Durham Cathedral over the treetopsDurham Cathedral
- Best time
- A winter morning, when the cloister garth looks most like the film
- Getting there
- About 15 minutes uphill on foot from Durham station
Why it’s in the log
Durham Cathedral and the castle beside it have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986, which calls the cathedral "the largest and most perfect monument of 'Norman' style architecture in England".
It was used in the first two Harry Potter films. In Philosopher's Stone, Harry walks through the snowy cloister garth and lets Hedwig fly. The chapter house, off the east side of the cloister, was Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration classroom. The cloister is open to everyone, but the chapter house usually isn't, so check the cathedral's website for tours and events.
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Alnwick Castle
United KingdomThe Duke of Northumberland's castle, which played Hogwarts in the first two Harry Potter films, and still teaches the broomstick lesson on the lawn where Harry had his.
Gloucester Cathedral
United KingdomA cathedral whose 14th-century fan-vaulted cloisters became the corridors of Hogwarts in three of the films.
Lacock Abbey
United KingdomA Wiltshire nunnery turned country house, where the Mirror of Erised stood in the cloisters, and where Fox Talbot made one of the first photographs.
