Hookend Recording Studios


Hook End Recording Studios was a recording studio located in Hook End Manor, near Checkendon, Oxfordshire, England. Marillion's Steve Hogarth has called it "probably England's most luxurious recording studio".

History

The original studio, Space Studios was built by Alvin Lee of the band Ten Years After when he first bought the house. Many recordings were made during Lee's tenure including On the Road to Freedom and Rocket Fuel before he sold the house and studio to David Gilmour of the band Pink Floyd, who used the studio to record parts of the band's 1983 album The Final Cut. The band's inflatable pig, first used to promote their Animals album six years earlier, was stored in one of the outbuildings. Gilmour sold the house and studio to Trevor Horn who turned it into Hookend Productions Ltd. The studio is now owned by Mark White.
Several major rock bands have recorded albums at the studios. These include Manic Street Preachers' Gold Against the Soul, The Cure's Disintegration and Mixed Up, and Marillion's Seasons End and Holidays in Eden.
Dave Gilmour sold the house and studios to Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley in 1986, who in turn then sold it to Trevor Horn a number of years later. In February 2017, the house, though still furnished, was reported to be abandoned.