THE Mart in East Linton has featured in the new series of the historical TV drama Outlander.
Filming for the worldwide hit took place all over Scotland in spring last year but details about what was shot could not be revealed until after its episode had aired.
East Linton is no stranger to the Outlander cast and crew as Preston Mill has also been used as a filming location.
While Outlander star Sam Heughan – who was not in East Linton this time – was part of a fundraising campaign which helped raise £12,000 to repair the mill’s water wheel.
The Mart, formerly a market place for local farmers and traders, is now an arts and events venue. It had been booked for weddings this summer, but these have been delayed until next year due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Outlander’s programme’s location manager contacted Melissa Wearmouth, The Mart’s site manager, to arrange the filming.
Melissa told the Courier: “They wanted something with our shape of building and were finding it hard to come across.
Our building is the last one of its kind in Scotland so is quite unique
“One of the guys spoke to a friend and mentioned us and then the people from the show got in contact.”
Crew were there for three weeks to set up equipment for only one day’s filming. Stars including Billy Boyd, of Lord of the Rings fame, Edward Speleers (Downton Abbey), James Doherty (The Thick of It/Miranda) and Andy Apollo (1917) were spotted.
Melissa added that The Mart’s car park was full and there were a lot of people about, such as security, catering and lighting staff.
Filming also attracted some fans of the show, who hoped to catch a glimpse of their favourite characters.
Work to restore the building, which included laying a new floor and painting the exterior, had just been finished.
Melissa said: “They were pretty easy going. They had to change little things, like laying an old floor.
“We put the new floor on top of the old cobbles and put in a glass centrepiece so you could still see the cobbles in the middle; we needed a new floor for events and stuff.
“It took us a long time to restore the building and its original features; we tried to keep as many of the older features as possible.
“[The Outlander team] put a temporary floor on top so they could have dirt and things like that – they needed it to look more like a tavern.”
The Mart is featured in series five of the show, which is out now on Amazon Prime, at the end of episode two, which was first broadcast on February 23.
