Bourne Wood facts for kids

Conifers growing on a hill in the Bourne Wood

Bourne Wood is a beautiful forest area located just south of Farnham, Surrey, England. It's also known as Bourne Woods. For a long time, local people called this area "the Clumps." The name changed in the 1950s when the Forestry Commission started managing the woods.

This forest is very special because it's often used as a place to film movies and TV shows. It's less than 10 minutes away from another famous filming spot called Hankley Common. Part of Bourne Wood used to be open heathland. Over the years, many conifer trees were planted there. Now, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) owns some of this land. They are working to turn it back into heathland. This helps protect rare animals like nightjars, woodlarks, Dartford warblers, and sand lizards.

Lights, Camera, Action! Filming at Bourne Wood

A fake castle at Bourne Wood after filming Robin Hood, showing a burnt gate.

Since 1999, Bourne Wood has become a very popular place for filming. Many movies, TV shows, and even music videos have been made here. The forest became famous after the opening battle scenes of the movie Gladiator were filmed here. You might have also seen the woods in TV adverts for things like Marmite and IKEA.

The people who manage Bourne Wood, the Forestry Commission, know how important it is for films. They allow filming to happen for several months each year. This helps the film industry a lot. The local council also agrees to these plans, making sure filming doesn't disturb the area too much. For example, helicopters need special permission, and temporary buildings can't be too tall.

Here are some of the movies and TV shows that have filmed scenes in Bourne Wood:

Picture	Title	Release	Filming Dates	What was filmed here?
	It Ain't Half Hot Mum	1974–1981		Jungle scenes for this British TV comedy were filmed here.
	Gladiator	2000	January – February 1999	The big opening battle scenes in the forests of Germania.
	The Man Who Cried	2000
	Band of Brothers	2001		This was a TV mini-series.
	Storm	2001		A short film.
	The Scientist	2002		A music video.
	Gladiatress	2004
	Foyle's War series 4: Bad Blood	2006	April – May 2005	A detective TV show.
	Children of Men	2006
	The Golden Compass	2007
	Inkheart	2008
	We Call Her Daisy	2008		A short film.
	The Descent Part 2	2009
	Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince	2009
	Burke & Hare	2010	March 2010
	Robin Hood	2010	May – August 2009	The siege of Chalus Castle at the start of the film.
	The Wolfman	2010
	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1	2010
	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2	2011
	Captain America: The First Avenger	2011
	War Horse	2011
	Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows	2011
	Dark Shadows	2012	June – July 2011
	Jack the Giant Slayer	2013	January – March 2011
	Snow White and the Huntsman	2012	August – September 2011	A battle scene between King Magnus and glass soldiers.
	Thor: The Dark World	2013	August – September 2012	The battle on Vanaheim near the start of the film.
	Avengers: Age of Ultron	2015	June – July 2014	The opening car chase and parts of the Hydra base attack.
	Transformers: The Last Knight	2016	October 2016	Parts of the Merlin and Dragonstorm battle.
	Wonder Woman	2017	August 2016
	The Old Guard	2020	July – August 2019
	The Witcher Season 2		February and November 2020

History of Bourne Wood

During World War II, a special searchlight post was set up in Bourne Wood. This searchlight helped spot enemy aircraft at night. You can still see the concrete base of this post today. Canadian soldiers built three buildings nearby. These included a mess hut for eating and barracks for sleeping. Later, two of these buildings became homes for people working for the Forestry Commission.

Other Interesting Facts

The western part of Bourne Wood used to be open heathland. Over the 20th century, it was turned into tree farms with conifer trees.

The River Wey starts its journey near Bourne Wood. The local area where the river begins is also called The Bourne. This name helped to give the nearby area of Farnham its name, Lower Bourne.

You can also find two ancient burial mounds, called tumuli, in the wood. These mounds are from the late Bronze Age. They are about 21 to 26 meters wide and 1.7 to 2 meters tall. These mounds were built a very long time ago!