While the main action on Great British Bake Off takes place inside the famous white baking tent, it wouldn’t be GBBO without beautiful filming locations set against the backdrop of British country houses.
Since the very first series of Great British Bake Off on the BBC in August 2010 with Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood as judges, the series has been filmed in gorgeous settings.
The setting has changed a few times over the past decade, with the show settling into yet another new home in 2020.
But where is the filming location of the show and does it change every year?
Where is The Great British Bake off filmed?
Currently, Bake Off is filmed in the grounds of Down Hall, which is in Hatfield Heath, Essex.
The hotel and spa has been used as the location since last year, when coronavirus regulations saw cast, contestants and production staff filming there in a Covid-safe bubble, to prevent any outbreaks which might affect the show.
Those involved in filming had to remain at the luxury hotel for six weeks to ensure that nobody got pinged or tested positive for Covid-19.
Down Hall has an extensive history, with records confirming that the manor was in existence as early as 1021, during the reign of Edward The Confessor.
It has had a number of different owners over the past couple of centuries, and was also used as a hospital during the First World War as well as becoming a girl’s boarding school, Downham Hall, in the 1930s.
The building was bought by a hotel group, Veladail, in 1986 and has been a hotel ever since.
Does Great British Bake off change location?
The filming location of the Great British Bake Off used to change location frequently, back when the first series aired nine years ago. The original plan was to have the location changed not just every year – but every week.
In series one, the amateur bakers travelled around the country each week, changing location per episode. So they filmed cakes in the Cotswolds, biscuits in Scotland, bread in Sandwich, puddings in Bakewell and pastry in Cornwall. However, the final Bake Off was filmed in Fulham Palace, London.
A logistical nightmare of grand proportions, the idea to move the show around each week was unsurprisingly scrapped after series one, and in series two Bake Off was based at Valentines Mansion in Redbridge, near London.
Show producers then swapped the Mansion for a beautiful Georgian country house for both series three and four. Harptree Court in Somerset became the show’s new home for these two series before GBBO set up shop in Welford Park, where they remained until the most recent location change in 2020.
MORE : Strictly 2021: Who is John Whaite, when did he win Bake Off and is he married?
MORE : Great British Bake Off 2021: First eliminated baker Tom ‘honoured’ to take part despite early exit