Shops that featured in Jack Ryan movie being demolished

The High View shops are currently being demolished as part of the regeneration of the Hilltop area of South Hatfield.

The former One Stop shop has already been knocked down in the latest phase of the redevelopment, as our pictures show, with a gaping hole and rubble now where the convenience store was once situated.

Demolition of the High View shops in Hatfield. (Image: Alan Davies)

Demolition is in progress at the High View shops near St John's Church. (Image: Alan Davies)

One Stop's owners, Tesco, are looking to open a new Tesco Express nearby as part of the wider regeneration of the area off Bishops Rise.

The Tesco Express signage has now gone up on one of the ground floor units in Hilltop Way, with the store expected to open later this month.

The new Tesco Express store in South Hatfield will be in Hilltop Way. The store is still being fitted out ahead of opening. (Image: Alan Davies)

The semicircular High View parade of shops graced the big screen in 2014 in Hollywood movie Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.

The crew outside Hatfield's St John's Church, which doubles as St Uriel the Archangel in action spy thriller Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. (Image: Archant)

Filming of the Jack Ryan thriller starring Chris Pine, Kevin Costner, Keira Knightley and actor-director Kenneth Branagh took place in South Hatfield in September 2012, although none of the A-listers appear in shots filmed in the town.

Based on characters created by Tom Clancy, CIA analyst-turned-action hero Jack Ryan, played by Pine, uncovers a Russian plot to crash the US economy with a terrorist attack.

The Hatfield shopping precinct and neighbouring St John's Church were transformed for filming into Dearborn in the US state of Michigan, for a pivotal scene in the movie that sees a Russian sleeper cell activated.

St John's Church in Hatfield was used for filming of Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit in Hatfield. (Image: Archant)

The distinctive St John's Church was used as a filming location, being renamed as Russian Orthodox church St Uriel the Archangel.

This is where the Russian ‘Lamentations’ operation in the movie is activated.

The action later moves outside the church, with the High View shops tranformed into a slice of Midwestern United States.

It is in the High View road behind the shops that an FBI operative is murdered in his car by a Russian terrorist.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit isn't the only movie to have shot scenes in the High View area of Hatfield.

Comedian Lee Evans also filmed scenes of dark comedy-drama The Martins there, as well as in Bishops Rise, and nearby Northdown Road.

This film, also starring Kathy Burke, saw the foul-mouthed Martin family of the film's title live directly opposite a suburban shopping centre - The Galleria in Hatfield!

British cop show Z-Cars also filmed in St John's Church in the 1970s.

American cars surround St John's Church in the Hilltop area of Hatfield during filming of Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. (Image: Archant)

The filming of Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit in High View, Hatfield. (Image: Archant)

Artificial light streams into St John's Church during filming of Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit in Hatfield. (Image: Archant)

A slice of Americana in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, on set of Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. (Image: Archant)

A strange juxtaposition ahead of filming Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit in the High View area of Hatfield in 2012. (Image: Archant)

The crew transforming High View in Hatfield into America for filming of Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit in 2012. (Image: Archant)

An American motor parked up in the street in Hatfield for filming. (Image: Archant)

The High View shops filming location used in Jack Ryan is now making way for the next phase of the multi-million-pound Hatfield Rise development.

A number of shops from the parade have already relocated to new commercial units.

Barbers Just for Men and High View Hairdressers, which were at the St John's Church end of the shops, have moved to a new location in Hilltop Way, with the hair salon renamed The Rise.

Part of the new Hatfield Rise development in South Hatfield, with salon The Rise on the corner. (Image: Alan Davies)

This is situated next door to Bob's Family Butchers & Deli, which has also moved from the old High View shopping parade into Hilltop Way.

The new development also includes Hilltop Dental Surgery.

Last November, the McColl's newsagents, which included the South Hatfield Post Office, closed its doors in High View. 

McColl's newsagents in High View, South Hatfield, before it closed in November 2022. (Image: Alan Davies)

Among the first shops to go in High View and be bulldozed for the £45m regeneration project was long-established Hatfield electrical store A.L. Young.

The High View shops, including TV and electrical retailer A.L. Young, before the demolition of the shops started as part of the High View regeneration. (Image: Alan Davies)

The McMullen pub on Bishops Rise - next to the Hatfield Rise development - also changed its name last year after a revamp.

Originally called The Hilltop, and previously know as The Harrier, it is now called The Hatfield Tap.

Demolition of the old High View shops with part of the new Hatfield Rise development in the background. (Image: Alan Davies)

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