The mansion and grounds at Margam Country Park in Port Talbot have found a quirky but exciting new life – as a film and television location. The mansion's dramatic façade, coupled with an empty interior, has left it ripe for a redecoration to suit any script, which makes it very popular among filmmakers, including Dr Who and Merlin. Filming also continues on the American funded Da Vinci’s Demons – the spooky sci-fi about the early life of Renaissance scientist and artist Leonardo da Vinci is now in its second TV series. Between filming, visitors are able to see some of the amazingly realistic sets.

Ghostly Fun
Are you brave enough to come face to face with a ghost? Book a night’s stay at Margam Country Park in Port Talbot. Upstairs the house is spookily bare and quiet and at night, they say, the ghosts roam abroad. Legend has sightings of gamekeepers killed by poachers and ladies in crinolines sweeping down the staircase. Ghost hunting at Margam has become a popular pastime and many claim the house is haunted.
 
Go Wild
The park’s wide variety of habitats encourages all sorts of fauna to flourish – the perfect excuse to go wild for an hour or two. Download the free ‘Discover Margam’ app for intriguing natural history highlights as you explore, not least the deer herd that dates from Norman times. Watch fallow, red and rare Père David deer – the latter’s Chinese name ‘sze pu shiang’ means ‘none of the four’: it was thought they have a camel’s neck, donkey’s tail, cow’s hooves and deer’s antlers! Tour the Orangery Gardens where hedgehogs hide and thrushes nest, the fish pond to see mandarin ducks, Pulpit Viewpoint for vistas over open grassland where skylarks trill. Birds of prey hunt over Cwm Phillip Valley and summer butterflies scatter colour through the glades.