How Devon inspired Harry Potter

Devon location included in new Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald movie

It’s well-known that Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling spent a lot of time in Devon, studying at the University of Exeter and exploring the surrounding countryside regularly. But did you know just how much of the beautiful region inspired her literary works - and how many Devon place names actually feature in the popular books and films?

Of course, we all know that Devon was where Shuntbumps, a now-defunct broomstick sport, originally rose to popularity (don’t we?), but what about the Quidditch stadium that lies out in the sticks, or the village where many wizarding families reside, or the seaside town that was attacked by a dragon in the 1930s?

Our blog shines the spotlight on the wonderful Devon locations that feature in and provided inspiration for J. K. Rowling’s wonderful Harry Potter book series.

Exeter

We start in the beautiful cathedral city where Ms Rowling earned her degree in French and Classics: Exeter.

It’s widely believed that the Old Fire House was the inspiration behind magical pub The Leaky Cauldron. Pretty much cemented in Exeter folklore, it came as quite the shock to students, locals and Potter fans alike when, last year, the author proclaimed on Twitter that she’d never even visited the pub!

© Beccy Shaw

She did, however, go on to claim that she visited pubs including the Red Cow, Black Horse, the Mill on the Exe and the Artillery Inn, so maybe one of these helped shape the look of the wizarding boozer which also acted as the entrance to Diagon Alley…

© 2018 Universal Orlando. All Rights Reserved.

Speaking of the secret street which houses shops including Ollivanders wand shop, Eeylops Owl Emporium and Flourish & Blotts bookshop, it is said to be based on Gandy Street, a colourful and curious lane where olde-worlde buildings house a mismatch of intriguing shops and venues.

Another landmark location on Diagon Alley is Gringotts Wizarding Bank, which stands imposingly at the end of the street on the corner of two adjoining lanes. The Vaults bar and nightclub bears more than a passing resemblance to the appearance of the Goblin-staffed bank and, you guessed it, stands proud on the end of Gandy Street, on a corner! Surely that’s no coincidence…?

© Beccy Shaw

Speaking of doors, a five-minute walk from Vaults is Cathedral Yard, home to many regal-looking buildings which date back to Tudor times. There’s one building in particular though which caught our eye… 10 Cathedral Close. Also known as The Deanery, the front door of this address has been captured countless times by artists and photographers, with its incredibly eye-catching, decorative 400-year-old studded door made of Devon oak. Fans of the Harry Potter films will notice the resemblance between this entryway and that of the Room of Requirement, located on Hogwarts' seventh floor, which only reveals its entrance when students walk past three times, thinking of what they need.

A couple more tenuous links include that of Exeter Cathedral (left below), which doesn’t half bear a resemblance to Hogwarts’ cavernous Great Hall, and Mardon Hall (right below), which could potentially have been the influence behind the Gryffindor Common Room.

Mardon Hall photo © Ellie Philcox

It’s never been proven, but the University of Exeter’s first student accommodation is home to a large and grand staircase, several large fireplaces and comfy red sofas, while the colour scheme of the Mardon Hall crest is even red and yellow… Coincidence? We’ll let you decide.

Dartmoor

A location which holds a lot of history in the fictional series. In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the fictional 1994 Quidditch World Cup final between Ireland and Bulgaria which Harry attended with the Weasleys was hosted on the moor. In 1379, the moorland also played host to a duelling competition, contested by which wizards and witches from across Europe.

It’s also set to be featured in the new Harry Potter franchise movie Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, when lead character Newton Scamander and Jacob Kowalski visit Dartmoor to find a portkey in 1927.

However, there’s one nugget held in the books which we want to explore - Godric’s Hollow. Godric Gryffindor’s birthplace, the village was also home to the Dumbledore family, Bathilda Bagshot and, famously, Harry Potter and his parents at the time of their murder. In the Goblet of Fire, a line of the sorting hat’s song details “Bold Gryffindor, from wild moor”. Now, our powers of deduction lead us to believe that this residence was in fact on Dartmoor, due to the fact that, over 1,000 years ago, lions resided there - “wild moor”, get it?

The Potter residence in Godric's Hollow

Hagrid, having rescued the baby wizard, also states that “the little tyke fell asleep as we were flying over Bristol” on his way to his new home with his aunt and uncle in Surrey. Now, if Hagrid had flown in a straight line, he wouldn’t have gone near Bristol - but pilots will know it’s a lot easier to follow roads than to fly in a straight line! This may allude to the fact that he followed the motorways to Surrey from Devon, changing from the M5 to the M4 at Bristol… at least that’s what we think.

Of course, Devon is home to two majestic moors, and other theories suggest that the village could be on…

Exmoor

Although not as “wild” as Dartmoor, the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty also plays a prominent role in the Harry Potter world - and to a similar end. As travel is not much of an issue for the wizarding world with portkeys, apparitions and broomsticks all allowing rather fast travel, the Quidditch authorities seemed to like the idea of a venue out in the middle of nowhere!

Exmoor National Park is believed to contain at least one stadium where the popular game is held and one of these, a new-build, was originally covered with an Invisibility Charm to ensure muggles (non-magic folk) couldn’t see the weird and wonderful goings-on. Fans were asked to collect Re-Visibility Spectacles from ticket sellers in order to see the stadium, but this didn’t go to plan, with the charm leaving fans unable to see their seats, let alone the match.

Due to its remote location on the north coast of the county, it was also the location of other Quidditch matches, including the Chudley Cannons v Falmouth Falcons, as well as the site of a popular Welsh singer Celestina Warbeck's concerts.

Ilfracombe

Just along the Exmoor coast lies Ilfracombe: a picture-perfect coastal town where fish and chip shops, ice cream parlours and bobbing boats go hand-in-hand to create a quintessential seaside resort. However, it wasn’t so quaint in 1932 when a Common Welsh Green Dragon attacked a group of sunbathing Muggles!

Known as the “Ilfracombe Incident”, a wizarding family by the name of Toke, who were on holiday in the North Devon town, worked quickly to remove memories from all Muggles, performing the largest group of Memory Charms in the 20th century. However, some who fled the scene quickly escaped with memories intact - including a certain "Dodgy" Dirk who claimed a "dirty great flying lizard" punctured his lilo!

South Devon

The South West of England was known to be one of the area’s most densely-populated by wizarding communities, with several towns and villages in South Devon prominent throughout the series. A popular location was that of Ottery St Catchpole, a small village in Devon which is home to both Muggle and magical communities, including the likes of the Lovegood, Flamel, and Diggory families. The Weasleys also lived near here, about a mile south of the fictional village, in their home called The Burrow. Believe it or not, if you were to visit Ottery St Mary and head a mile or so south, you’ll find a farm called The Burrow Hill Farm.

There are various other locations in South Devon which are thought to have inspired Rowling, too: Topsham was the place where a witch known as Madam Z. Nettles lived; Chudley, home of the Quidditch team Chudley Cannons, may be named after the real Devon town of Chudleigh...

...at the time of his meeting with Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter, Horace Slughorn resided in Budleigh Babberton, inspired by Budleigh Salterton, a village a few miles from Exeter; John Dawlish, an auror (dark wizard catcher) at the Ministry of Magic, probably takes his name from Dawlish; and Axminster is a type of magic carpet, outlawed by the Ministry of Magic.

Of course, we already knew that Devon was a magical place, full of wonderment and spellbinding beauty - and we're not surprised it helped shape the Harry Potter stories to become the worldwide phenomenon it is today!

Want to see for yourself? Get inspired about your Devon holidays, or take a look at our range of self-catering holiday cottages.