Please note that this website is run on a non-profit basis for educational and research purposes. Images are credited with their respective copyright holders where they are known. You may not copy any image for commercial purposes. Please do not ask me for permission to use any images – that permission is not mine to give. If you are the copyright holder for an image and wish it to be removed, please contact me via the form at the foot of the page and I will of course be happy to do so. Also, if you are the owner of an uncredited image and wish to be named, again please contact me and I’ll happily add that information.
2017 – 2026. Now closed.
(Revised April 2026)
photo thanks to Steve Sharpe
Arborfield Garrison, three miles west of Wokingham in Berkshire, was a large British Army base established in 1904. It was the HQ of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. The studio buildings were previously known as Hazebrouck Barracks and were used to train aircraft technicians, avionics technicians and electronics technicians. The School of Electronic Engineering moved to Arborfield in 1995. This became the Defence College of Aeronautical Engineering in April 2004 and was renamed the School of Army Aeronautical Engineering in 2013. In 2015 they moved to RAF Lyneham, which had ceased to be used as an airbase. The site was sold to Wokingham Borough Council, who released it to developers for building houses, a school, shops and other facilities. Two nature parks are also included in the scheme.
In 2017 it was announced that a section of the barracks that includes some large hanger-type buildings would be turned into a film studio. Temporary planning permission was for 9 years, after which the buildings would be handed back to the developer, Crest Nicholson. The studios were managed by Oxygen Studios – the same people who ran Longcross Studios before Netflix moved in, which are about 16 miles away. Oxygen now run Fairbanks Studios – the new name for the site previously known as BBC Elstree Centre. They are building 5 sound stages and some workshops and offices on that site which are due to be open from late 2027.
The first feature film shooting scenes at Arborfield in 2017 was Disney’s Aladdin. (Most of it was filmed at Longcross.) In 2019 Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey, starring Forest Whittaker, was made here. Early in 2020 season 2 of The Witcher was due to begin filming here for Netflix. It wrapped in April 2021. A large town set was constructed on one of the back lots but it seems that filming was delayed due to Covid. Season 1 was filmed in Hungary so it’s good to see it now being made in the UK. The Witcher: Blood Origin was also filmed here between August and November 2021. I read that they intended to base the production here for a number of years but I note that in July 2022 the town set had been struck. Seasons 3, 4 and 5 were in fact filmed at Longcross in 2023, 24 and ’25.
According to various industry websites, the studio offered 6 stages but in 2024 the studio’s own website was only listing the first three. I assume that stages 4, 5 and 6 were better described as workshops.
This the list:
Stage 1 – 413 x 141ft, with 196ft of the length being 200ft wide. (70,000 sq ft) Height is 37ft
Stage 2 – 216 x 61ft (13,200 sq ft). Height is 26ft
Stage 3 – 117 x 116ft (13,500 sq ft) Height is 29ft
(Stage 4 – 16,000 sq ft. Height is 35ft)
(Stage 5 – 7,100 sq ft. Height is 16ft)
(Stage 6 – 7,300 sq ft. Height is 19ft.)
photo thanks to Arborfield Studios
photo thanks to Arborfield studios
Facilities being offered included extensive space for wardrobe, art dept, construction and props as well as plenty of office space. There were two back lot areas of 90,000 and 50,000 sq ft and ample parking but the planning permission did have some restrictions on filming hours and days.
The studios seemed to be relatively quiet during 2024 and 2025 – maybe the close proximity of Shadowbox Studios Shinfield made this a less attractive option. The temporary planning permission is reported to have expired on 1st February 2026 so one assumes these studios have now closed. The website has indeed been taken down.