SOME of the biggest stars from the British film industry have come to Suffolk and shot an adaptation of the Warhorse author, Michael Morpurgo’s book, Private Peaceful.

Christchurch Mansion, the Museum of East Anglian Life and the Sue Ryder nursing home at The Chantry, Ipswich, will all feature in the forthcoming film set at the time of the First World War.

Richard Griffiths, Frances de la Tour, Maxine Peake, Jack O’Connell and George MacKay all star in headline roles in the film about two brothers who enlist for the war but fall in love with the same woman.

Screenwriter and producer, Simon Reade said despite being set in Devon, Suffolk was perfect for the film: “Devon has hills, and when we first drove here, we thought Suffolk was supposed to be flat.

“And the more we looked around, the more we found places that were the spitting image of where Michael Morpurgo lives, the area between Exmoor and Dartmoor.

“The other great thing about this area is that it’s been under-filmed. We can use wonderful big aristocratic houses, and you haven’t seen them in TV commercials or, say, Cranford.”

The film was also shot at Hadleigh’s St Mary’s Church, Woolpit, Kesgrave Wood, Worlingworth, Winston and Glevering Mill near Wickham Market.

The film was shot in 42 days across eight weeks from August to October.

Rise Hall Farm, near Ipswich, was used to shoot the film’s war scenes because of its trench system.

On-screen brothers George Mackay and Jack O’Connell stayed in a Claydon hotel with some of the rest of the cast.

The British-made independent film is set for national release on October 12, but will have a special release in Ipswich on October 7. The trailer is available at www.eadt.co.uk