A second round of public consultation events is being held this week over plans for a historical theme park in Oxfordshire. French group Puy du Fou has put forward proposals for investing £600 million in developing the attraction on a 50-acre site near Bicester.
Puy du Fou already runs two successful destinations in France and Spain: its original site in the French Vendée region attracts around 2.3 million visitors each year. The Bicester venture would be its first in the UK. Olivier Strebelle, Puy du Fou's chief executive, describes the Oxfordshire area as the ‘perfect location.’
The company says it spent considerable time searching for exactly the right locality, which needed to be a large site, geographically well located, with excellent transport links and within easy reach of London and Birmingham. Being surrounded by British history and near to other existing heritage attractions was also important.
Puy du Fou, which offers an immersive cultural and historical experience for the whole family, promises world-class live historical live outdoor and indoor shows in an authentic, natural and historical environment built using original materials and crafts. Its plans for the Oxfordshire site includes four period villages and three onsite hotels themed to different periods of British history. Landscaping will include ponds, lakes, and gardens, with more than 40 acres of wildflower meadows and 20,000 new trees.
Employing 700 people and creating 2,000 jobs in the local economy, the operator says the park would attract up to 400,000 overnight stays by Year 10 of its operation.
Puy du Fou will submit outline planning in summer 2025, and a decision by the local authority, Cherwell District Council, is expected next winter.
Meanwhile, two American companies are also working to bring new visitor attractions to Oxfordshire.
Great Wolf Lodge, an indoor water park resort, received planning approval for its concept, also near Bicester, in 2021. The Chicago-headquartered company, which has a chain of over 20 resorts in the USA, chose Oxfordshire for its first European venture. It is investing £200 million investment in the local area and will create around 600 jobs.
A museum for classic motor cars near Enstone in West Oxfordshire is also being developed. The Mullin Automotive Museum will house up to 30 classic cars, an archive of 20th-century automotive memorabilia and a purpose-designed exercise track. The cars will be drawn from the personal collection of late US businessman and philanthropist Peter W. Mullin, who opened his first museum in California in 2010.
- Promotional image of a performance at Puy du Fou in Les Epesses, France - Image provided by Puy du Fou
- Computer generated image of The Mullin Museum Crescent (inner) and Exercise Track - Image provided by The Mullin Automotive Museum
- Computer generated image of Great Wolf Lodge - Image provided by Great Wolf Lodge