Charterhall

Charterhall at a glance

Location

Duns, Scottish Borders

Type

historic circuit (defunct)

Length

3.219 km (2 mi)

Surface

asphalt

Opened

1952

Address

Charterhall Airfield

Track map and layout

Charterhall was a classic British airfield circuit: roughly two miles (3.2km) of wartime runways and perimeter roads between Greenlaw and Duns in the Scottish Borders, marked out with a seemingly endless main straight that made it a favourite for overtaking and for setting up genuinely fast lap times. Like most disused-airfield tracks of its era it had no permanent grandstands or run-off to speak of, just oil drums and hedges marking the circuit through the flat Berwickshire farmland. The layout suited everything from Formula 2 and Formula Libre cars to Formula Junior single-seaters and sportscars across its twelve seasons of racing. Today the estate is a working farm and private airfield; the old main straight and some perimeter roads remain visible on the ground, but the race control buildings and any spectator infrastructure have long since disappeared.

Configurations

Events and race weekends

Charterhall hosted no fewer than twelve seasons of British club and national motor racing, headlined by Formula 2 and Formula Libre races and supporting Formula Junior and sportscar events, but it has held no organised car racing since 1964 and hosts no annual event of any kind today. It later served for a period as a special stage for the Scottish Borders' own Jim Clark Rally, but that link has also lapsed since the mid-2010s.

Getting there and parking

Charterhall sits on private farmland and an active private airfield between Greenlaw and Duns, so there is no public visitor entrance and no facility to plan a trip around; the site is best appreciated from the public road that skirts the estate rather than by trying to access the runways themselves. The nearest towns with any services are Duns and Greenlaw, both a few miles away in the Scottish Borders.

Parking

None - the site is private land with no public parking or visitor access.

Respect that this is a working farm and active private airstrip; view the old main straight and perimeter roads from the public road boundary rather than entering the land.

Hotels and camping near Charterhall

There is no visitor accommodation at Charterhall itself, so anyone tracing the Jim Clark connection through the Borders is better based in Duns, the market town closest to the old circuit and the location of the Jim Clark Motorsport Museum, or in the larger town of Berwick-upon-Tweed a little further east.

Where to look

Duns, for proximity and the Jim Clark Motorsport Museum; Berwick-upon-Tweed for a wider choice of hotels.

Track days, driving experiences and lap records

Charterhall is private farmland and an active private airfield with no public track-day, ride-day or driving-experience access of any kind.

Spectator guide

There is no spectator event at Charterhall now; when it raced, crowds gathered along the perimeter roads and main straight with nothing more than rope and oil drums separating them from the cars, in the style typical of 1950s British airfield circuits.

History of Charterhall

From wartime airfield to Borders racing hub

Charterhall began life as a First World War landing ground known as Eccles Toft, rebuilt in 1942 for RAF Bomber Command training and used mainly by No. 54 Operational Training Unit during the Second World War. The RAF left in 1947, the airfield closed, and the land reverted to farming - until local motor racing enthusiasts saw the same flat, hard-surfaced runways and perimeter roads that made it useful to the RAF as a ready-made two-mile racing circuit, complete with a very long main straight.

Twelve years of Formula 2 and Formula Libre

Racing began on 6 April 1952 with a Formula Libre event won by Bill Dobson in a Ferrari, and Charterhall went on to host Formula 2, Formula Libre, Formula Junior and sportscar racing every year for the next twelve seasons. It attracted genuine international-calibre fields for a rural Scottish venue, with Stirling Moss, Roy Salvadori and 1950 world champion Giuseppe Farina among the visitors, and it also served as a test track for the Ecurie Ecosse sportscar team based nearby.

Jim Clark's home track

Charterhall's most enduring claim to fame is its connection to Jim Clark. The future double Formula 1 world champion attended his first ever motor race there as a spectator and went on to compete in 31 races at the circuit over his career, winning nine of them, making it effectively his home track before his rise to grand prix racing.

Closure and quiet farmland today

Motor racing at Charterhall ended after the 1964 season, when the Borders and District Motor Club shifted its racing to the newly built Ingliston circuit near Edinburgh, which offered better facilities. The airfield reverted fully to farming and light aviation use under the Trotter family, who still manage the estate; for some years Charterhall also served as a stage on the Jim Clark Rally, though that use lapsed by the mid-2010s. The main straight and stretches of perimeter road remain visible on the ground today, but no grandstands, timing boxes or other trace of the racing years survive.

Frequently asked questions

Other tracks nearby

• Ingliston Circuit · 68 km · historic circuit (defunct)
• Knockhill Racing Circuit · 84 km · road course
• Croft Circuit · 148 km · road course
• Oliver's Mount · 204 km · road course
• Clypse Course · 216 km · historic circuit (defunct)
• Isle of Man TT Mountain Course · 219 km · public road circuit