Gloucester Cathedral

Gloucester Cathedral was completed in 1130.  It was formerly the Abbey of St. Peter.  In 1350 the Great East Window was installed, and at the time was the largest window in the world.  It is the size of a tennis court and is made of stained glass.  It is behind the high altar on the east wall of the choir.  

The reason I was interested in visiting Gloucester Cathedral is because of the filming of Harry Potter, and the cathedral being one of the main inspirations for Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  The filming for Harry Potter was done in the cloisters.  Near the entrance there is an interactive map showing you where to view the sites used for filming.

Gloucester Cathedral's official website is here:  Gloucester Cathedral  Entry is free, although they do have a suggested donation of 5 euro.  Visiting hours are Monday through Friday from 10 am to 5 pm and Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm, and Sunday from noon to 2:30 pm and again from 4 to 5 pm.  Check their website for unusual closing days or hours.  The address of the Cathedral is 12 College Grn, Gloucester GL1 2LX, United Kingdom.  Its google maps location is here:  Gloucester Cathedral

The location of Gloucester Cathedral on Google Maps

My family visited Gloucester Cathedral in November of 2024 when we were on a road trip through England.  We had already visited Harry Potter Studios in Watford and we were very excited to see another of the Harry Potter filming sites.  We walked through the cloisters and recognized the hallways from the films.  One of the hallways was closed off because they were decorating it for Christmas.  Unfortunately, that was the hallway with the Lavatorium, so we missed seeing that important filming site for Harry Potter.  

Here is one of the Harry Potter scenes filmed in the Gloucester Cathedral:  Chamber of Secrets

Here is another scene from Chamber of Secrets, the writing on the wall: Chamber of Secrets 2

Here is the scene with the troll, also filmed in Gloucester Cathedral: Sorcerer's Stone

This scene is Harry hiding in the Lavatorium while Malfoy and Snape have a conversation:  Half Blood Prince

The scene where the Gryffindor students walk to their common room was also filmed at Gloucester Cathedral:  Sorcerer's Stone

Here are some photos from my visit:

Arriving at Gloucester Cathedral

The exterior of Gloucester Cathedral

statues of saints

parts of the cathedral were under construction when we were visiting

The exterior of the Great East Window

My grandson enjoying the brick work outside the cathedral

Our family at the cathedral

exploring the cloisters inside the cathedral

The monks would have used these carrels for studying - you'll recognize this cloister from Harry Potter

This map of the cathedral is located near the entrance of the Cathedral

It was decorated for Christmas when we arrived, and they were still decorating

beautiful ceilings of the cloisters

This man was decorating while we were there

The South Cloister

The north cloister was mostly blocked off by people decorating for Christmas

The courtyard

The map near the entrance shows specific scenes from the films

Inside the gift shop

walking in the neighborhood of the cathedral

Here are some shots from the movies filmed in Gloucester Cathedral:

Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets -- the flooded hallway

The Chamber of Secrets, writing on the wall in the north corridor of the east cloister

The Chamber of Secrets -- the south cloister

Chamber of Secrets

Chamber of Secrets

Malfoy & Snape's conversation in the Half Blood Prince

Notice the carrels as they are walking by headed towards the Gryffindor common room in the Sorcerer's Stone.

The troll scene from Sorcerer's Stone

The Lavatorium of the North Cloister

Harry in the Lavatorium while he listens to Snape & Malfoy's conversation in the Half Blood Prince