The Swan Hotel, Wells
The Swan Hotel
Sadler Street, Wells
A coaching inn on Sadler Street facing Wells Cathedral, with 48 rooms by its own count. Its frontage plays Nicholas Angel’s hotel. Pictured: Sadler Street, 2017.
Check rooms
Welcome to Sandford · Wells, Somerset · 2007
Hot Fuzz
Sandford is Wells, with the cathedral painted out. But the insides were made elsewhere. Open the doors below.
Sources
The doors
Where the inside was
Four of Sandford’s doors. Each outside is a real Wells street. Open one to see where the room behind it was shot.
Four doors, all shut.
The Royal Standard of England, Forty Green, April 2016. AnemoneProjectors · CC BY-SA 2.0 Market Place, Wells, Somerset
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11 Sadler Street, Wells, Somerset
- The Barn TheatreWelwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire
Portway at Chamberlain Street, Wells, Somerset
- A Safeway supermarketHounslow, west London
High Street, Wells, Somerset
Open all four to see where Sandford’s rooms really were.
The square
A cathedral city without its cathedral
Wikipedia says Wells Cathedral was digitally painted out of shots, while the Bishop’s Palace stayed visible in some. The fan list says it was removed to keep the small-town feel.
Wikipedia says Wells, Somerset, stood in for the fictional town of Sandford and was the main location; principal photography began on 19 March 2006 and lasted eleven weeks.
Wikipedia says Stow-on-the-Wold was considered but ruled out after the production company was turned away.
Wikipedia says the palace is visible in some shots. The palace’s own site says it has been home to the Bishops of Bath and Wells for over 800 years.
A public square in the middle of Wells. Per a travel blog, the weekly market runs on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Sources
Next door
Go and try the handles
Seven of the places are in Wells, within a short walk of Market Place. The Royal Standard of England is in the Chilterns and Waverley Abbey is in Surrey. The theatre stage, the hotel lobby and the supermarket aisles are in other towns and are not pinned.
Sources
Where it is now
9 places you can visit, from Wells in Somerset to Surrey.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
Site reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A public square in the middle of Wells. Per a travel blog, the weekly market runs on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Building reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A pub and inn on the south side of the square. Go in for a drink or a meal; check its opening times.
Building reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working hotel on Sadler Street. The frontage is seen from the street; rooms are booked through the hotel.
Area reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working shop on a public street, pinned to the street. The photograph shows the High Street, not the shop.
Building reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A parish church on the lower High Street. The grounds are open, going by a travel blog; check the church for opening times.
Site reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Palace and gardens open on set days; check hours on its website. The moat and its swans can be seen from the public footpath.
Building reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A small theatre in the town. See the outside from the street; check its programme if you want a seat.
Market Place, Wells, March 2022. Colin Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0 Market Place, Wells, Somerset
Market Place
Wikipedia says Wells, Somerset, stood in for the fictional town of Sandford and was the main location; principal photography began on 19 March 2006 and lasted eleven weeks.
A public square in the middle of Wells. Per a travel blog, the weekly market runs on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Sources
The Crown at Wells on Market Place, May 2023. Spudgun67 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Market Place, Wells, Somerset
The Crown at Wells
The fan list gives the Crown as Sandford’s pub, where Angel arrests Danny outside, and calls it a 15th-century Grade II listed coaching inn.
A pub and inn on the south side of the square. Go in for a drink or a meal; check its opening times.
Sources
The Swan Hotel in Sadler Street, Wells, April 2017. Robin Webster · CC BY-SA 2.0 11 Sadler Street, Wells, Somerset
The Swan Hotel
The fan list gives the Swan Hotel at 11 Sadler Street as the exterior of Nicholas Angel’s hotel, and says much of the cast stayed there during filming.
A working hotel on Sadler Street. The frontage is seen from the street; rooms are booked through the hotel.
Sources
High Street, Wells, September 2013. A street view of the road City News stands on, not the shop itself. Derek Voller · CC BY-SA 2.0 High Street, Wells, Somerset
City News and the High Street
The fan list names City News at 2a High Street as Sandford’s newsagent, the setting of the one-schoolchild-at-a-time gag.
