Where is The Holiday cottage in Surrey? The field where Kate Winslet's home was built

If you're in tune with your festive Surrey trivia, you probably know that the picturesque cottage in the Christmas film The Holiday is based in Shere.

You may not be aware that it isn't real – devastating, we know.

Contrary to what we'd like to believe, the quintessentially English cottage which Cameron Diaz escapes to didn't actually exist before the film was made.

READ MORE: The stunning Surrey village where The Holiday was filmed

The charmingly named Rosehill Cottage was a set created in a field in Shere, and its look was based on a cottage in Holmbury St Mary – which actually does exist.

It's no surprise that Honeysuckle Cottage served as the inspirational source for the picture-perfect property we see in the film, with its dainty and perfectly symmetrical frontage fit for a Christmas card.

The warm cottage interiors we see on screen also took inspiration from Honeysuckle Cottage, capturing the exposed brick cosiness and inglenook fireplaces seen in the Holmbury St Mary property.

While you can't actually see the infamous cottage set where it once stood anymore, you can go and check out the area of the village where it was and pretend that you're Cameron Diaz running towards Jude Law to declare your love for him. You might look a bit weird, though.

According to the planning application that the production studio submitted to Guildford Borough Council, the location of where the cottage was built was the field behind High House Farm in Shere.

It's a private field and you cannot get close enough to actually see it from public land, so you'll have to satisfy yourself with a wander around the stunning Church Lane, which is the nearest public road.

Only the exterior of the cottage was built, with interior shots of the cottage being filmed on a set in LA. The cottage set was built in just two weeks, and torn down after filming concluded.

The construction of the set included the exterior of the cosy chocolate-box cottage, along with a small garden, and the walled path that stands in front of it.

Shanneen Kinson, of Living Props which was involved in the set design, said: "Our team of dress setters were employed by the production to create a wintry garden feel around the cottage. By dressing indigenous plants into the original garden and surrounding settings. They constructed two full sized oak trees, with a little white bench wrapped around the trunk.

"They laid the path which led from the gate to cottage door. In the village they dressed vine round the pub door and other little details. It was about three months' work – Brian Maslin, Blake Maslin, Terry Lambert, Ian Whiteford and Matt Gunner were all involved."

Other sections of the beautiful Surrey village were also featured in the film, including glimpses of The White Horse and St James's Church in frame. The church, which of course is in Church Lane, features in several shots throughout.

While the cottage itself was based in Shere, many of the town scenes were actually filmed in Godalming.

So, while the movie magic may have fooled us all into believing that the perfect country cottage was right on our doorstep, we can at least revel in the fact that we can stand near a field which Jude Law once stood in. Merry Christmas.

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