Who run the world? Beyoncé, of course — and if the rumours are true, she might soon be ruling a corner of the Cotswolds, too.
The village of Wigginton, on the northwestern edge of the Cotswolds and six miles from Banbury, feels like a quiet backwater that the modern world has forgotten, complete with narrow lanes winding past golden-stone cottages with thatched roofs and rolling green fields all around. But locals may soon have some rather glamorous new neighbours. It’s reported that powerhouse pop duo Beyoncé and Jay-Z are in the final stages of purchasing 58 acres of land on the outskirts of Wigginton after receiving planning permission for a “spectacular rural estate.”
The plot doesn’t currently have a house – locals report that there’s an overgrown lake at its heart and that the couple have ambitious plans for a seven-bedroom, nine-bathroom mansion. Perhaps they’re planning an ultramodern hideaway, or something dressed in photogenic honey-hued Cotswolds stone with views over the water.
When I pitch up in Wigginton, Oxfordshire (not to be confused with the villages of Wigginton in Staffordshire, Hertfordshire and North Yorkshire), this September’s mercurial grey skies are dark and gloomy, but even the weather can’t take away the charms of this peaceful hamlet. The village has a population of 1,483 but no pub or shops, although it does boast two churches and a community book swap. I walk down Wiggy Lane, admiring charming cottage after charming cottage, then stroll past the village hall. In minutes, I’m back in beautiful open country. This is a small and sleepy place – for now.
Read now: The best Cotswolds hotels for luxury spa breaks and countryside cuisine
Locals whisper that Beyoncé scoped out this idyll by helicopter during her UK shows this summer. Will this be a permanent base or a countryside retreat for the couple? Who knows - but the idea of Queen Bey strolling the four-mile Wigginton Circular walk in Hunter wellies and a Barbour jacket, or of Jay-Z propping up the bar in the Falkland Arms at Great Tew, five minutes away, is a tempting one.
I pop into the achingly pretty 16th-century pub for a pint and a Scotch egg. The Falkland Arms is charming even for a Cotswolds inn, with flagstone floors complete with sleeping dogs to step over and oak beams hung with hundreds of ceramic beer jugs. A local tells me that music’s royal couple are hardly the first celebrities to up sticks to this corner of the countryside. “We’ve already got the Beckhams, why not Mr and Mrs Beyoncé?” she laughs. She tells me she moved here from London for the peace and country views, but doesn’t mind the occasional glimpse of a celeb in the food hall of the Chipping Norton Marks and Spencer or buying cider and chutney in Jeremy Clarkson’s Diddly Squat farm shop.
Great Tew is already home to a rollcall of the great and the glamorous – Posh and Becks, Simon Cowell, and, until recently Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi, all own estates or holiday homes nearby, while Soho Farmhouse, the exclusive members-only countryside playground loved by Taylor Swift, the Clooneys and Megan Markle, is just down the road. And when Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s three children are in tow, the new Universal Studios Great Britain, the movie-based theme park’s first foray across the pond, is planned for a site near Bedford, with a proposed opening target of 2031.
Bey and Jay can always put visiting friends and family up in glitzy hotels such Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, a Belmond Hotel, in Great Milton. Chef Raymond Blanc’s temple to farm-to-table eating comes complete with extensive gardens, Japanese ponds and sumptuous double Michelin-starred suppers. The Carters will have to get in quick, though – its current iteration closes in January 2026, with a grand reopening scheduled for summer 2027. Add in organic havens like Daylesford Organic Farm and Michelin-starred pub the White Rabbit and you have a playground for the posh – and for international pop stars.
Read now: The best spa hotels in the Cotswolds for thermal waters and rejuvenating treatments
It’s easy to picture a day in the life of the Carters-in-the-Cotswolds – perhaps a morning of spa treatments at Soho Farmhouse. Jay-Z is a keen golfer – he can perfect his swing at Rye Hill Golf Club, just over the road from the village. Maybe they’d swing by Hook Norton Brewery to sample a flight of ales, or cut the ribbon at the village fête, Vicar of Dibley style.
Wigginton’s own village pub, the White Swan, is currently closed – Bey and Jay could copy Jeremy Clarkson and open their own taproom. I, for one, would love to peruse a Beyoncé-approved wine list.
Read now: The best hotels in the Cotswolds for budget-friendly breaks and affordable rooms
I travelled by local bus from London to the Cotswolds and discovered the joy of slow travel
Bull Burford: How a 16th-century coaching inn became the Cotswolds’ hottest hotel
The best boutique hotels in the Cotswolds from dog-friendly stays to Michelin-star menus
The best Christmas markets in the UK for 2025
I stayed in the London hotel with Western Europe’s highest swimming pool
This UK city is secretly the best place for a cultural weekend away
