National Trust staff at Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire received an unusual request two years ago: to leave an area of grassland unmown to create an abandoned look for the filming of '28 Years Later'. The site was chosen as a location for the third instalment of the zombie apocalypse franchise, directed by Danny Boyle.
After filming wrapped in 2024 and the film was released last year, hundreds of orchids unexpectedly appeared in the grounds used by the cast and crew. These flowers had not been recorded at the abbey site since the 1850s.
Mark Newman, an archaeologist at the National Trust, described the reappearance as a mystery, questioning how the orchids survived to suddenly return. He noted that orchids would have thrived before the age of the lawnmower when grasslands were more diverse.
Staff intend to allow the orchids to grow in the future and will adjust their land management to optimise circumstances for the flowers. They believe the unmown areas provided ideal conditions for the orchids' return.