A working shop on a public street, pinned to the street. The photograph shows the High Street, not the shop.
Sources
St Cuthbert's church, Wells, November 2017. David Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0 Lower High Street, Wells, Somerset
St Cuthbert’s Church
Wikipedia says the Church of St Cuthbert served as the central building of the fictional town of Sandford.
A parish church on the lower High Street. The grounds are open, going by a travel blog; check the church for opening times.
Sources
The moat of the Bishop's Palace, Wells, September 2013. Derek Voller · CC BY-SA 2.0 Market Place, Wells, Somerset
The Bishop’s Palace
The fan list gives the palace for the Neighbourhood Watch meetings, by day and by night, and for the start of the final chase.
Palace and gardens open on set days; check hours on its website. The moat and its swans can be seen from the public footpath.
Sources
The Little Theatre, Portway, Wells, April 2010. Roger Cornfoot · CC BY-SA 2.0 Portway at Chamberlain Street, Wells, Somerset
The Little Theatre
The fan list gives the Little Theatre as the outside of the theatre where Angel and Danny watch Romeo and Juliet.
A small theatre in the town. See the outside from the street; check its programme if you want a seat.
Sources
Stay
A room on Sadler Street.
The hotel whose frontage plays Angel’s.
Go there
Try the doors yourself.
The Crown, the palace, the abbey and tours of Wells.
The Crown at Wells
The Crown at Wells
Market Place, Wells
The pub plays Sandford’s pub. Its own Hot Fuzz page lists walking tours of the locations, which do not run every week, so check dates first. Pictured: the front, 2023.
See the pub
The Bishop’s Palace
The Bishop’s Palace and Gardens
Wells
The moat, walls and gardens behind the film’s Neighbourhood Watch meetings. Check the opening hours on the palace’s site. Pictured: the moat, 2013.
Plan a visit
English Heritage
Waverley Abbey
Farnham, Surrey
The ruined abbey of the final chase, run by English Heritage. Check opening times and directions on their site. Pictured: the ruins, 2011.
Plan a visit
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Wells and Somerset tours
Wells, Somerset
Live marketplace results for tours around Wells. Check whether any pass the Market Place. Pictured: Market Place, 2022.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursWhat’s on
No dates yet.
Nothing dated for the film is listed at these places now.
No current dated events are listed. Check providers for the latest programme.
Dates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
The archive
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
9 of 9 places · 10 of 10 stories
Market Place
Market Place, Wells, Somerset
Wells becomes Sandford
Eleven weeks of filming turn the Somerset city into the fictional town of Sandford, minus its cathedral.
The Crown at Wells
Market Place, Wells, Somerset
Sandford’s pub
Angel arrests Danny outside the Crown, which plays Sandford’s pub.
The Wells premiere
The star and the director return to the Crown for dinner after a special premiere.
The Swan Hotel
11 Sadler Street, Wells, Somerset
Angel’s hotel
The Swan’s frontage plays Angel’s hotel; the lobby is in Elstree.
City News and the High Street
High Street, Wells, Somerset
The newsagent
City News plays Sandford’s newsagent, and the Somerfield stands further along the High Street.
St Cuthbert’s Church
Lower High Street, Wells, Somerset
St Vincent’s
St Cuthbert’s plays the church where Tim Messenger falls from the tower.
The Bishop’s Palace
Market Place, Wells, Somerset
The Neighbourhood Watch
The palace walls stand behind the Neighbourhood Watch meetings and the start of the final chase.
The Little Theatre
Portway at Chamberlain Street, Wells, Somerset
Romeo and Juliet
The Little Theatre is the outside of the amateur play; the stage is in Hertfordshire.
The Royal Standard of England
Forty Green Road, Forty Green, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire
The shoot-out
The inside of the Crown in the film is a pub in Buckinghamshire.
Waverley Abbey
Waverley Lane, Farnham, Surrey
The last chase
The final chase runs through the arches of a ruined Cistercian abbey in Surrey.