Brooklands

Brooklands at a glance

Location

Weybridge, Surrey

Type

historic circuit (defunct)

Length

4.45 km (2.767 mi)

Turns

3

Direction

clockwise

Banking

Up to 30ft (9m) high on the Members' and Byfleet banking sections

Surface

concrete

Opened

1907

Owner

Brooklands Museum Trust

Address

Brooklands Road

Website

brooklandsmuseum.com

Track map and layout

Brooklands was the world's first purpose-built banked motor-racing circuit, a 2.767-mile concrete oval with two towering banked curves, up to 30 feet high, joined by two straights, plus a bisecting finishing straight that could extend a lap to 3.25 miles. It was built in unsurfaced concrete rather than asphalt to save cost, laid in sections whose joints famously gave cars and drivers a pounding at speed. Only a fragment of that circuit survives today: sections of the Members' Banking and the Test Hill sit inside Brooklands Museum's 30-acre site, while the rest of the original course lies underneath Mercedes-Benz World, industrial units and the former British Aerospace/BAE Systems factory land that grew up around the aerodrome in the middle of the course. Visitors today walk and drive small preserved stretches of banking rather than experiencing the full lap.

Named corners and sections

• Members' Banking. The banked curve nearest the clubhouse and paddock, the best-preserved section of the original circuit and now the centrepiece of the museum's outdoor track area.
• Byfleet Banking. The circuit's other main banked curve, most of which has been lost to later development but which is remembered in the museum's displays.
• Test Hill. A short, steep concrete gradient built in 1909 for testing acceleration and hill-climbing ability, still driveable by visitors' own cars on selected event days.

Configurations

Events and race weekends

Brooklands has not hosted motor racing since August 1939, when the outbreak of the Second World War closed the circuit for military aircraft production. Today Brooklands Museum runs a calendar of static and moving exhibitions, classic car and aircraft gatherings, and open days rather than any competitive racing; the closest thing to motorsport on site is occasional demonstration running of historic cars on the surviving banking and Test Hill during museum events.

Getting there and parking

Brooklands Museum sits in Weybridge, Surrey, about 20 miles south-west of central London and just off the M25/A3 corridor. Weybridge railway station has direct trains to London Waterloo (around 30-35 minutes) and is roughly a 20-minute walk from the museum entrance. London Heathrow is the nearest major airport, about 12 miles and 25-30 minutes' drive north.

• London Heathrow Airport (LHR) · about 28 min drive

Parking

Free parking is provided in the museum's main visitor car park, with additional overflow parking used for larger events.

Allow at least half a day: the museum spans separate motoring and aviation halls plus outdoor track sections, and the walk between them covers a fair stretch of the old circuit.

Hotels and camping near Brooklands

Brooklands is a day-visit museum rather than a race weekend, so there is no seasonal accommodation crunch to plan around; most visitors either day-trip from London or stay in Weybridge, Woking or the wider Surrey commuter belt, all well served by chain hotels given their proximity to Heathrow and the M25.

Where to look

Weybridge town centre and nearby Woking have the closest hotel options; the Heathrow airport hotel cluster, 25-30 minutes north, is a practical alternative for visitors combining a museum trip with a flight.

Track days, driving experiences and lap records

There is no public driving or track-day access to the historic Brooklands circuit itself; the surviving banking is a museum exhibit, not a running circuit. Visitors can drive short, low-speed demonstration laps of the Test Hill in their own classic cars on specific museum event days, and the neighbouring Mercedes-Benz World site (built over part of the original course) runs its own separate driving experiences on a modern test track, unrelated to the historic Brooklands lap.

Lap records

Spectator guide

Brooklands Museum is a paid-admission visitor attraction rather than a spectator sport: a 2026 adult ticket cost around £21 booked online (about £25 on the door), with concessions and student tickets around £20 and children (5-18) around £11; under-5s go free. Admission covers the aircraft factory and Flight Shed, motoring village, the surviving Members' Banking, and the adjoining London Bus Museum.

Best places to watch

The Members' Banking gives the clearest sense of the circuit's scale and steepness; the Test Hill and clubhouse area are the best-preserved motor-racing structures on site.

Weather

• Mar-Oct: Museum's main season, typical southern England weather with highs around 15-23°C
• Nov-Feb: Shorter opening hours (10am-4pm) and cooler, wetter weather typical of a Surrey winter

History of Brooklands

The world's first purpose-built racing circuit

Brooklands was conceived by landowner Hugh Fortescue Locke King, who built the circuit on his own Weybridge estate because British law at the time banned speed contests on public roads. Built through 1906-07, the 2.767-mile concrete oval opened on 17 June 1907 as the world's first purpose-built banked motor-racing circuit, its 30-foot banking letting drivers hold speed through the turns without lifting.

Records and racing

Brooklands quickly became the centre of British motor racing and record-breaking. Selwyn Edge drove 1,581.74 miles in the world's first 24-hour motor event there in June 1907, and the circuit hosted the British Grand Prix in 1926 and 1927. An aerodrome grew up inside the banked oval from Brooklands' earliest years, and the site became just as important for aviation as racing, with manufacturers including Sopwith and Vickers building aircraft on the infield. The outright lap record, 143.44mph, was set by John Cobb in the Napier-Railton in October 1935 and, because the circuit closed before it could be beaten, still stands.

War and closure

Racing ended in August 1939 as war approached, and the site was given over to military aircraft production: Vickers built Wellington bombers there throughout the Second World War, with a bombing raid on the factory on 4 September 1940 killing nearly 90 workers. The track was never reopened for racing after the war; Vickers-Armstrongs kept building civil aircraft, including the Viscount and VC10, on part of the old circuit until production ended in 1989.

Preservation as a museum

As the wider site was redeveloped for housing, retail and industry, a 30-acre corner holding the best-surviving fragment of the banking, the clubhouse and the Test Hill was preserved, and Brooklands Museum opened there in 1987 to tell the story of the circuit and the aviation industry around it. Mercedes-Benz World opened in 2006 on part of the former airfield, with a short modern test track that echoes but does not reproduce the historic circuit. Today the museum is the primary way to experience what remains of the birthplace of British motor racing.

Frequently asked questions

Other tracks nearby

• Battersea Park Street Circuit · 25 km · historic circuit (defunct)
• ExCeL London Circuit · 38 km · street circuit
• Brands Hatch · 50 km · road course
• Goodwood Motor Circuit · 59 km · road course
• Thruxton Circuit · 81 km · road course
• Silverstone Circuit · 88 km · road course