Wormsley Park

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, 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, 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 Sir Paul Getty 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.