Wormsley is a private estate of

Mark Getty Sir Mark Harris Getty, (born 9 July 1960) is an Irish businessman who is the co-founder and chairman of Getty Images. Life and career A member of the prominent Getty family, he is the younger son of John Paul Getty Jr. and his first wife, ...

and his family, set in of rolling countryside in the Chiltern Hills of Buckinghamshire (formerly Oxfordshire), England. It is also the home of

Garsington Opera Garsington Opera is an annual summer opera festival founded in 1989 by Leonard Ingrams. The Philharmonia Orchestra and The English Concert are its two resident orchestras. For 21 years it was held in the gardens of Ingrams's home at Garsingto ...

. Acquired by Sir Paul Getty in 1985, the estate forms part of

Hambleden Hambleden is a small village and civil parish in south-west Buckinghamshire, England. The village is around west of Marlow, and around north-east of Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire. The civil parish also includes the villages of Fingest and ...

valley, running from Stokenchurch to

Turville Turville is a village and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England. It is in the Chiltern Hills, west of High Wycombe, east-southeast of Watlington, north of Henley-on-Thames and 2 miles (3 km) from the Oxfordshire border. The name is Anglo-S ...

. 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 Scrope (pronounced "scroop") is the name of an old English family of Norman origin that first came into prominence in the 14th century. The family has held the noble titles of Baron Scrope of Masham, Baron Scrope of Bolton, and for a brief time, t ...

family in the late 16th century. It belonged to Colonel

Adrian Scrope Colonel Adrian Scrope, also spelt Scroope, 12 January 1601 to 17 October 1660, was a Parliamentarian soldier during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, and one of those who signed the death warrant for Charles I in January 1649. Despite being promi ...

, the

regicide Regicide is the purposeful killing of a monarch or sovereign of a polity and is often associated with the usurpation of power. A regicide can also be the person responsible for the killing. The word comes from the Latin roots of ''regis'' ...

, and passed to his grandson John Scrope, 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. Their second son, Thomas Fane, also a Bristol merchant, succeeded his uncle as Member of Parliament for

Lyme Regis Lyme Regis is a town in west Dorset, England, west of Dorchester and east of Exeter. Sometimes dubbed the "Pearl of Dorset", it lies by the English Channel at the Dorset–Devon border. It has noted fossils in cliffs and beaches on the Heri ...

, beginning the Fane family's long association with the seat. Fane also succeeded a distant cousin and became 8th

Earl of Westmoreland Earl of Westmorland is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of England. The title was first created in 1397 for Ralph Neville. It was forfeited in 1571 by Charles Neville, 6th Earl of Westmorland, for leading the Rising of the Nor ...

in 1762. The

Fane family Fane is an English surname of Welsh origins that belongs to a family who have produced a number of notable members. The family originated with Ivon Vane, who was a Welsh landowner and mercenary captain in the service of the Black Prince. Ivon Vane ...

sold the 18th-century house and estate in 1986 to Sir Paul Getty and his wife

Victoria Holdsworth Victoria Jane Getty, Lady Getty (née Holdsworth, formerly Brooke; born 1944) is an English philanthropist and former model. Since 2003 she has been a trustee of the J. Paul Getty Trust. Biography Victoria Holdsworth is the daughter of Gerald H ...

. 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 kite The red kite (''Milvus milvus'') is a medium-large bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as eagles, buzzards, and harriers. The species currently breeds in the Western Palearctic region o ...

s. 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 Windsor Great Park is a Royal Park of , including a deer park, to the south of the town of Windsor on the border of Berkshire and Surrey in England. It is adjacent to the private Home Park, which is nearer the castle. The park was, for man ...

, 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,

moved from Garsington Manor near

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

to a purpose-built pavilion in the grounds of Wormsley.

Cricket ground

After

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

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 str ...

, Getty built a ground in 1992 with a mock-Tudor pavilion. The

Queen Mother A queen mother is a former queen, often a queen dowager, who is the mother of the monarch, reigning monarch. The term has been used in English since the early 1560s. It arises in hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarchies in Europe and is also u ...

and the Prime Minister, John Major, attended the first match, along with

Michael Caine Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite; 14 March 1933) is an English actor. Known for his distinctive Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films in a career spanning seven decades, and is considered a British film ico ...

, Denis Compton and Brian Johnston. 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 Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff (born 6 December 1977) is an English television and radio presenter and former international cricketer. Flintoff played all forms of the game and was one of the sport's leading all-rounders, a fast bowler, middle-ord ...

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi ( ur}; born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Cricket captain who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to until April 2022, when he was ousted through a no-confidenc ...

Mike Gatting Michael William Gatting (born 6 June 1957) is an English former cricketer, who played first-class cricket for Middlesex (1975–1998; captain 1983–1997) and for England from 1977 to 1995, captaining the national side in twenty-three Test ma ...

, Mike Atherton,

Mark Ramprakash Mark Ravin Ramprakash (born 5 September 1969) is an English former cricketer. A right-handed batsman, he initially made his name playing for Middlesex, and was selected for England aged 21. A gifted, and one of the heaviest-scoring, English b ...

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 (filmmaker) ...

and

Mike Brearley John Michael Brearley (born 28 April 1942) is a retired English first-class cricketer who captained Cambridge University, Middlesex, and England. He captained the international side in 31 of his 39 Test matches, winning 18 and losing only 4 ...

and entertainment figures such as Peter O'Toole,

Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English lyricist and author. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ...

, and

Rory Bremner Roderick Keith Ogilvy "Rory" Bremner,"Rory Bremner". '' Who Do You Think You Are?''. Wall to Wall for BBC One. 2 February 2009. No. 1, series 6. (born 6 April 1961) is a Scottish impressionist and comedian, noted for his work in political sati ...

. 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 Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

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