With its beautiful villages and breathtaking landscapes, the Cotswolds has been a favourite rural retreat for the rich and famous for years and with lockdown restrictions in place, more stars than ever are holed up in their multi-million-pound houses as they wait out the coronavirus pandemic.
Some celebrities, however, have grown up around the area and never left. It’s easy to understand why, with the Cotswolds boasting good transport links, prestigious schools, sense of community and a unique look and feel.
Here are just a few of the celebs you could be running into…
Kate Moss
Kate Moss, one of the original Supermodels is originally from Croydon, London and was discovered by Storm model agency in 1988 at JFK airport at the age of just 14, as she prepared to board a flight home to London with her father. Kate lives in a 10-bedroom house in the Oxfordshire Cotswold village Little Faringdon, one mile from Lechlade.
The Beckhams
Lord and Lady Beckham have been living in their converted barn in The Great Tew Estate, Chipping Norton since the beginning of the first lockdown. The house is close to the exclusive Soho Farmhouse which is a member's only chic retreat much loved by celebrities. According to the press they are known for not exactly abiding by the rules. And when it comes to parking they were told off for blocking another customer in when they visited their local butchers in Banbury.
Image credit © Instagram
Daisy May Cooper
This Country star and lockdown Instagram saviour Daisy May Cooper lives in her native Cirencester with her long-term partner Will Weston and two children. The Cotswolds even inspired her Bafta award winning show This Country which was filmed in the rural village of Northleach, Gloucestershire. We love you Daisy!!
Elizabeth Hurley
Dating back to the late 17th century, the historic Georgian home called Donnington Hall is full of character and English country charm, situated in the market town of Ledbury in Herefordshire.
As well as the main house which is teeming with period features, the estate sits on 21 acres of woodland and also includes four further cottages, a coach house and 12 stables.
Hugh Grant
Hugh bought a Cotswold home in Melksham Court in Stinchcombe, a grand Cotswold stone manor with a swimming pool and stables costing £2 million. Hugh has moved on now, but you can get a taste of the home as it’s now a luxury holiday destination. www.melkshamcourt.com
Image credit © Instagram
Lawrence Llewelyn-Bowen
A 17th century manor house at Siddington near Cirencester is the home of flamboyant design guru Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen who moved there in April 2007 with his wife, Jackie and their two daughters, having decided to risk all and trade their comfortable family town house in London for a "run down, unloved" Cotswold home.
Among other celebs you might bump into at a posh nosh venue in the Cotswolds are Jilly Cooper, the author of Riders and many other steamy, upper class novels, who lives in the southern Cotswold village of Bisley, near Stroud. Singer Lily Allen bought a house in the Cotswolds in 2010 located in the hamlet of Overtown near the village of Cranham. Amanda Holden, best known as a judge on Britain's Got Talent owns an £850,000 quaint cottage near Chipping Norton.
The anti-woke guru and The Grand Tour host Jeremy Clarkson lives between Chipping Norton and Chadlington in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds. Last but not least, artist Damien Hirst, best known for his dead animals preserved in formaldehyde, owns Toddington Manor, near Tewkesbury.
So, there you have it, you just don’t know who you’re going to bump into at your next shop in the village deli!
Claire Phillips
Blogger and Magical Mummy