EXMOOR provides the setting for a new movie based on an international best-selling thriller being filmed on location in the district next week.

Scenes around Exford’s Crown Hotel and Exmoor Stores will be shot next Tuesday (November 16) between 7am and 2pm for the UK-Swedish production of ‘The Living and the Dead in Winsford’, adapted from the award-winning novel by Swedish writer Hakan Nesser, whose books have sold 20 million world-wide and been translated into 30 languages.

A spokesperson said: “The film crew are authorised to hold traffic for up to 15 minutes while they shoot some of the scenes, using stop and go boards. 

“The National Park and the owners of the village stores have given permission for this to take place. You may see coloured signs from next Sunday directing the vehicles to various locations around Exford and Simonsbath. They will be taken down after all filming has been completed”.

Hakan Nesser visited Exmoor a number of times and spent the winter of 2011-12 at a holiday home on the edge of Winsford Hill writing the book, and returned when it was first published.

Described as ‘spinechilling’ and ‘a haunting and masterly unravelling of a dreadful crime’ the main character, a woman, moves into a secluded Winsford cottage where strange things begin to happen around her.

The story unfolds as she walks her dog over Exmoor, particularly around Winsford Hill, Tarr Steps and Selworthy Beacon. She often spends evenings in The Royal Oak at Winsford. 

The movie will feature Exmoor landmarks including the Caratacus Stone, the ponies on Winsford Hill, and the grave of Micheline Elizabeth Rickard.

With scenes also shot in Sweden, ‘The Living and the Dead in Winsford’ will be premiered next year.