The Manor Studio
The Manor and its outbuildings are listed Grade II on the National Heritage List for England.
The Manor was the third residential recording studio in the United Kingdom. The first being Ascot Sound Studios built between 1970-1971 by John Lennon in an addition to his Tittenhurst Park mansion, where he recorded his Imagine album. The second being Rockfield Studios in Monmouthshire.[citation needed] 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.
The first officially released LP to be recorded there, while the studio was still being given its finishing touches in late 1971, was Let’s Make Up And Be Friendly, a farewell reunion album by members of The Bonzo Dog Band. The most famous album to be recorded there was perhaps Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield, during 1972–73 when Oldfield was given a week to record an LP at the studio. Vivian Stanshall, formerly of The Bonzo Dog Band, was recording his own first solo album there immediately afterwards, which led to his guest role as Master Of Ceremonies on Tubular Bells. 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 was up for sale for £5.75 million.
The facilities were advertised as follows, as of 1973:
16/8/4 track studio
60 minutes from London
100 acre grounds
Resident engineers
Resident cooks
Room for producers, musician’s partners, 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 (1971–72) – 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
Trouble at Mill (March 1972) – King Earl Boogie Band
Two Weeks Last Summer (April 1972) – Dave Cousins
The Academy in Peril (1972) – John Cale
Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh (1972–73) – Magma
Flying Teapot (1972–73) – 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
Castle in Spain (June 1973) – CCC Inc.
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
Blame It on the Night (1974) – Kevin Coyne
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
Fine Old Tom (1975) – Tom Newman
Local Lads Make Good (1975) – Supercharge
Rubycon (1975) – Tangerine Dream
Ricochet (1975) – Tangerine Dream
Deep Cuts (spring–summer 1976) – Strawbs
Bloodletting (1976) – Boxer
A Day at the Races (1976) – Queen – backing tracks
A Period of Transition (1976) – Van Morrison
White Music (October 1977) – XTC
Wavelength (1978) – Van Morrison
Manorisms (1978) – Wet Willie
Gene Simmons (April 1978) – Gene Simmons
Una donna per amico (1978) – Lucio Battisti
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 (July 1980) – XTC
The Flowers of Romance (October 1980) – Public Image Ltd
Strada facendo (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
Concert: The Cure Live (1984) – The Cure
La vita è adesso (1985) – Claudio Baglioni
Power Windows (1985) – Rush
Peace (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) – Cathedral
Gold Against the Soul (1993) – Manic Street Preachers
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
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