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Situated near Weybridge in Surrey, Brooklands was the first purpose-built banked motor race circuit in the world, and Britain's first dedicated Motor Sport venue. It was the brainchild of Hugh Fortescue Locke-King Link and was designed by Colonel Capel Lofft Holden Link
Construction began in 1906 and it opened the following year. As well as the main oval, there was a straight Finishing Straight which bisected the oval across its northeastern corner (see TQ0762 : Track circuit plan, Brooklands) with a length of c.½ mile increasing the total circuit length from 2.75 to 3.25 miles (4.43 to 5.23 km). The course was constructed from concrete due to the expense and difficulties of laying tarmac or asphalt - this led to a less than smooth ride, especially with the motor suspension of the day!
Of this circuit, about 1.25 miles (2km) was banked - at an angle of up to 30°. Little of the old racetrack remains though part of the finishing straight and a section of the banking can still be seen.
The racetrack held its last race in August 1939, just days before the outbreak of World War II. The site had already become a major aircraft manufacturing location, and with the advent of war the Vickers factory spread over the racetrack, meaning the end of motor racing at Brooklands.
The lap record is held (and forever will be) by a Napier-Railton race car with a huge 24 litre aero-engine. It was commissioned by the racing driver John Cobb and built in 1933 to a design by Reid Railton. It was built by Thomson & Taylor. Driven by Cobb it achieved 143.44 mph (230.84 km/h) in 1935.

Brooklands now hosts an extensive and impressive museum dedicated to racing cars, aircraft and missile manufacture. The site also incorporates the Barnes Wallace Stratospheric Chamber and the London Bus Museum.
In addition to this there is also 'The Concorde Experience' as it is home to one of the Concordes (G-BBDG, the first aircraft to carry 100 people at twice the speed of sound).
30% of all the Concordes were build here at Brooklands. (i.e. 30% of every plane).
See the Brooklands Museum website here for information about visiting: Link

A large area of the museum is a Scheduled Ancient Monument: Link
This scheduled area includes the Restaurant which is separately Grade II listed: Link
Outside the scheduled area are three more listed buildings:
The Clubhouse (Grade II*): Link
The Bellman Hangar (Grade II): Link
Former Flight Booking Office (Grade II): Link

Created: Thu, 17 Mar 2022, Updated: Fri, 18 Mar 2022