Which Celebrities Live In The Cotswolds? (& Where?)

Rumour has it that Tom Cruise is soon to join the ranks of famous faces flocking to the Cotswolds. The Mission: Impossible star is reportedly eyeing up large properties in the area of Charlbury, with his personal assistant on the hunt for multi-million pound estates. While the rumoured move is already receiving disgruntled responses from locals, Cruise is far from the first Hollywood star to call the Cotswolds his (second) home.

The other month, it was announced that Beyoncé and Jay-Z are also planning to buy up a Cotswolds bolthole. The A-list power couple are set to splash out on a 58 acre estate near Wiggington, a small village near Banbury. The superstars, who already count Los Angeles and the Hamptons among their homes, are said to have obtained planning permission for the site and are close to sealing a multimillion-pound deal.

While not a resident, Steve Jobs’s daughter Eve and Olympian Harry Charles hosted a pre-wedding dinner earlier this year at The Bull in the Cotswolds, with guests including the likes of former US Vice President Kamala Harris. Attracting everyone from US Vice President JD Vance on a summer escape to Taylor Swift and her now-fiancé Travis Kelce (who hid out in a £3.3 million Great Tew property during her European leg of the Eras Tour), it seems the Americans have latched on to the bucolic charm Brits have lauded for centuries.

With so many celebrities swanning in and out of the area, it can be difficult to keep track of the current Cotswolds celeb set. Many former residents (Elizabeth Hurley, Laurence Llewelyn‑Bowen and Stella McCartney to name a few) have long abandoned the area and others such as Richard Hammond, Guy Ritchie and Geri Halliwell actually sit just outside the region’s border. To stave off confusion, here’s your complete round-up of all the celebs that currently call the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty home.

Introducing The Cotswolds Celeb Set

© BBC

Claudia Winkleman

Strictly Come Dancing host, Traitors star and fringe fanatic Claudia Winkleman reportedly snapped up a historic manor house in the Cotswolds around three years ago. Alledgedly worth about £3 million, Winkleman shares the long-term rental with her husband, Danish film producer Kris Thykier. When not hiding out in the countryside bolthole, Winkleman and her family reside in a townhouse near Marble Arch, occasionally venturing just outside of the Cotswolds to enjoy shooting parties at director Guy Ritchie’s Ashcombe Estate in Wiltshire.

Kate Moss

From a north London party pad to a West Village apartment, Kate Moss has lived in an array of luxurious homes. Today, her primary residence is a Grade II listed, 10-bedroom country pile in Little Faringdon, Oxfordshire. Having purchased the property more than a decade ago for a reported £2 million, the supermodel made a permanent move to the estate in 2021. Sharing the home with her younger sister and fellow model Lottie during lockdown, this quiet country retreat is a dramatic 180 switch from Moss’ headline-making London life of the 90s.

Paul and Prue

Prue Leith

While the Cotswolds may be best-known for its higgledy-piggledy estates and quaint stone cottages, Great British Bake Off  star and Cotswolds native Prue Leith lives in a custom-built modern mansion in Moreton-in-Marsh near the Worcestershire border. Purchased with her husband, retired fashion designer John Playfair, during lockdown, the grass-fronted barn conversion is a far cry from the Georgian Manor she once called home in the nearby Chastleton Glebe. Much like Leith’s daring style, the house boasts bright primary-coloured interiors and a well-loved garden. Having lived in the Cotswolds for over 40 years, she reportedly enjoys pub crawls around the area.

Patrick Stewart

Best-known for his roles in Star Trek and X-Men, Sir Patrick Stewart reportedly owns a Cotswolds mansion near the villages of Lacock and Chipping Norton, dividing his time between the area and his Brooklyn home. Strangely, for a Hollywood star, Stewart is firmly on the locals’ side on the influx of A-listers swarming the area, joining their fight against the celebrity set and even signing a petition in opposition to the development of new luxury homes in the area.

Ellie Goulding

A renowned lover of the famed Cotswolds farm shop Daylesford Organic, Goulding moved to the area in 2021 when the singer and her art dealer husband, Casper Jopling, needed a place to hide out during the pandemic. Their six-bedroom £1.3 million manor house was renovated to restore the barn to its original state.

Alex James

Famed for his annual Big Feastival which is held in the area, Blur star Alex James owns a farm in Kingham, Oxfordshire, having bought the 200 acres property during his honeymoon in 2003 and transforming it from a ‘wreck’ to a functioning farm. He hosts the large food and music festival with Essex resident and chef Jamie Oliver.

Ben Miller

Looking to upsize to accomodate his growing family, when actor and comedian Ben Miller first started house-hunting in the Cotswolds he (like many celebrities) started off exploring the Chipping Norton area in Oxfordshire. Soon realising that he’d be stuck living in a shoe box sized home in the wealth-ridden area, he and his family instead located near Cirencester after they found their dream home in Country Life magazine. Made up of multiple cottages, the ‘bonkers’ home is connected across the ground floor and features a fake front door.

Calvin Harris & Vick Hope

The married DJ and broadcaster reportedly snapped up a Cotswolds property for over £3.5m around five years ago. Set in 10 acres of land, the Gloucestershire estate boasts its own vineyard, swimming pool and tennis court. Renovating the once ‘ugly’ post-war property into a grand Cotswolds country house, the star employed the Royal Family’s favourite architects Ben Pentreath to do up the estate.

King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain

While not a celebrity per se, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain bought his Glympton Park estate from a fellow Middle Eastern royal (Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan) back in 2021 for over £120 million. Alongside the 18th century Glympton House, the estate includes 39 cottages, a Norman parish church and 167 acres of parkland. 

