A Downton 2 - A New Era

Downton Abbey 2 filming at Belchamp Water. 18 - 20th May 2021.

Ambulance Chasers

The last major coverage for Belchamp Walter on EADT was related to the plane crash - now there is a legacy!

Electric Palace, Harwich

There was little or no mention of the Electric Palace.

The newly renovated cinema was "scouted" on the same trip as Belchamp Hall. Unlike Belchamp Hall which will feature in the opening sequence of Downton 2, the Electric Palace probably is another part of the script envisaged by Jullian Fellows.

In any event Donal Woods, the Emmy Award winning producer for Downton Abbey TV and Movie production, was keen to use Belchamp Hall in the opening sequence. The country house with a Church within the grounds was an ideal setting for a wedding.

The cinema was built in 18 weeks at a cost of £1,500 and opened on Wednesday, November 29th, 1911, the first film being The Battle of Trafalgar and The Death of Nelson. The creator of the Palace was Charles Thurston, a traveling showman well known in East Anglia, and the architect was Harold Hooper, a dynamic young man of 25 years who demonstrated his imaginative flair with this his first major building. Charles Thurston built his first cinema the Electric Palace in Harwich in 1911. In 1913, he built two more cinemas, the Empire Cinema in Biggleswade and the Palace Cinema in Norwich.