It would be hard to create a Agatha Christie themed layout without recreating the home of Miss Marple. St Mary Mead.

St Mary Mead is the quintessential English village. Quaint and sleepy, the village is supposedly located 25 miles from London. Murder at the Vicarage is the first book set in the village but it is also mentioned prior to that in The Mystery of the Blue Train (which ties in nicely with this layout!).

The village of Hambleden has been used for several of the recent Marple and Poirot ITV adaptations when a village setting is required. Murder at the Vicarage (Miss Marple) and Mrs McGinty’s Dead (Poirot) were both notably filmed here and this is what the model version of St Mary Mead will be loosely based on. Some of Hambleden’s shops, church and village hall will be modelled.

The nearby village or Turville is also used as a regular filming location for the ITV adaptations, as well as other productions, and is probably most recognisable from The Vicar of Dibley. Cottages from both these locations will be modelled to make up the homes in St Mary Mead.

Another feature of St Mary Mead that will be modelled is the fine Victorian structure that is Gossington Hall. This was originally owned by one of Miss Marple’s best friends and is featured in The Body in the Library and The Mirror Crack’d. Dorney Court, in Berkshire, was used for the filming of the TV adaptations and the model version of Gossington Hall will be loosely based on this location.

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