King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

When: 2017
Starring: Charlie Hunnam, Jude Law, Katie McGrath

Directed by: Guy Ritchie

Produced by: Warner Brothers Pictures/ Safehouse Pictures

This blockbuster from writer/director/producer Guy Ritchie and starring Charlie Hunnam and Jude Law, was filmed at several iconic locations in the epic British landscape including the Forest of Dean and Wye Valley in this retelling of the story of King Arthur.

Young Arthur, unaware of his royal lineage until he grabs Excalibur, is instantly confronted by the sword’s influence. Joining the rebellion, Arthur and a shadowy young woman named Guinevere, must learn to understand the magic weapon, deal with his demons and unite the people to defeat the dictator Vortigern, the man who murdered his parents and stole his crown to become king.

King Arthur’s Cave is a prehistoric cave standing in the shadow of Great Doward near Symonds Yat along the Wye Valley. Protected sorbus trees hang over the cave entrance. The cave is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and it rises about twenty five feet high and its entrance is large enough for a man on horseback to be ridden in and out of. Between Biblins and Monmouth, on the pathway along the riverside, is undulating ground within the trees, behind which looms a massive wall of carboniferous limestone rock. This setting is used in King Arthur for a council scene featuring the glorious woodland all around in all its beauty. Hart’s-tongue fern prettifies the slightly stark scene.

In another scene, the high limestone cliffs of the lower Wye Valley at Lancaut can be seen as boatmen row across the River Wye.

Watch a section of the film King Arthur: Legend of the Sword showing some of locations in the Forest of Dean and Wye Valley. Fast forward to 1:09 to see King Arthur's Cave and the Doward in a key scene: