Owner of Saltburn mansion in Northamptonshire says tourists are trespassing

The owner of the historic mansion used in the film Saltburn said tourists taking videos and photos of themselves on his estate have been trespassing.

Charles Stopford Sackville, who owns the 700-year-old Drayton House in Northamptonshire, told a national newspaper he has had to ask staff to patrol the grounds.

He told the Mail on Sunday he was unprepared for the huge amount of interest the hit film would bring to his home.

“I never envisaged the amount of interest there would be. It’s quite weird,” he said. “I don’t take it as flattering.

“How would you feel if people were taking pictures outside your house? I’d prefer the interest to blow over but I can’t make it blow over.”

People living in the village have previously told ITV News Anglia that there had been a tourism boom in the wake of the Netflix hit, with the local pub saying trade had doubled at weekends.

There is a public footpath running through the estate. Stopford Sackville said most people are "fairly good", but more than 50 trespassers have been caught straying off the path.

The Grade I-listed mansion has become hugely popular on Tiktok. Videos showing directions to the footpath by Rhian Williams, who lives nearby, has had more than 5.6 million views.

She told the BBC it was "a shame" people are trespassing.

Some Tiktok users have filmed themselves dancing in front of the house to Sophie Ellis-Bextor's song Murder on the Dancefloor, which was used in the film in a scene depicting one of the protagonists dancing around the mansion naked.

Drayton House, near the village of Lowick, is thought to have been built around 1328 and is not open to the public.

The 127-room mansion has been owned by the Sackville family since the 18th century.

Stopford Sackville is friends with Saltburn director Emerald Fennell's parents.

The film, described as a dark comedy, follows Oxford University student Oliver, played by Barry Keoghan, who is invited to stay at his friend Felix's family mansion for the summer holidays.

Northamptonshire Police has been approached for comment.

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