Bridgerton on Netflix is back for its second season! The filming locations for Bridgerton take us across England to many stunning and historic estates and cities that may be familiar to connoisseurs of the period drama genre. But Bridgerton takes a more modern approach, not surprising given that the show comes from Shondaland, the production company of Shonda Rhimes (Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal).
In the first season, the main protagonist, the Duke of Hastings aka Simon Basset (played by Regé-Jean Page) is Black, as is Queen Charlotte (played by Golda Rosheuvel). There are some thematic echoes of Sanditon, the PBS Masterpiece series based on Jane Austen’s unfinished novel of the same name, which features a Black heiress from the West Indies, but Bridgerton takes it to the next level. Yet, it is rooted in possible historic fact: there are historians that believe Queen Charlotte (who was married to King George III) was the daughter of Portuguese King Alphonso III and a concubine, a Black Moor named Ouruana. In the re-imagined part of history, Bridgerton offers an alternate scenario in which some Blacks in England were given dukedoms and other landed titles. In Bridgerton, people like the Duke of Hastings and Lady Danbury (played by Adjoa Andoh) know that their standing in society could be taken away at any time. This version of England is not colorblind, as equality may be as ephemeral as the suitors in the story.
Bridgerton also adds a lot more sex than the standard period drama fare, but the essential tenets of the genre are present: many ladies of the upper crust (the “ton”) who must marry (or want to marry), the battle between the haves and have-nots, and the drama that ensues. The show gets its name from a fictional prominent family, the Bridgertons, of which the first season’s main focus was on the eldest daughter, Daphne Bridgerton (played by Phoebe Dynevor). She comes out into society and is presented to Queen Charlotte to much acclaim in the first episode of Bridgerton, setting off the plot of suitors and non suitors who come her way. In the second season, the narrative follows Lord Anthony Bridgerton as he seeks to find a wife. A new family, the Sharmas from Bombay, become central to the matchmaking efforts of Lady Danbury and the queen.
And now, here are the filming locations in Bridgerton!
1. Bath, England
While Bridgerton is set mostly in London, the city of Bath, England in Somerset (a setting for many Jane Austen novels) was used to recreate Regency-era London. Bath is named for the Roman Baths located in the city, which were often touted as a cure for a variety of ailments in the era before modern medicine.
One of the most visible locations in Bath found in Bridgerton is the Royal Crescent, a 500-foot long arched series of Georgian houses. The shop of the Modiste, which is actually the cafe Pickled Greens, is also located in Bath.
