The Manor Studio

The Manor Studio (aka The Manor) was a recording studio in the manor house at the village of Shipton-on-Cherwell in Oxfordshire, England, north of the city of Oxford. It was the first residential recording studio in the UK. The concept was pioneered in 1969 by French musician Michel Magne in the Château d'Hérouville.

The manor house was owned by Richard Branson and used as a recording studio for Virgin Records, although artists signed to other labels also used the studios.

Albums recorded here include, perhaps most famously^{[according to whom?]}, Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield during 1972–73 when Oldfield was given a week to record the album at the studio. The Bonzo Dog Band were recording there immediately afterwards (hence the inclusion of vocals by Viv Stanshall on Tubular Bells^[1]). Sandy Denny also began her second solo album Sandy there in March 1972.

In April 1995, after the takeover of Virgin Records by EMI, The Manor Studio was closed as a recording studio by EMI. It is now the country home of the Marquess of Headfort.

In 2010 NME reported that the Manor is up for sale for £5.75 million.^[2]

Studio facilities

The facilities were advertised as follows, as of 1973^[3]:

16/8/4 track studio 60 minutes from London 100 acre grounds Resident engineers Resident cooks Room for producers, wives, girl friends, roadies Day and Night recording Free food and beds Good rates etc

16 Track Ampex 20 Channel desk Equalization Dolby noise reduction Quadrophonic monitoring Phasing facilities Echo facilities: tapes/plates/springs/drums Grand piano Room for 40 musicians etc

Partial list of albums recorded at The Manor

• Let's Make Up and Be Friendly (1971–1972) – The Bonzo Dog Band – the first band to use the studio, in November 1971
• Rock On (December 1971)- The Bunch featuring Sandy Denny, Richard Thompson, Trevor Lucas and others.
• Sandy (1972) - Sandy Denny
• The Academy in Peril (1972) – John Cale
• Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh (1972–1973) – Magma
• Flying Teapot (1972–1973) – Gong
• Tubular Bells (September 1972 – March 1973) – Mike Oldfield
• Men Opening Umbrellas Ahead (1973) – Vivian Stanshall
• Double Diamond (1973) – If
• Legend (May 1973) – Henry Cow
• Faust IV (June 1973) – Faust
• Spring Suite (July 1973) – McKendree Spring
• October (1973) – Claire Hamill
• Phaedra (December - 1973) – Tangerine Dream
• Dandruff (1974) – Ivor Cutler
• You (1974) – Gong
• Unrest (February – March 1974) – Henry Cow
• Ghosts (July – September 1974) – Strawbs
• Slapp Happy (1974) – Slapp Happy
• Desperate Straights (1975) – Slapp Happy/Henry Cow
• In Praise of Learning (1975) – Henry Cow/Slapp Happy
• Local Lads Make Good (1975) – Supercharge
• Rubycon (1975) – Tangerine Dream
• Deep Cuts (Spring – Summer 1976) – Strawbs
• Bloodletting (1976) – Boxer
• A Day at the Races (1976) – Queen – backing tracks
• White Music (October 1977) – XTC
• Gene Simmons (April 1978) – Gene Simmons
• Frenzy (November – December 1978) – Split Enz
• Metal Box (June–July 1979) – Public Image Ltd.
• Present Tense (July–August 1979) – Shoes
• Metro Music (August 1979) – Martha and the Muffins
• "Towers of London" (single) (July 1980) – XTC
• Flowers of Romance (October 1980) – Public Image Ltd.
• "Strada facendo (album) (1980/81) - Claudio Baglioni
• The Nature of the Beast (1981) – April Wine
• La Folie (July–September 1981) - The Stranglers
• English Settlement (October – November 1981) – XTC
• All Fall Down (March 1982) – The Sound
• Mummer (September – December 1982) – XTC
• Head First (January - March 1983) – Uriah Heep
• Born Again (mid-1983) – Black Sabbath
• The Swing (1984) – INXS
• "La vita è adesso (album)" (1985) - Claudio Baglioni
• Power Windows (1985) – Rush
• Electric (Summer 1986) – The Cult
• Gone to Earth (September 1986) – David Sylvian
• Wild in the Streets (1987) – Helix
• Hold Your Fire (1987) – Rush
• All About Eve (Summer 1987) - All About Eve
• Once Around the World (1987) - It Bites
• Thunder and Consolation (1988) - New Model Army
• Trash the Planet (1989) – Spy vs Spy
• Wish (September 1991 - February 1992) – The Cure
• The Ethereal Mirror (1993) – Cathederal
• Wild Wood (1993) - Paul Weller
• Grand Prix (September – October 1994) – Teenage Fanclub
• Carnival of Light (1994) – Ride
• No Need to Argue (1994) - The Cranberries
• The Bends (1995) – Radiohead
• Stanley Road (1995) - Paul Weller
• All Change (1995) – Cast – the last band to record at the studio

References

1. ^ Tubular Bells information
2. ^ http://www.nme.com/news/mike-oldfield/51374
3. ^ Notes in 25th Anniversary Edition of Tubular Bells, 1998

Coordinates: 51°50′44″N 1°18′18″W / 51.84556°N 1.305°W / 51.84556; -1.305

Map

A map is available here.