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For as long asOutlanderhas been on the air, Scotland has been just as much a star of the show as its standout cast. Originally centered around the Jacobite Rebellion, Diana Gabaldon's time-traveling romance has moved beyond Scotland's borders within the historical fantasy series, including to Paris, Jamaica, andup and down the American colonies. Yet almost every time, even when leaping back to the present (well, the 1960s) to Boston, the show was still filmed in Scotland.
"When we knew we were going to move to the American colonies—to Georgia and North Carolina and South Carolina—I went to the States and toured that whole area to make sure Scotland could portray it," executive producer Matthew B. Roberts tellsTown & Country. "It's done a magnificent job. When we get into the scenes, the scenes carry themselves, so hopefully you forget that a tree is a Scottish tree and not a North Carolinian tree. It starts to feel like North Carolina."
Since the show's setting moved to North America in season four, Roberts says the production design team picked locations that looked as much like North Carolina as possible. "We also have people from North Carolina on the show, and they signed off on it. Knowing we had that eye and that experience made it much easier," he explains. "Once we got into the States within the story, it became less of a roadshow than in earlier years. The big house [on Fraser's Ridge] stayed at the big house, and we could film there. Then, in the final season, there was the new house. We stayed in certain locations, which meant we only had to manage that one setup at a time."
For one final ride, the Starz crew has taken the production across Scotland, from Edinburgh to the Highlands. For more about all of the new and returning filming locations used in season eight ofOutlander,read on below:
1) Kinloch Rannoch
While Fraser's Ridge is not a real place in North Carolina, most of the scenes are shot near Kinloch Rannoch in Perthshire, the region sitting betweenEdinburghand theScottish Highlands.
2) Fraser's Ridge
When Jamie (Sam Heughan), Claire (Caitriona Balfe), and Fanny (Florrie Wilkinson) return to Fraser's Ridge from the warfront of the American Revolution, they first visit the burned remains of their old house. But during their absence, Ian (John Bell) and other colonists on the Ridge have built a new house for them on higher ground—a safer spot where approaching danger can be seen sooner."The location we found to film the Fraser's Ridge house is one of the best locations we have had onOutlander.We have built Christieville and the meeting house there as it offers undulating hills, forests, and rivers, as well as the scale of the new American frontier in North Carolina, where the story takes place," production designer Mike Gunn says in the show notes for season eight. He notes that the inspiration for the honeycomb color of the house comes from the title of the bookGo Tell the Bees That I Am Gone, and that the location of the house is on top of a hill is intentional to offer a 360-degree perspective. "We created it to be like a phoenix rising from the flames using the last things from the corn crib and stables from the old house."
One of the new sets built at Wardpark Film and Television Studios in Cumbernauld, Scotland—where bothOutlanderand its new prequel series,Outlander: Blood of My Blood, films its interiors—includes a new trading post on Fraser's Ridge."The design for the Trading Post was inspired by a lot of films I have loved—Once Upon A Time in Americaand all those amazing Clint Eastwood films," Gunn says. Referring to one of the new characters this season, Captain Charles Cunningham (Kieran Bew), Gunn compares him to the "Sheriff of Nottingham" and Jamie as Robin Hood returning home. "The fact that Cunningham lives with his mother—we created him a little house on the hill looking over the trading posts that looks a little like the Bates Motel."
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4) Inside the Trading Post
Set decorator Stuart Bryce said that the trading post also needed to be built and designed large enough to be considered a worthy venture in town. "The shop was like a rich emporium, with layer upon layer of dressing that the team took an incredible amount of time and effort to make look so, so rich, using many of the bespoke props we made in-studio for our Cherokee and Mohawk scenes, as well as imports from the U.K.," Bryce says. "We hope it looks really atmospheric on camera."
Another one of the new sets constructed for season eight was inspired by a previous setting inOutlander: the interiors for Fergus's new printing business, Fergus Fraser & Sons, in Savannah."One of our first scenes with Sam this season is when Jamie sees Fergus, his adopted son who has followed in his adoptive father's footsteps with a great print shop," César Domboy, who has played Fergus Fraser since season three, says in the show notes. "When showing Jamie around the premises, Jamie searches to see what Fergus is really up to, and finds his secret cupboard where he is hiding forbidden pamphlets—like father like son!"
6) Calke Abbey
The exteriors for the print shop and Fergus and Marsali's family home in Savannah were filmed at Calke Abbey near Birmingham, England. A National Trust property in Derbyshire, the country house is a popular filming location specifically because of its peeling walls and shabby state. Itreportedlyalso served as a backdrop for thePeaky Blindersmovie."We wanted old brick exteriors, which don't exist in Scotland, and the aging architecture of Calke Abbey gave us the scope to build out a whole world of the docks—the warehouses with a working street and two market squares that we created in their courtyards," Gunn says. "We built a rope maker, the docks and the print shop to enhance what was there. The look was very cinematic."
"A lot of action takes place both inside and outside the print shop this season, so we wanted to create something special for the stunts and story. There is no brick in Scotland, where we are based, so we found an incredible location in England, which sings on camera," Gunn explains. "There was space for two market squares and we built the exterior of the print shop, the dock and a rope maker, as well as dressing in busy Savannah life."
8) Kilwinning
Eglinton Park in the town of Kilwinning, about 21 miles southwest of Glasgow, was reportedly added as a new filming location this season. Videos and photos from the setstarted to leak in August 2024, revealing a constructed set featuring a period-style building facade under construction in the park, signaling its use for upcoming scenes. The grounds include the ruins of Eglinton Castle, a large Gothic castellated mansion dating back to 1796.
A gazebo-like structure can be seen in the background of some of the leaked photos from Kilwinning. While it's possible that it's not the same one, William (Charles Vandervaart) and Amaranthus (Carla Woodcock) do share a conversation under a gazebo and a walk in the gardens nearby early in season eight.
The creation of Lord John's house was another key set for season eight, designed to be located within a wealthy enclave in Savannah. "We wanted to show the heat of Savannah within the dressing of the set," Bryce says. "So we filled the house with murals of plants, as well as house plants, shutters and cotton curtains, which moved in the breezes. Combined with the lighting we hope you get a sense of the balmy weather."
Gunn also says he drew inspiration from Ridley Scott'sBlade Runner, noting that Scott's column designs taught him that architectural details above head height can disappear on camera. To address that, Gunn added arches above the columns to create visible height. He also worked closely with visual effects supervisor Jon Neill, since only the façade of the Savannah house was built, with the rest of the city digitally expanded in post-production."Lord John gets a better house each season—probably rented for him by the Crown, but the Queen's personal wealth may be ensuring such good digs," Gunn says. "For the final season, we really needed to take it to the highest level of space, style and splendor."
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