Wormsley is a private estate of Mark Getty and his family, set in of rolling countryside in the

Chiltern Hills The Chiltern Hills is a chalk escarpment in England. The area, northwest of London, covers stretching from Goring-on-Thames in the southwest to Hitchin in the northeast - across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, and Bedfordshire. ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

(formerly

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

), England. It is also the home of Garsington Opera. Acquired by

Sir Paul Getty Sir Paul Getty (; born Eugene Paul Getty; 7 September 1932 – 17 April 2003), known widely as John Paul Getty Jr., was a British philanthropist and book collector. He was the third of five sons born to J. Paul Getty (1892–1976), one of the ...

in 1985, the estate forms part of Hambleden valley, running from

Stokenchurch Stokenchurch is a village and civil parish in south-west Buckinghamshire, England. It is located in the Chiltern Hills, about south of Chinnor in Oxfordshire and west of High Wycombe. Stokenchurch is a commuter village, served by junction 5 of ...

to Turville. Wormsley is known for its library, its cricket ground, its two-acre walled garden, its shoot, and the vistas and landscapes of the estate grounds. It also rents space for events and television and filming work.

History

The estate was founded by the Scrope family in the late 16th century. It belonged to Colonel Adrian Scrope, the regicide, and passed to his grandson

John Scrope John Scrope may refer to: * John Scrope, 4th Baron Scrope of Masham (c. 1388–1455), English peer, Privy Councillor and Treasurer of England * John Scrope, 5th Baron Scrope of Bolton (1437–1498), English Yorkist nobleman * John Scrope, 8th Baron ...

, a baron of the Exchequer who died without issue. The estate passed to the descendants of his sister Anne (died 1721), who had married

Henry Fane of Brympton Henry Fane (1669–1726) of Brympton, Somerset was a great-grandson of Francis Fane, 1st Earl of Westmorland and father of Thomas Fane, 8th Earl of Westmorland. Henry was born in 1669 the fourth son of Francis Fane a noted Restoration dramatis ...

. Their second son, Thomas Fane, also a Bristol merchant, succeeded his uncle as Member of Parliament for Lyme Regis, beginning the Fane family's long association with the seat. Fane also succeeded a distant cousin and became 8th Earl of Westmoreland in 1762. The Fane family sold the 18th-century house and estate in 1986 to

and his wife Victoria Holdsworth. Getty restored the house and estate, adding a library to accommodate his book collection, and a theatre where performances were held for invited guests. The area is known for its population of red kites. Once extinct in England and Scotland, the birds were reintroduced into England beginning in 1989. The area was not originally planned to be the first release site. It was originally intended to be Windsor Great Park, but at the last minute the landowner pulled out and the project nearly collapsed. Getty stepped in and offered Wormsley as an alternative. In 2011, Garsington Opera moved from Garsington Manor near Oxford to a purpose-built pavilion in the grounds of Wormsley.

Cricket ground

After Mick Jagger introduced him to

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

, Getty built a ground in 1992 with a mock-Tudor pavilion. The Queen Mother and the Prime Minister,

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament ...

, attended the first match, along with Michael Caine,

Denis Compton Denis Charles Scott Compton (23 May 1918 – 23 April 1997) was an English multi-sportsman. As a cricketer he played in 78 Test matches and spent his whole cricket career with Middlesex. As a footballer, he played as a winger and spent most o ...

and

Brian Johnston Brian Alexander Johnston (24 June 1912 – 5 January 1994), nicknamed Johnners, was a British cricket commentator, author, and television presenter. He was most prominently associated with the BBC during a career which lasted from 1946 until h ...

. Over the final decade of his life, Getty invited teams to play at what is now known as "Sir Paul Getty's Ground" with the teams ranging from world-class sides to youth sides. Those who have played there include cricketers Andrew Flintoff, Imran Khan, Mike Gatting,

Mike Atherton Michael Andrew Atherton (born 23 March 1968) is a broadcaster, journalist and a former England international first-class cricketer. A right-handed opening batsman for Lancashire and England, and occasional leg-break bowler, he achieved the ca ...

, Mark Ramprakash,

Derek Randall Derek William Randall (born 24 February 1951) is an English former cricketer, who played first-class cricket for Nottinghamshire, and Tests and ODIs for England in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Known to cricketing colleagues and fans as "A ...

James Anderson James Anderson may refer to: Arts * James Anderson (American actor) (1921–1969), American actor *James Anderson (author) (1936–2007), British mystery writer * James Anderson (English actor) (born 1980), British actor * James Anderson (filmmake ...

and Mike Brearley and entertainment figures such as

Peter O'Toole Peter Seamus O'Toole (; 2 August 1932 – 14 December 2013) was a British stage and film actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and began working in the theatre, gaining recognition as a Shakespearean actor at the Bristol Old Vic ...

, Tim Rice, and Rory Bremner. Touring international sides have played at Wormsley with the Australians, West Indians, Sri Lankans and South Africans all having made appearances at the ground. It was the venue for the only Test match of the Australian women's tour of England in 2013.

References

External links

Wormsley Estate - main websiteGarsington Opera - Wormsley Estate
{{Oxfordshire CCC Country houses in Buckinghamshire Getty family residences