David Lynch in London: how The Elephant Man locations have changed today

David Lynch may be better known for his disturbing, surreal explorations of Americana, but he arguably made the most heartbreaking film of his career here in Britain. Having debuted with the nightmarish visions of Eraserhead (1977), Lynch came to London to retell a haunting true story from the city’s Victorian past – the life of Joseph Merrick, a man who developed what is now suspected to have been Proteus Syndrome. His physical difference led to him being exhibited in sideshows as ‘The Elephant Man’.

Lynch’s film follows ‘John’ (an astonishing John Hurt acting under extensive prosthetic make-up) as he is forced to face the cruelty of existence in 19th-century London. Exploited as a vaudeville exhibit by the malicious Bytes (Freddie Jones), he is rescued from his situation by Dr Frederick Treves (Anthony Hopkins), a surgeon who is soon having to defend Merrick’s stay in Royal London Hospital. Under Treves’s care, Merrick makes progress with his ability to communicate, and the two become friends. But Merrick’s appearance still draws in crowds, led by ruthless money-grabbers, and it isn’t long before trouble arises.

As with the crepuscular Philadelphia of Eraserhead, Lynch’s vision of Victorian London is bleak, industrial and filmed in shadowy black and white. In order to recreate the period, Lynch would have been forced to zone in on very specific locations, due to the rapid modernising occurring in London at the time – as documented in the same year’s The Long Good Friday (1980). So his vision of the period city was recreated with just a handful of real interiors and exteriors.

Here are the key locations from The Elephant Man as they stand today.

London’s various docklands make several appearances throughout the film. A number of shots are taken around the atmospheric alleyways by the river, which were then in disrepair and perfect for recreating a down-and-out vision of Victorian London. This shot is taken at Pickfords Wharf.

Just off Pickfords Wharf is Winchester Square, where this shot of the foggy market is taken.

This shot connects the square with the street as Dr Treves wanders from Winchester Square into Pickfords Wharf. However, the walls behind where the wharf offices sign is seen hanging have since been knocked down to show off the ruined remains of what was Winchester Palace.

Treves then walks along Pickfords Wharf. This shot looks all the way down to where the road becomes the famous Clink Street.

This shot of the industrial machines was taken in front of the wharf buildings just a little further along. The distinctive hanging footways between the buildings have been removed, though similar ones can still be seen further along around the Shad Thames area.

A great deal of the film’s location work was shot in the beautiful surroundings of the Royal Mint in Tower Hill. While the building and its vast courtyard is still close to how it looks in the film, recreating the shots is difficult due to the site’s onging revelopment after its sale to China as a future embassy building. Where Dr Treves is seen coming out of the building is the main frontage.

He walks along what looks to be a private square specifically in front of the building itself.

This shot comes later when Dr Treves returns to the building. Even from a distance, the front door is clearly very much as it was.

In one of the film’s few excursions to West London, Lynch took his team to create a location illusion using a very particular clock. Though edited to appear as if it’s part of the hospital building where Merrick is staying, the clock is, in fact, in Ashford near Heathrow. It’s part of Ashford Recreation Ground and is still standing today, albeit with some changes to the surrounding building.

In one of the film’s most harrowing sequences, Merrick is accosted at a railway station and is forced to hide in its toilets. The station in question is Liverpool Street, captured when it was still a moody and foreboding example of Victorian architecture. One aspect retained since its modern renovation is its roof.

As Merrick tries to escape aggressive members of the public, he traverses the various gangways above the main concourse of the station. Judging by the distinctive pillar seen in the background of this shot, this is likely in the west part of the station.

A group of men chase Merrick down some stairs. Though the station has changed dramatically since Lynch filmed there, the distinctive architectural feature behind the men suggests that this is likely where the main array of steps are to the south side of the station today.

The men also follow Merrick along a very slender gangway in the station. This feels similar to the part of the station parallel to Sun Street Passage, though as with many film locations that have dramatically changed, it can only be an approximation.

In the earlier segments around the docklands, Lynch snuck in a handful shots far removed from the area of Clink Street, of Treves walking through Wapping.

Though the architecture is certainly similar and the blend between the locations is smooth, in reality Wapping High Street is far away from the earlier shots and on the other side of the river. Today, the location has largely retained the character Lynch brought out in his film, though just as in the Clink Street area the connecting footbridges between the buildings have since been removed.

Throughout the latter parts of the film, Merrick is shown to be constructing a model of the church he can see outside of his window. The church he sees is what was St Augustine with St Philip’s Church in Whitechapel, though the model is actually a pre-fab replica of Mainz Cathedral in Germany.

Merrick’s model still exists and is kept in the hospital’s archive.

Thanks to Royal London Hospital Collections.

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The Elephant Man screens as part of David Lynch: The Dreamer at BFI Southbank in January.