Castle Farm

The Beekeeper (2024)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
Jason Statham as Adam Clay stands against a yellow backdrop. He wears a beekeeping uniform, without the helmet, and is surrounded by bees. He is looking determinedly off to the right of the image. In the bottom left of the image in white text is written ‘Miramax a beIN Media Group and Paramount company’.

The Beekeeper (2024) © 2023 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures

Director: David Ayer
Starring: Jason Statham, Josh Hutcherson, Jeremy Irons, Emmy Raver-Lampman
Production Company: Cedar Park Studios, Miramax
Kent Locations Used: Castle Farm & Lower Austin Lodge, Kingsferry Bridge

The Beekeeper (2024) follows Adam Clay, a former operative of a secret organisation known as The Beekeepers.  After his friend falls victim to scamming by a phishing company, he sets out to exact revenge.

Directed by David Ayer (Suicide Squad, End of Watch), the film stars Jason Statham (Crank, Redemption (2013)) as Adam Clay, Josh Hutcherson (The Hunger Games, Bridge to Terabithia) as Derek Danforth, Jeremy Irons (The Mission (1986), Waterland (1992)) as Wallace Westwyld and Emmy Raver-Lampman (The Umbrella Academy, Central Park) as Agent Verona Parker.

Production visited Kent to film at Castle Farm & Lower Austin Lodge, which doubles for Mrs Parker’s (Phylicia Rashad) cottage and beekeeping farm. Filming also took place on the Kingsferry Bridge, involving a vehicle being driven off the bridge into the Swale Estuary below.

Set in a picturesque, unspoilt farmyard nestled into a valley of trees and arable fields sits Lower Austin Lodge, a Grade II listed 16th Century farmhouse complete with original features and a modern renovated interior. A popular filming location, it is part of the Castle Farm estate – set within 1,200 acres of land with varied landscapes, it includes lavender fields, hop gardens, apple orchards, bluebell woodlands and meadows. It is particularly popular for photoshoots and music videos but has also played host to Road Games (2016).

The Kingsferry Bridge is a combined road and railway bridge that links the Isle of Sheppey to mainland Kent. The bridge isn’t as busy as it once was since the new Sheppey Crossing was built next to it, and therefore can potentially be closed for filming. Too Close (2021), Kiss Me First (2018) and Silent Witness Series 26 (2023) feature the Kingsferry Bridge.

The Beekeeper (2024) will be released in UK cinemas on Friday 12th January 2024.

For more information about Kent’s Filming History please visit our Movie Map. 

Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year (2017)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
Frank Skinner and Joan Bakewell standing in lavender field looking up

Landscape Artist of the Year – Joan Bakewell & Frank Skinner – © Sky UK Limited.

Director: Southan Morris

Starring: Joan Bakewell and Frank Skinner

Production Company: Storyvault Films

Kent Locations Used: Castle Farm

Sky Art’s annual TV competition, which inspired British TV personality and host of the show Frank Skinner to attend art school, is returning to our screens.  The successful winner of Landscape Artist of the Year 2017 will receive a £10,000 commission for a British Institution’s permanent art collection and £500 of art materials from Cass Art.

The show visits a series of stunning locations around the UK and for the semi-finals, the competition filmed at Castle Farm Lavender, located in Shoreham, Sevenoaks. The remaining contestants battle it out to paint the stunning setting of Castle Farm which is within the largest lavender field in the UK. Visitors to the farm were invited to come along and support the artists when the episode was being filmed. Castle Farm has also previously featured in the psychological thriller Road Games (2016).

This episode of Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year airs on Wednesday 29th November at 8pm on Sky Arts.

 

For more information about Kent’s Filming History please visit our Movie Map. 

 

Road Games (2016)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
field full of hay barrels, a yellow car is in the centre with two people running into the distance

Road Games © February Films

 

Writer and Director: Abner Pastoll

Stars: Andrew Simpson, Joséphine de La Baume, Barbara Crampton, Frédéric Pierrot

Production Companies: February Films, Superbe Films, Trigger Films

Kent Locations Used: St Clere Estate, Markbeech, Castle Farm, Falconhurst and Kemsing roads

Road Games is a psychological thriller set during an idyllic summer in France where drifters Jack (Andrew Simpson) and Véronique (Joséphine de La Baume) hook up and hit the road. Hitchhiking a lift from a local oddball, who takes them home to his wife, where they suddenly find themselves in a deadly game of cat and mouse..

The film was written and directed by Abner Pastoll (Me or the Dog, A Great Mistake) and stars Andrew Simpson (The Life and Adventures of Nick Nickleby, Notes on a Scandal), Joséphine de La Baume (Rush, One Day), Barbara Crampton (The Young and the Restless, We Are Still Here) and Frédéric Pierrot (Young & Beautiful, Polisse).

The Anglo-French co-production filmed in Kent for around 4 weeks in July and August 2014 using St Clere Estate, Markbeech, Castle Farm, Falconhurst and Kemsing roads, doubling as France.

 

St Clere Estate is set across 2,800 acres of the rolling Kent countryside, offering stunning views of the North Downs. The house itself was built in 1630 and has some fine architectural examples of the Caroline era. St Clere Estate has been previously featured on screen in The Mirror Crack’d (1980).

Falconhurst is a 700 acre country estate just 45 minutes to central London. The location boasts farmland, woods, private roads, farmhouses and cottages. Falconhurst has been used for filming by a variety of projects including short films and photo shoots.

Castle Farm is a farm in Sevenoaks with a timber-framed farmhouse and oast surrounded by stunning lavender fields, pasture, woodland, stream, farm shop, barns and outbuildings. The site has been used for filming by De De Pyaar De (2019)  and various photoshoots.

Road Games​ has its UK theatrical premiere on Friday 26th August and will be available on demand and DVD release from Monday 29th August 2016.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI8guzFYSPI%20

 

 

For more information about Kent’s Filming History please visit our Movie Map. ​