How Durham Cathedral became ‘Cambridge’ in Virginia Woolf movie

The North East landmark appears as Cambridge University in Virginia Woolf’s Night and Day, the new adaptation from Newcastle‑based director Tina Gharavi, in cinemas now.

The cloisters that many people know from school trips and Harry Potter are reborn as an elite academic world where Woolf’s characters fight for knowledge, freedom and love.

Turning a North East icon into Cambridge

When Gharavi began scouting locations for the 1910‑set film, she wanted places that felt both historic and alive – spaces where young women could plausibly be dreaming of science and suffrage while society tries to push them into marriage.

Durham Cathedral’s medieval cloisters, with their covered walkways and enclosed courtyard, offered exactly that.

Speaking to The Northern Echo, the film’s director Tina Gharavi recalled deliberately seeking out “crazy parts” of buildings – arches, passageways and arcades – that could convince as an Cambridge college.

Durham Cathedral’s cloisters, already familiar to audiences from the Harry Potter films, became her answer.

(Image: VICKY ROSS/NORTHERN ECHO CAMERA CLUB)

On screen they stand in for Cambridge, framing scenes in which protagonist Katharine Hilbery, a passionate astronomer, pushes back against the expectations of her class and era.

Why Durham works so well on screen

Durham Cathedral brings more than pretty stonework. It carries centuries of history, power and learning – themes at the heart of Night and Day.

By placing Woolf’s questioning, ambitious women in such a recognisable, traditional setting, the film visually underlines how radical their desires for education and independence really are.

For North East audiences, there is an extra jolt of recognition.

One moment you are looking at the same cloisters you might walk through on a day out; the next, they belong to a fictional Cambridge where conversations about women’s rights and the future of Britain are unfolding.

(Image: NORTHERN ECHO)

Showcasing the North East as a film destination

Durham is just one part of the production’s deep North East footprint. Night and Day also uses Beamish Museum, Ryhope Engines Museum and historic buildings in Newcastle to recreate Edwardian London and other settings.

(Image: BEAMISH MUSEUM)

For Gharavi, who has lived in the region for nearly 30 years, that was a deliberate choice: she has spoken of her pride in “bringing the production home” and proving that the region can deliver world‑class period locations.

She argues that the North East is “spectacularly diverse”, with cities, coastline, countryside and heritage sites all within easy reach, all which do not have the headaches of filming in the south.

(Image: BRIDGE & TUNNEL PRODUCTIONS)

A local landmark with a global audience

As Virginia Woolf’s Night and Day reaches cinemas, Durham Cathedral joins the growing list of North East locations being discovered by audiences well beyond the region.

For some viewers, it will be a beloved building seen in a new light.

For others, it may be an introduction – a reason to step off the train at Durham and see the real thing after the credits roll.