used for the scene where Heathcliff puts Cathy in a tree. "There's a lovely tarn, a Yorkshire lake," Thomas says. "And we built this lovely tree. Heathcliff puts Cathy in the tree—we had steel bars in it so she could actually sit in it safely—and that view there was also stunning."
Meanwhile, Bridestones Moor in West Yorkshire was used for a scene where "Cathy is having a little solo fun" and the unforgettable moment where Heathcliff grabs Cathy by her corset and lifts her up. Bridestones is near the Brontë Parsonage in Haworth, and Thomas says "Emerald really liked the fact that we had a location that's very close" to where the sisters actually lived.
Knole House
Knole House was used as the location for Heathcliffe's impromptu wedding to Isabella. It's a gorgeous 600-year-old estate in Kent that now operates as a National Trust property—which you can visit.
Fitzwilliam Wentworth Estate
You know the little structure that Cathy and Heathcliff wait out the rain in as kids? And then finally confess their love for each other in as adults? It's a real-life "folly" located on the Fitzwilliam Wentworth Estate in South Yorkshire—which you can visit!
"It was a process finding that, because it needed to feel like a bit of a landmark, that the children rush to in the rain, and then the adults go back to," Thomas says. "So we shot in Kent, and then we traveled, this traveling circus of trucks, up to South Yorkshire."
Here's an extremely wholesome video explaining the structure's unique history:
Where to Stay and What to Do
No trip to the Yorkshire Dales is complete without a visit to the Brontë Parsonage Museum, Emily Brontë's real-life home that's entirely preserved and full of amazing artifacts belonging to her and her sisters.
I mean, it's a treasure trove!
It's easy to explore the Yorkshire Dales solo, but if you're a guided tour person, I cannot say enough good things about Rabbie's "The Tales from the Dales & Brontë Country" tour—you'll learn so much and their expertise on the area is a true gift. Either way, once you're in the Dales, there's simply no place better place to stay than Swinton Estate, a Gothic mansion turned luxury hotel with ivory crawling up its walls and deer roaming the grounds. Genuinely expected Heathcliff to show up at any moment during my time there.
FYI, the Brontë's also spent some time in York itself, and while the George Inn (where they stayed) is no longer there, The Grand York is another historical option that'll put you in the Wuthering Heights mood.
Happy set jetting!
