The Harry Potter movies were filmed in various beautiful locations across the UK (and some outside of the UK in Ireland). Avid Harry Potter fans can find these beautiful locations, and transport themselves into Hogwarts or other parts of the magical world. Gloucester Cathedral is an easy-to-access filming location that features multiple times throughout the series. Read on to discover all the Harry Potter filming locations in Gloucester Cathedral.
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Where is Gloucester Cathedral?
Gloucester Cathedral is located in the city of Gloucester, which is above Bristol and beside the Cotswolds. Gloucester Cathedral is easy to locate as it is within the main centre of Gloucester.
Staying at Gloucester?
Make the most of your Harry Potter Gloucester Cathedral day out and book yourself in for a weekend away in Gloucester. Gloucester has a variety of hotels suitable for any budget from hostels, hotels and luxury spas. Book your Gloucester accommodation here.
How to get to Gloucester Cathedral:
You can find Gloucester Cathedral at this Google Maps location here.
By train
Less than a two hour train ride from London, Gloucester Cathedral is a pretty easy day trip from London. Trains from London depart from Paddington Station and there are direct train options as well as changeable ones where you may need to change in Swindon, Reading, Birmingham or more. Once you arrive at Gloucester Train Station, the Gloucester Cathedral is only a quick 11 minute walk (Google Maps directions here) away.
By car
For those who have a car, you can also drive to Gloucester and park at one of the city’s paid carparks. When we visited we parked at Gloucester Quay Street car park (Google Maps location here) which was only a quick 6 minutes walk to the Cathedral (Google Maps directions here).
Harry Potter filming locations at Gloucester Cathedral
1. North Corridor: Enemies of the Heir, Beware.
The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware. Harry Potter fans will remember this scene from Harry Potter and the Chambers of Secrets and it starts off the list of Harry Potter filming locations in Gloucester Cathedral. Found on the North Corridor of Gloucester Cathedral, you’ll recognise the wall adorning the frightening message from the heir of Slytherin. Obviously, the red wording is no longer there (although, personally, for me it would be a great touch if it was!).
2. North Corridor: The Lavatorium
One of the most memorable scenes from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is found at Gloucester Cathedral. On the same Gloucester Cathedral corridor as the above Harry Potter location, you’ll find the lavatorium. A lavatorium is a communal washing area for monks, and conveniently, in the Harry Potter world, makes a great place to hide from a troll (who knew it had such versatile use). In Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Ron and Harry hide in Gloucester Cathedral’s lavatorium when they spy the released troll walking down the corridor ahead. They soon realise the room the trolls heads into is the girls bathroom, meaning Hermione is trapped inside and rush off to her rescue.
The lavatoriun is also used in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, where Draco Malfoy and Snape are having a somewhat tense discussion over the unbreakable vow Snape has made to Draco’s mother.
3. East Corridor: Moaning Myrtle bathroom corridor
Heading along the Gloucester Cathedral cloisters towards the east corridor, and you’ll come across a Hogwarts corridor that is used in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. This is the corridor which is situated outside of the second-floor bathroom. Both bathroom and corridor are flooded in the story by the ghost, Moaning Myrtle (although later we find out that this perhaps may have been caused by Ginny Weasley trying to rid herself of Tom Riddle’s diary). You’ll notice now that this Harry Potter filming location at Gloucester Cathedral clearly looks like the religious site that it is, whereas in the films they covered up any religious art to ensure it looked like a school and a castle rather than a cathedral.
4. South Corridor: Hogwarts corridors
The south corridor of the Gloucester Cathedral cloisters also feature in the Harry Potter movies – in fact, its one of the first shots inside of Hogwarts that we see. This corridor is where Percy Weasley leads the Gryffindor first years when taking them to the Gryffindor common room for the first time.
4. West Corridor: Gryffindor Common Room
Following on from the Harry Potter filming location above, Gloucester Cathedral is also home to the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. While the actual common room isn’t filmed at Gloucester Cathedral, this is the spot where Harry Potter and his other Gryffindor school mates enter and leave the room.
5. West Corridor: Corridors
And a final Harry Potter filming location at Gloucester Cathedral is the West Corridor, which makes another section of the Hogwarts corridors. Here they filmed a rather amusing scene in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince where Harry and Ron were standing above all the students watching them go to class (and having a jolly good time while doing so). Professor McGonagall spots them and encourages them both to go to Potions (now that Harry is eligible to continue the subject), which, of course, is the catalyst for Harry finding the Half-Blood Prince’s old potion book and the remainder of the story.
To note about visiting Harry Potter filming locations at Gloucester Cathedral
- It’s free, you can make a donation if you want to but entrance to Gloucester Cathedral is free (regardless if you’re just there to see Harry Potter filming locations).
- It opens later on Sundays. Monday-Saturdays, Gloucester Cathedral is open 10am to 5pm, but on Sundays it doesn’t open until 12pm (midday). You can find the most up-to-date Gloucester Cathedral opening times here
- While I’ve listed out the Harry Potter filming locations in Gloucester Cathedral separately, you can find them all in the cloisters of Gloucester Cathedral, so therefore the Harry Potter locations are quite close together. Also, I found each corridor of the cloisters looked very similar to each other.
Where else did they film Harry Potter other than Gloucester Cathedral?
Nearby Harry Potter filming locations
For those searching for Harry Potter filming locations outside of Gloucester Cathedral, you’ll be happy to know there are a number of famous Harry Potter locations in Oxford (suggested read: How to find all the Harry Potter filming locations in Oxford) and Lacock (suggested read: All of the Harry Potter filming locations at Lacock). Both of these Harry Potter towns are found just 90 minutes (Oxford) and 70 minutes (Lacock) drive from Gloucester, making them an easy addition to your Harry Potter filming location list.
Harry Potter filming locations around the UK
If you’ve got the time to travel further afield, there are a number of different Harry Potter locations outside of Gloucester, Lacock and Oxford. These include ones found in Scotland (suggested read: Harry Potter locations in Scotland you need to visit), Northern England (suggested read: How to get to Malham Cove) and London (suggested reads: Harry Potter locations in London you must visit and How to find the real birthplace of Harry Potter).
If you are interested in All the Harry Potter filming locations in Gloucester Cathedral, you may also be interested in:
- The best day trips from London
- The cutest places to see near the Cotswolds
- Instagrammable locations in Bath, England
- The Bristol Tourist: Things to see in Bristol
- Harry Potter locations in London you must visit
- How to find all the Harry Potter filming locations in Oxford
- All of the Harry Potter filming locations at Lacock
