Now you can buy a piece of New Age music history! Througham Slad Manor in Gloucestershire, UK, where Mike Oldfield had his studio in the mid/late 1970s, is up for sale. It is yours for a mere £4.25m…
Many people dream about owning a classical house in the English countryside. The BBC program “Escape to the Country”, which helps potential buyers to find their dream home in the rural UK, has millions of viewers internationally. So buying a place like Througham Slad Manor may appeal to buyers also outside the Gloucestershire area – and even more to New Age music fans!
A Manor Studio
The studio Mike built at Througham Slad Manor is sadly long gone, but the manor itself is truly spectacular. The agent, Bruce Tolmie-Thomson writes; “The house has been improved in recent years to provide fabulous family accommodation and retains a wealth of period features such as mullioned windows and inglenook fireplaces. The house comprises an entrance hall, study, drawing room, dining hall, kitchen/breakfast room, cellar. Master bedroom suite with en suite dressing room and bathroom, 6 further bedrooms, 4 further ensuite bathrooms/shower rooms.”
In his 2007 autobiography, Mike Oldfield writes the following about the house and the building of a studio:
Here are two pictures of Mike at the property:
Mike didn’t stay long at Througham Slad Manor, but he managed to record “Incantations” while living there. He sold the place in 1978. He writes: “For various reasons, I wanted to move house from the Cotswolds, to be closer to London, so I sold my house in Througham and got about £120.000 for it (I saw it for sale recently for £5.5 – maybe I should have kept it!)”.
It must be said that this is not the manor where Tubular Bells were recorded. That manor is on Shipton-on-Cherwell in Oxfordshire.