Jilly Cooper

Encapsulating the charm and wealth of the Cotswolds in her Rutshire Chronicles series (a fictional Cotswolds world now made even more famous through Disney’s Rivals), Cooper has lived in the village of Bisley in Gloucestershire for more than 40 years. Moving to the area from Yorkshire in 1982, the 14th century property boasts 10 bedrooms and William Morris inspired interior design.

Jeremy Clarkson

Bringing Cotswolds charm to the masses through his much-loved Clarkson’s Farm, the former Top Gear star first bought his 1,000 acre Diddly Squat Farm plot back in 2008. Living in a mansion on the Chipping Norton estate (reported to be worth around £12.5 million) with his long-term partner Lisa Hogan, he gained planning permission for the property in 2013. While there were no objections from his neighbours then, Clarkson did later cause a local ruckus in 2016 when he blew up his old £4 million farmhouse for an episode of The Grand Tour. While his fellow Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond is also reported to live in the area, he actually lives in the neighbouring county of Herefordshire just outside of the Cotswolds region where he resides in the Grade II* listed Bollitree Castle in Weston-under-Penyard.

Amanda Holden

When she’s not running around Europe with Alan Carr, or living it up in London, the Britain’s Got Talent judge can be found in Chipping Norton. Having reportedly purchased her Cotswolds cottage plus half an acre of land for £860k, she is only down the road from her fellow BGT star Simon Cowell.

Simon Cowell

In a bid for privacy, Britain’s Got Talent judge and millionaire media mogul Simon Cowell traded his £45 million Holland Park townhouse for a sprawling £8 million Cotswolds bolthole in 2021. The catalyst? A jewellery burglary which left Cowell £1 million down. Relocating to the Cotswolds with wife Lauren Silverman and young son Eric, Cowell now reportedly enjoys activities like yoga and clay pigeon shooting in the privacy of the countryside. While we don’t know much about his West Oxfordshire farmhouse, the star reportedly submitted planning permission for a 793 sqft outhouse earlier this year.

Damien Hirst

The UK’s richest living artist, Damien Hirst has made a home out of a Grade I listed Cotswolds pile by the name of Toddington Manor. Located near Cheltenham in rural Gloucestershire, Hirst purchased the 300-room Victorian Gothic mansion back in 2005, renovating it into a private residence and gallery for his art collection.

Netflix

David & Victoria Beckham

Of all the celebrities who have made the Cotswolds home, none are bigger advocates for the area than Posh and Becks. In 2016, the couple bought a £12 million converted barn in the heart of the Cotswolds. Featured in their headline-making Netflix documentary Beckham, the idyllic estate can be regularly spotted in the background of the family’s various Instagram feeds and TikTok snippets.

From a football pitch, gym, swimming pool and tennis courts, to beehives, orchards, chickens and treehouse, this property even boasts an outdoor spa, sauna and BBQ tent. Located near Chipping Norton, their home is only a stone’s throw from the celebrity-loved Soho Farmhouse.

Hugh Grant

It seems that no one can make up their minds as to whether Hugh Grant does or does not actually live in the Cotswolds. While many claims circulate that the Notting Hill star has owned a home in the area since 2003, locals tell a different story. Though he has been spotted around the area multiple times, no one is quite sure whether the mysterious man is a Cotswolds local.

Ellen DeGeneres

In November 2024, Ellen and her wife – former Arrested Development star Portia de Rossi – swapped out the luxuries of LA life for the bucolic comforts of the Cotswolds. While they initially planned for their British bolthole to be a part-time residence where they would stay for three or four months a year, the re-election of Donald Trump prompted a permanent move to the region.

Setting up home in Kitesbridge Farm – a sprawling Cotswolds estate then worth £15 million – the celebrity couple gave the historic home a mass makeover, upping the value to £22.5 million. Set in the village of Swinbrook in Oxfordshire, the estate soon fell out of favour with the stars when they realised there wasn’t enough space to accommodate Portia’s horses year-round. Moving 30 minutes down the road, the comedian and her wife swapped out their farmhouse for a more modern hilltop mansion. Spanning around 10,000 sqft, the mansion is said to be complete with its very own infinity pool, theatre, gym and steam room.

Princess Beatrice

The royal and her property developer husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi put down roots in the Cotswolds in 2021 when they purchased a farmhouse there estimated to be worth around £3.5 million. While little is known about the countryside abode, it has been reported that the home boasts six bedrooms, an outdoor swimming pool and multiple reception rooms. The couple have also renovated their guesthouse and have erected a six-foot security fence on their land for the sake of privacy.

Princess Anne

Princess Anne has lived at Gatcombe Park, just outside the village of Minchinhampton in Gloucestershire, since 1976, after being gifted the property by the late Queen Elizabeth II as a wedding present. Built in 1774 (but redesigned for economist David Ricardo in 1820), the Grade II listed house is believed to include five bedrooms, four secondary bedrooms, four reception rooms, a library and a billiard room.

Meanwhile, Anne’s daughter Zara Tindall and her family lives in a separate home on the 700-acre estate called Aston Farm.

Robert Smith Photography

The King

Last but not least, King Charles III famously shares a private residence with Queen Camilla in Tetbury. Highgrove dates back to the 18th century, but it didn’t fall into royal hands until 1980 when Charles purchased the property from Maurice Macmillan via the Duchy of Cornwall.

With gardens open to the public since 1996, Highgrove is the closest we can get to the Cotswolds celeb set without trespassing. Join the annual 30,000 visitors to enjoy the flourishing gardens, spot birds and wildlife and catch glimpses of the gorgeous neoclassical house itself.