Where the Call the Midwife 2019 Christmas Special Was Filmed
The Call the Midwife series primarily takes place in Poplar, a section of East End, London. The series began in the late 1950s, but by the 2019 Christmas special has progressed into the 1960s.
Sometimes the sisters and nurses of Nonnatus House find themselves traveling elsewhere, as they did during the 2019 Christmas special.
They went to help a short-staffed clinic in the Outer Hebrides, which is a chain of islands off the west coast of Scotland. The biggest island in the chain is nicknamed “Harris and Lewis” because the southern part is called Harris and the northern part is known as Lewis.
In the episode, the group from Poplar worked and lived out of an old church. But duties also took them to a lighthouse, and Sister Monica Joan (played by Judy Parfitt) has a very spiritual experience at a group of standing stones.
That’s what we’re going to explore, starting with the church.
1. The Tombs, Mass Murderer, and Sheela-Na-Gigs of St. Clements Church
The church the ladies work and live out of during the episode was filmed at St. Clements Church, a medieval church in Rodel.
While I didn’t find any ghost stories directly connected to it, it’s history is interesting…and includes some risque carvings.
It was built in the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century for the Chiefs of the MacLeods of Harris and is dedicated to Pope Clement. It was built as a Catholic church but was only used for a short time before the reformation put the kibosh on that.
The church’s graveyard contains many MacLeod tombs. Mysterious Britain points out that there are also tombs inside the church, two of which “are in the form of weathered, armoured effigies dating from the fifteen hundreds.”
Graveyards of Scotland expands on this and explains one of these belongs to Alasdair Crotach MacLeod. Under Alasdair’s command, his son, William, massacred the entire population of the isle of Eigg, which was apparently “retaliation for the killing of one of his ship’s crew by the islanders.”
Then there are the sheela-na-gigs: carvings of naked women often displaying their vulva that according to the BBC grace many old churches in Britain and Europe. What they signified no one really knows. Some speculations include they were pre-Christian fertility symbols, or meant to ward off evil, or warnings about the dangers of lust and sin.
St. Clements Church’s sheela-na-gigs can be found on its tower.
Our next destination takes us to a lighthouse with a chilling mystery.
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
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I love Call the Midwife! Even though it’s kind of, I dunno, womanly, my husband loves the show too! We both enjoyed The Lighthouse movie as well. I didn’t know the Hebrides were so full of history. Interesting post! I’m looking forward to the Call the Midwife 2020 Christmas special!
Okay, I love ALL of your comments, Priscilla. However, some comments thrill me more than others, and finding out that you’re a Call the Midwife fan too…and that your hub likes it too?! I’m SO excited to know another fan!!!! I swear, I think you’d be so interesting to have dinner with. Or a coffee. I imagine we’d talk and talk. I’m super excited about watching this year’s special too. And I was shocked to learn so much about the Outer Hebrides…beyond there was a spooky stay the cast had slept in! So I’m excited you got a kick out of learning about all these places too!