Blockbuster movie filmed at Heights Church

AN ICONIC church set on a windswept Saddleworth hillside is to feature in a major new film starring an international celebrity cast.

Liam Neeson, Sigourney Weaver and Geraldine Chaplin are among the headliners in dark drama fantasy ‘A Monster Calls’.

The film tells the story of a boy who seeks help from a monster to cope with his single mother’s terminal illness.

And in October, crews negotiated the winding lane to the ancient St Thomas’s church at Heights above Delph for up to five days of filming.

Pub landlord Michael Fancy, who has run the nearby Royal Oak pub with his wife Sheila for 20 years, said: “Discussions have been going on between the church and the film locations team for several months.

“The film company wanted to use the pub as a kind of ‘Green Room’ and it will be totally closed for one day.

“The last time that happened was for the TV spine-chiller series ‘The patter of tiny feet’.

“But my regulars didn’t miss out,” he promised. “We provided sandwiches for them all.”

The film is directed by Spanish-born J.A Bayona and is based on writer Patrick Ness children’s novel of the same name, which won both the prestigious Carnegie Medal and its sister prize for illustration.

Ness based the book on an idea by the late author Siobhan Dowd, who died from cancer in 2007.

Liam Neeson, who starred in Schindler’s List and a string of award-winning films, plays the monsters voice while actress Felicity Jones plays the boy’s mother.

Last year, Heights churchyard was used for the BBC’s adaption of Daphne du Maurier’s gothic novel, Jamaica Inn and was previously used in ‘In The Flesh’.

And, over the years, the popularity of the location has brought a host of stars to share the delights of the cosy Royal Oak, including comedian Steve Coogan and Patrick Stewart.

Michael explained: “Because of the actual location, actors and film crew don’t get any interference here.”

St Thomas’ Church, Friarmere, was built in 1765 but is no longer in use as a place of worship but is cared for by The Churches Conservation Trust.