Yorkshire is featured as a backdrop on the tele once more as the new Channel 4 series A Woman of Substance hit our screens this week. Based on the book, one of the best-selling novels of all time, by Barbara Taylor Bradford, of the same name. The new adaptation stars Brenda Blethyn and Jessica Reynolds as Emma.
Shot back in spring 2025, and flitting between two timelines, the eight-part series sees Emma Harte rise through her early years’ struggles as a penniless maid in the early 1900s, defying all social expectations and building a global empire, to a modern-day, powerful 1970s businesswoman. where she has new battles to face.
Harte is betrayed by her aristocratic lover and cast out when she becomes pregnant. Emma vows revenge on the family she once worked for.
So, what are the A Woman of Substance filming locations?
1. Broughton Hall
The Grade I-listed 16th-century Georgian mansion is used as Fairley Hall, the mansion sits in 3,000 acres of Yorkshire Dales landscape and was also used as the location in the original 1984 adaptation of A Woman of Substance.
2. Ilkley Moor
Used as the place where the Harte family treasures in their hearts. Cow & Calf is featured several times in the first episode. And, it’s easy to see why, in all its splendour.
3. Skipton
Skipton is portrayed as the idyllic, dramatic, and historic heart of Emma Harte’s early life in Yorkshire.
4. Brodsworth Hall and Gardens, Doncaster
The beautifully preserved country house and gardens are a Victorian Time capsule constructed between 1861 and 1863 and remain virtually unchanged. The gardens make the perfect backdrop for the incredible new Channel 4 series.
5. Barnsley Town Hall
Barnsley Town Hall is a Grade II listed neoclassical building in South Yorkshire, opened in 1933 by the Prince of Wales and constructed from white Portland stone. It’s used as the headquarters of Emma’s thriving business.
If you’d like to watch A Woman of Substance, you can catch it on Wednesday at 9 pm or catch up via Channel 4 here.
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