BBC Merlin Filming Locations

It had long been my wish to work out where the lake was, in which the Isle of the Blessed was placed for episode 113 Le Morte d'Arthur. Raglan Castle stood in for the Isle itself, but as the castle is on dry land (except for the moat!) the surrounding lake was obviously provided by a different location. The redoubtable pakafe managed to track down this location: it is the Pontsticill Reservoir near Merthyr Tydfil, north of Cardiff. This solved a second mystery at the same time, because the Reservoir had been mentioned in an early media report as a filming location, but we hadn't known for what.

how it's used in Merlin

The Reservoir provided the place where Merlin and Gaius each find the jetty and the magic boat that takes them to the Isle. The jetty itself looks so solid and established that I had assumed it existed in the real world as well as the Merlin 'verse. Not so! They actually built it for use in the show, and dismantled it afterwards. I assume the Reservoir also provides the establishing shots of the lake and the Isle (with CGI mountains, because otherwise it looks like the right terrain), but I haven't confirmed this for sure.

Marine Film Services Limited helped out with the filming, moving the boat using an underwater pulley system 'for that magical glide'. There is a photo at their website here.

Warning: This post is quite image-intense.

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And for my next report, I'll be covering the undercroft at Neath Abbey!