Venues

Each year we promote our own productions at our two much-loved regular country venues, Bampton (The Grange and the Deanery) and Westonbirt School.  We also perform regularly in Oxford, at Holywell Music Room and St John the Evangelist, and in London, at venues including St John’s Smith Square and Wigmore Hall.

Our own events have no dress code – please wear whatever you feel most comfortable in! Warm clothing and maybe even a blanket are recommended for outdoor performances.

Bampton Classical Opera has appeared at a number of major venues and festivals including Music at Wotton, Bury Court Opera, Buxton Opera House (Buxton Festival), Pittville Pump Room (Cheltenham Festival) and Theatre Royal Bath (Bath Shakespeare Festival).

Bampton Deanery (OX18 2LL)

The Deanery at Bampton, a small and attractive stone-built town enviably placed between the southern Cotswolds and the Thames, was originally built in the twelfth century for the bailiffs of the Bishops of Exeter. Containing tantalising remains of its original underground chapel, the house is mostly of the 17th century, and with its beautiful gardens and its situation in the shadow of the grand medieval church of St Mary, it forms an idyllic and quintessentially English setting. A curved yew hedge encloses the opera stage, creating a delightfully informal and much-loved venue with excellent natural acoustics.

Bampton, famed also for its ancient Morris-dancing tradition, is placed a few miles from Burford, Witney and Faringdon, and is easily accessible on the A40 from Oxford and London to the east, and from Cheltenham to the west.  The nearest stations are Hanborough, Oxford, Oxford Parkway or Didcot.  It will be necessary to pre-book a taxi.

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Westonbirt School (GL8 8QG)

Westonbirt School, situated on the A433 about three miles south of Tetbury in southern Gloucestershire and close to Highgrove House, occupies one of the most sumptuous Victorian country houses in Britain. Designed by Lewis Vuillamy in 1863 for the millionaire industrialist R.S. Holford, the colossal and superbly sculpted house in an ornate Jacobean style is set in exquisite terraced Grade I listed gardens; part of the original estate grounds now form the famous Arboretum.  The unreliability of the weather has recently forced us into performing indoors in the Orangery, but there is time beforehand and during the 75-minute picnic interval to explore the glorious building and grounds.  Picnics can be taken indoors or out.

The nearest stations are Chippenham or Kemble.  It will be necessary to pre-book a taxi.

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St John’s Smith Square (SW1P 3HA)

St John’s Smith Square is one of London’s premier concert halls.  The nearest tube stations are Westminster and St James’s Park

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The Barn at Old Walland (TN5 6LU)

Old Walland is set in the outskirts of the Wadhurst, in the Wealden Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, with lovely views over the Rother Valley. The main house was built in the vernacular style just over ten years ago by the architect Ptolemy Dean for his own family, but many of the outbuildings once served the neighbouring Walland Manor. One of these is the Old Barn, a traditional Sussex threshing barn, recently restored by the present owners as an intimate performance space. Adjacent is the charming Old Dairy, and there are plenty of spots in the grounds where you can picnic.

If you come by car, turn off the A21 in Lamberhurst, or the A267 in Frant. The nearest station is Wadhurst, with trains twice an hour from London Charing Cross, Waterloo East and London Bridge. If you alight at Wadhurst, you will need to pre-book a taxi. Alternatively alight at Tonbridge or Tunbridge Wells, where there is a taxi-rank outside each station.

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