AWARD winning TV drama Poldark is secretly filming its second season at Great Chalfield Manor near Bradford on Avon this week.

The BBC adaptation of Winston Graham’s 18th century Cornwall Poldark novels has toured much of Wiltshire to film the series, including the hamlet of Great Chalfield, the village of Neston and last year Corsham was used extensively for filming.

The 15th century manor house, owned by the National Trust and home to the Robert and Patsy Floyd as tenants, has previously hosted the BBC’s productions of Wolf Hall and Tess of the d’Urbervilles and the film The Other Boleyn Girl.

Such is the secrecy of the critically acclaimed show, starring Aidan Turner, the dwarf Kili from Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy, the BBC press team and the National Trust were reticent to divulge certain information whilst shooting is ongoing.

A National Trust spokesperson said: “We can’t say exactly what filming is taking place– or which members of the cast are here - but we’re looking forward to seeing the second series air as much as everybody else.”

“We very much hope that the famous ‘Poldark effect’, which saw bumper visitor numbers to Cornwall this summer, will have a similar impact, with fans of the show being inspired to visit Great Chalfield when we re-open in March 2016.

“The money from these productions stays with Great Chalfield and is used to support the upkeep of this special place.”

The BBC said filming would take place for three days this week and would include filming scenes inside the house, including a party in the Great Hall, and in the gardens and grounds.

“Great Chalfield is a stunning national trust property which offers us a variety of locations both inside the house and in its grounds,” said Lisa Vanoli, the show’s publicist.

The buzz of excitement has been felt in neighbouring villages such as Holt and Neston, the latter being the preferred filming location choice to Corsham, where negotiations to shoot the show’s second season broke down.

Sir James Fuller, owner of the Neston Estate that hosted the production team for several days, said he was absolutely thrilled that filming took place there in mid-October.

Secretary of the Holt magazine said: “I have seen a lot of people come through here to the estate, hoping to catch a glimpse of any actors and occasionally you see the cast walking around in costume.”

“I was a huge fan of the books and the original. It is all extremely well done, it is quite exciting.”

The show’s first season heavily featured Corsham in May 2014, which had its high street transformed into 18th century Cornwall, but the town was bitterly disappointed when the BBC decided to film elsewhere.

The tourism interest that followed the series, which saw the Flemish Weaver pub and the post office double up as the Red Lion pub and a fine art shop, led to the creation of a photography exhibition by the council.

The series will be screened in 2016.