How secure is Oxfordshire’s reputation as England’s beau monde county? Just ten years ago, the “Chipping Norton set” ran Britain from a cluster of farmhouses in this delightful part of the country, with Prime Minister David Cameron, and media royalty like Rebekah Brooks and Jeremy Clarkson were all neighbours. Now Boris Johnson has just bought a Georgian manor house there with wife Carrie and their three children, and will no doubt be plotting his next moves from its high-ceilinged drawing rooms. But when I asked self-appointed custodian of cool Nicky Haslam about the county before setting out on a recent trip, he was sceptical. “If Boris wants somewhere truly chic, he could do worse than the Scottish borders,” he pondered. Yet my weekend trip revealed the area is still the place to be.
The epicentre of Oxfordshire glamour now is Bicester Village. Only an hour’s train ride from London Marylebone a stone’s throw from historic Oxford, the designer shopping destination is perfectly placed to fulfil all your retail therapy needs, and much else besides.
