When Frankenstein took over a stately home

Staff at a stately home used for scenes in the new Netflix film of Frankenstein said they hoped it would introduce a new generation to the historical home.

Burghley House, an Elizabethan mansion near Peterborough, lies on the border between Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire.

Film crews descended on the estate and many of the rooms were transformed into gothic sets for the new adaptation of Mary Shelley's 1818 horror story, directed by Guillermo Del Toro and starring Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi as his monster.

Philip Gompertz, Burghley's director of commercial visitor operations, said Elordi was on set at one point, but the crew "kept it very secret".

A number of different rooms were used for scenes in the movie, including the Bow Room with its lavish paintings, in which bedroom scenes were filmed and a birth scene in a bed specially made for the film.

"I think this room pretty much gave them the atmosphere they wanted," said Mr Gompertz.

"It just suited the room that they wanted in the film, which was that ghostly, sort of mystical room which he [the director] wants to portray.

"Of course we're an Elizabethan, a Tudor mansion and it's not quite gothic, but it can be portrayed as that, with lots of staircases and painted rooms, I think it was ideally suited," he added.

It is not the first time the mansion has been used for filming, but it always involves a lot of work, Mr Gompertz said.

"We had to prepare a lot for film crews coming on site, so we clear out rooms where the art director will come in and mock up images about how the room's going to look.

"They built a large four-poster bed in this room and bring in their own furniture and props, in this case a large statue of the archangel," he added.

Nearby rooms also had to be cleared to make way for lighting and other equipment.

Mr Gompertz continued: "It's good for us in two ways - from a financial point of view... to help maintain the building and the items in the house, but also the publicity - it generates an increased number of visitors once [the film's] released."

He said the director was very mindful that crews were careful when moving around the historical building.

Actor Elordi's visit was a surprise to staff, though, he said.

"We didn't know he was going to come here... the scenes weren't going to involve Jacob Elordi, the monster, or the creature - I only saw when I watched 'the making of' footage that he was being interviewed in our Heaven Room, so he was here for a short time but they kept it very secret from us."

He said "film tourism" was "big business" and hoped Frankenstein would bring more people to Burghley.

"I'm always very proud to see Burghley on the screen - it always looks great on any production we've had here," he added.