What village is Midsomer Murders filmed in? The full list of real locations behind the fictional county
If you've ever watched a body turn up on a picture-perfect village green and thought "I want to go there" — good news. You can. Midsomer county doesn't exist, but almost everything you see on screen does.
The short answer
There's no single village. Midsomer Murders has been filmed across dozens of real villages and market towns since 1997, mostly in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, with detours into Berkshire and Hertfordshire. The town of Causton — where Barnaby's police station sits — is played primarily by Wallingford in Oxfordshire.
Wallingford: the real Causton
Wallingford is the heart of it. The Thames-side market town has over 20 filming locations packed into its centre, and both Barnabys — John Nettles' Tom and Neil Dudgeon's John — have spent years wandering its cobbled Market Square and driving across Wallingford Bridge. The Grade II-listed Corn Exchange, built in 1856, doubles as the Causton Playhouse.
Not every Causton scene is Wallingford, though. Causton Crown Court is the old County Hall in Kingston-upon-Thames, Causton railway station is really Beaconsfield station, and Causton Library is Watlington Library.
The villages you'll recognise
The fictional villages of Midsomer are stitched together from real ones. The big repeat offenders:
- Warborough, Oxfordshire — home to seven filming locations, including the Six Bells pub, which plays the Black Swan in Badger's Drift.
- Bledlow, Buckinghamshire — Holy Trinity Parish Church serves as the church of Badger's Drift, the village from the very first episode.
- Hambleden, Buckinghamshire — its village shop appears as the shop in Midsomer Worthy.
- Thame, Oxfordshire — one of the most-used towns of all, with its Town Hall, Market House, and the Swan and Spread Eagle hotels all featuring.
- Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire — regularly called one of the prettiest "Midsomer" villages.
- Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire — its Town Hall has played Causton's courthouse, and the Royal Regatta inspired the murder-riddled Midsomer Regatta.
- Nether Winchendon, Buckinghamshire — the manor house stood in for the Lodge of the Golden Windhorse.
Brightwell Baldwin in Oxfordshire has appeared so often that its village fete once ran a Midsomer Murders theme — complete with a "poisoned" cake stall.
Can you visit?
Easily. Wallingford, Thame, Henley, Dorchester, and Watlington all have official Midsomer walking trails, and there are driving trails covering the wider county — roughly three to three and a half hours each. Organised location tours run from London too.
For the record: the show — based on Caroline Graham's Chief Inspector Barnaby novels — entered its 29th year in 2026. The body count keeps rising.