This year, Wootton Park celebrates 80 years in the care of the McCall family. From its early days as a working farm to the thriving venue, wellness and retreats and wakeboarding destination. The story of Wootton Park is one of steady growth, family teamwork and deep love for the land. Mark McCall tells us about the family journey.
So Mark, tell us all about how everything started at Wootton Park.
Wootton Park was bought by my great-grandfather in 1945 and it’s been part of our family ever since. He was a successful businessman who retired from the engineering industry and ran it as a ‘gentleman farmer’. He kept a few animals, including Red Poll cattle, and had arable land too. My father took it over in the 1970s and started dairy farming. It was a dairy farm for nearly 30 years, before he decided to sell off the dairy cows in the 1990s. We are now celebrating 80 years at Wootton Park.
How did the wedding venue evolve ?
In 2000 we converted the old milking parlour into offices. We have about 10,000 square feet of office space next door and currently around 10 companies are based there. Back in the late noughties a couple of the companies expressed an interest in hiring extra space for meetings and conferences. So that was the original idea: a conference venue. But that’s where things took an unexpected turn. I took the project on and built the first website, and as soon as it launched, we started getting wedding enquiries. So quite quickly it evolved into a wedding venue, and we haven’t looked back since.
When did you first start hosting weddings?
Our first wedding was in June 2011. It was actually a family wedding: my father and Melanie’s. Great timing! They were the very first couple to have their wedding reception here. We had three weddings that first year, and about 20 the following year. It grew quickly after that and now we host about 60 to 70 weddings a year.
What inspired the design?
We designed the venue to sit naturally within our countryside surroundings, with plenty of character in the beams, brickwork and landscaping. Couples don’t need to add much decoration, but if they want to, they can. It’s a blank canvas that they can make their own. It often looks completely different from one day to the next, which is really nice.
Did the accommodation come later?
Yes, but not long afterwards. Once we started getting wedding enquiries, we also started getting people asking about accommodation. So at that point we renovated the 17th-century farmhouse and bakehouse, made some of those rooms available for the weddings, and started putting in the glamping pods. We had four woodland pods initially, and we’ve expanded over the years. We now have 11 glamping pods: the four original ones and another seven en-suite pods with their own hot tubs. Two of them are up in the trees, so you get lovely views across the fields as you sit back and relax in your hot tub.
Were the grounds always like they are today or have they evolved too?
The grounds have changed a lot. If you look at the photos when we opened the venue nearly 15 years ago, the place is almost unrecognisable. Back then, the trees were around five foot high! Everything has matured and it just looks fabulous now.
Who created the gardens?
My other half, Jo , designs all the planting and takes care of the gardens around the venue, along with Maurice, who works with her. We call her the “flower manager!” She keeps the planting natural, so it blends in with the beautiful countryside around us. And then there are the lawns. That’s a job for me! I mow around five acres of lawn each week.
Has the lake always been the way it is today?
The original lake was much smaller. We enlarged it over 20 years ago and created the lakeside ceremony area, which is an idyllic spot for couples to exchange vows.
The wakeboarding park next door looks like fun. Is that part of the family business too?
Yes – my brother came up with that idea. He’d worked abroad teaching windsurfing and wakeboarding, and came across a system called a System 2.0 cable – an electric winch that pulls riders up and down the lake. He thought it would be fun to build one here in the Midlands, as there weren’t any others around at the time. He dug out the lakes himself and opened the park in 2017. It’s grown a lot since then – now there’s not just wakeboarding, but also paddleboarding, open-water swimming, the Aqua Jungle and a water assault course.
Do wedding parties use the wakeboarding park too?
Some couples use it for stag and hen dos, or for activities the day after the wedding. They might book everyone onto the Aqua Jungle and make a family day of it. There’s also a safari-style gazebo they can hire for barbecues and get-togethers.
It sounds like Wootton Park has come a long way in 80 years: from a sleepy farm to a popular Warwickshire wedding venue. What do you think makes people fall in love with the place?
It’s just a beautiful spot – peaceful and surrounded by countryside. The atmosphere feels calm and natural. The lakeside ceremony area is a real highlight too – it’s a stunning setting by the water and team give our wedding parties a memory of a lifetime.
Wootton Park has been in the family for generations, and we try to keep that family ethos at the heart of everything we do. We’ve hosted nearly 800 weddings now, and it’s still special seeing couples discover the place for the first time.
If you’d like to experience it for yourself, come and see why so many couples have fallen in love with Wootton Park – book a tour and explore the venue.
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