Harry Potter in the Thames Valley

24 January 2012, 06:00

Heart's found out there's been a massive increase in the number of people visiting the Thames Valley because of Harry Potter.

In Oxfordshire, tourism bosses have told us at least a third of their enquiries relate to the franchise's filming locations 6 months after the last movie came out.. The movies have been filmed all over the Thames Valley.

4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging - Actual Location: Picket Post Close, Berkshire (photo © 2011 Google)

Bracknell's  (or Little Whingeing's ) most famous residents are the Dursleys - the family Harry Potter was forced to live with after his parents were killed by the evil Voldermort. Orphan Harry was given the cupboard under the stairs as his room and had to put up with his bully of a cousin Dudley during his childhood years before he was rescued by Dumbledore and taken to Hogwarts at the age of 13.

The worst place in Muggledom is actually named after a small town in Gloucestershire that J.K. Rowling visited as a child. This three bed family's home in Winkfield near Bracknell was put up for sale by auction in 2003 with an asking price of £250,000 following the success of the first film. But since then, the home has been recreated in studios.

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The forest in the Deathly Hallows Part 1 & 2 - actual location: Swinley Forest, Berkshire -

 This Berkshire forest was used in the latest films - in both parts 1 and 2 of the Deathly Hallows. It's not sure which scenes exactly but it's thought to be where Harry hides out as he plans how to attack Voldemort.

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Hogwarts Great Hall - Actual location: Christ Church College, Oxford

 Now one of Oxford's most asked for destinations, Christchurch College is home to Hogwarts's gothic halls and stairways. Many visitors to the city come searching for 'Harry Potter College' and this is as close as it gets. Christ Church was used for many of Hogwarts' interiors and stairways, while it's ancient dining hall was recreated at Leavesden as Hogwarts' Great Hall.

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Malfoy was turned into a ferret in the ground of New College in Oxford (on right)

If you're looking for the spot where Malfoy was turned into a ferret, that's under the tree in the grounds of New College here. The cloisters were also used in filming for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, where everybody seems as though they're wearing 'Potter Stinks' badges.

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Duke Humphrey's Library - Actual location: Bodleian Library in Oxford

Hermione's home from home, the library is located on the first floor above Divinity School and is the perfect setting for Hogwart's library. It's used when Harry's trying to find out about Nicolas Flamel in Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone and in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets when Hermione is researching Polyjuice lotion.

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Snape's flashback - the grounds of Bleinheim Palace

 In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Snape has a flashback - and it's to here - in the grounds of Blenheim Palace. Harry reverses Snape's spell by entering his mind and learning that his father had bullied a young Severas Snape when he was at Hogwarts.