WINCHESTER Cathedral is now on lockdown as Netflix stars have been shepherded inside the building to film The Crown.
Scenes of season six of The Crown were filmed inside the cathedral on Tuesday, January 24 and Wednesday, January 25.
The cathedral, which was being used as a substitute for Westminster Abbey for what's presumed to be Diana’s funeral, was closed to visitors on Tuesday and Wednesday with services being moved to the Undercroft.
A huge crane has been positioned in front of the main entrance with rigged lighting. Around 15 trucks have been stationed along the Outer Close green as well as seven smaller cranes along the wall in the Inner Close and scaffolding lining the building.
According to a member of the public, whose daughter is in the show, the stars could be seen leaving the cathedral in cars at the back at around 10am on Tuesday.
More vehicles have been seen driving onto the premises with people in costume by the car park of the Mercure Wessex Hotel.
Another resident, Lesley Phillips, photographed some of the cast dressed as bridesmaids along Colebrook Street, leading people to think that it's the wedding of Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones being filmed.
READ MORE: Netflix The Crown returns to Winchester Cathedral for filming
Throughout filming stars such as Dominic West, who plays Charles, Bertie Carvel as Tony Blair, Lydia Leonard as the former prime minister's wife and a Geri Halliwell look alike were pictured on set.
Much of the cast from season five, including Imelda Staunton as the Queen, will remain the same for the sixth series.
Security staff from Maloney and Associates Location Services stood in hi-vis jackets on every corner and had to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
Peter Symonds students Juliet Willman and Amelia Partyka went to the cathedral in hope of spotting some of the cast.
Media student Juliet, 18, said: “It’s the most amazing thing to happen this week and we wanted to come and see what’s going on. I would have loved to have met Emma Corrin.
“The scale of the production is as I expected. They need the big lights as it will be dark for filming in the cathedral. Winchester makes sense for The Crown because it fits the time and the architecture.”
Amelia, 17, added: “It’s quite surreal. I didn’t expect anyone famous to be coming here.”
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Speaking on Radio Solent, Winchester University film lecturer Dr Daniel Mattingly said: “Winchester is not too far from London and it’s within commutable distance for the talent.
“We’ve also got lovely scenery and location, it’s well connected. In terms of logistics, often production companies will get special rates and arrangements if they choose to shoot in places which aren’t the big metro hubs in the cities which can save money.
“Practicalities, logistics and all sorts of things come into play when choosing to film in a place like Winchester as well as obviously our lovely cathedral which is a nice double for Westminster too.
“The average budget for The Crown is somewhere in the region of £250m dollars for a season and that usually buys you a pretty big summer blockbuster in Hollywood so they’re throwing an awful lot of money at this.”
Winchester Cathedral declined to comment.
To watch the Chronicle's Facebook Live on the set-up click the video below.
An additional crane was put up towards the back of the cathedral, with lights shining through the mist on Wednesday, January 25.
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