The Essex Serpent: Cudmore Grove on the small screen
Credit: Apple TV
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n 2021 film crews were spotted in locations across the eastern shores and creeks of our county, with locals extremely excited by the rumours of global acting superstars, Tom Hiddleston and Claire Danes, shooting a production in Essex. Now Apple TV have launched their mini drama-series of ‘The Essex Serpent’, an adaptation of the bestselling and award-winning novel by Essex girl Sarah Perry, and our hauntingly beautiful Essex landscapes are set to be a hit on the small screen. Did you know that Cudmore Grove Country Park was one of the film locations? Claire Danes and Tom Hiddleston were filmed in a couple of iconic places within the park itself. The first was along the ‘cliff’ top. Here the starkly beautiful rows of trees are exposed to the elements – shaped into elegantly twisted patterns by the winter winds, and slowly falling on to the beach below as climate change and erosion work against them.
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If you plan to visit, and perhaps take a photo or two of this location, you must remember to stay away from the cliff edge. A fence marks the boundaries of the footpath. The second setting you’ll want to explore is on the beach, at the bottom of the cliffs. Follow the path along the top, through the trees, and descend on to the shore – heading to your right. Top tip: Make sure to check tide times before you travel and come at low tides for the full atmosphere. Here the actors were filmed digging for fossils in the striking cliffs. (Although the production used a faux cliff face, so no damage was caused as Cudmore Grove is a site of special scientific interest). Did you know that the cliffs at Cudmore Grove are well known for their ancient prehistoric geology, providing superb sightings of gravels laid down by the Thames-Medway River during a glacial period 300,000 years ago? Perhaps not quite revealing the finds of a serpent, Cudmore Grove is however known as the ‘hippo site’ due to the presence of ancient hippopotamus bones found here.
