Beautiful Books, beautifully filmed in Cornwall

Bonython Manor and its estate gardens were the location for the Rosamunde Pilcher ZDF film adaptations "The Prime of Life" (Blüte des Lebens),  "Summer of Awakening" (Sommer des Erwachens) and "Anwälte küsst man nicht" ("Don't Kiss a Lawyer").

Rosamunde Pilcher's name has long been synonymous for outstanding entertainment, both for her novels - which have sold over 30 million copies all over the world - and for the ZDF small-screen adaptations of her works. Some of the actors who have been at Bonython are Esther Schweins, Jan Sosniok, Hugo Egon Balder and Edmund Kente. A treehouse was built for one of the films, and retained as a feature of the garden.

Born in Cornwall, inspired by Cornwall

In Germany, Rosamunde Pilcher is a household name, because of her position in German TV ratings for over 20 years where the ZDF films of her books are watched by around six million people. The first ZDF Pilcher movie, The Day of the Storm, was screened in 1993 to over eight million viewers, and more than 100 films have been made since. Bonython has been chosen as a location for several of the films.

Rosamunde Pilcher was born about 15 miles away from Bonython in Lelant, and she says that it all started here in Cornwall.

“On the beaches, sitting on the rocks and making up little stories in my head, a long time ago.”

Hugo Edon Balder

Jan Sosnik

Edmund Kente

Esther Schweins