Ditchley Park, near Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire, is a Palladian mansion that hosts selected private events for organisations that share the aims of its foundation, on an exclusive-use basis. It has 30 bedrooms, a series of state and meeting rooms and a library fitted as a live studio. It suits board retreats and strategic convenings, and it does not take wedding receptions or other social functions.
Seminars and company events
When the Ditchley Foundation is not using the house, it hosts events for other organisations that share its ethos. The site says the mansion is particularly suited to board retreats and strategic convenings centered on the historic library. The library is home to The Bridge, described as a secure live television studio that lets participants take input from outside speakers or brief and broadcast to external audiences, with HD cameras, fibre-optic cabling and high-speed connectivity.
The Foundation has run conferences for 60 years. Its events staff and in-house catering team work with the client's own organisers. The house keeps the character of a country home rather than a hotel, which the site presents as its main quality: quiet, rural and private.
Weddings and receptions
None. The private events page states that Ditchley Park is not suitable for wedding receptions and other social functions.
Rooms and capacities
The one published number is 30 bedrooms. The state rooms, meeting rooms and library are not listed with capacities on the pages provided, so ask the private events team for seating plans before deciding a group size. Because use is exclusive, the whole house works for one group at a time, so the number of bedrooms sets the practical size of a residential retreat.
Accommodation
Thirty bedrooms are in the mansion. Guests stay in the house during a retreat, in a home on a grand scale that keeps country house traditions.
Catering
An in-house catering team serves events, with long experience of conferences. The pages do not list menus or dining formats.
History and setting
The mansion stands within a four-thousand-acre farming estate, in complete seclusion and privacy. The house has a history of more than four hundred years of meetings and connections, and it is now the home of the Ditchley Foundation, which convenes international discussions.
Getting there
Ditchley Park is about 1.5 hours from central London by road, according to the site. The address is Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire; use postcode OX7 4ET for satellite navigation.
