Castle Combe
Picture postcard village and motor racing circuit
Find out about..........
The village and its backgroundAbout Castle Combe Village
This pretty village nestles in a valley and was once an old weaving centre. The focal centre is the canopied 13th century market cross in the main street and standing close by is the 17th century manor house, which is now an hotel.
Find out more about the Manor House Hotel . You will see from this link that it is VERY up market!
There is another hotel in the village, The Castle Inn which is equally attractive, but right in the centre of the village.
The looks of the village are only spoilt by the bright double yellow lines on both sides of the single road through, mind you although there is a car park for visitors at the top of the valley, this doesn't stop coaches from driving down to deposit their loads of tourists.
Apart from two pubs, two hotels and a very small village store, the only commerce in the village is the antique trade and it seems walking along the street that almost every second house doubles as an antique shop!
The Motor Racing Circuit
If you walk back up the hill from Castle Combe village and follow the road around to the right you will hear, on some Saturday/Sunday/Bank Holidays throughout the summer, the sound of racing engines. This is the Castle Combe Circuit which is very well run and often sees some excellent racing. As the races are often for the junior categories the chances are that if you go, you may well be watching a future World Champion! I have seen two World Champions race here in their early days, namely the late and very much missed James Hunt and the South African, Jody Scheckter. Others to have raced here include 1996 World Champion, Damon Hill and the legendary Ayrton Senna.
Some years ago there was a campaign by some newcomers to the village of Castle Combe to close the race circuit down. Thankfully, following a campaign led by, amongst others, James Hunt, the circuit was saved. As a result of the battle the circuit is now only allowed to be used for a certain number of days per year.
Map of Castle Combe Circuit - Length = 1.84 miles/2.96km
During the winter months of 1998 some £200,000 has been spent on bringing the track up to date and attempting to curb the speed of the cars.
The circuit has remained unchanged since it opened in 1950 and the lack of run-off areas had been the focus of driver criticism in recent times.
A spectator was killed in an accident at Camp corner during a qualifying session on August 31 st 1998 and this, together with other high speed accidents during the season prompted Managing Director, Howard Strawford to take action.
The options were fairly limited, given that they cannot develop the inside of the track and also cannot move the spectator banks without cutting back on car parking.
In the end it was decided to add two kinks on Farm Straight and Westway, which will increase the length of the track to 1.864 miles and reduce average speeds.
The current lap record stands at 130.93mph set by Nigel Greensall driving a Tyrell-Judd 023. Speeds now through Old Paddock should be reduced from 130mph to around 85mph for the quickest cars, while Camp should be about 5mph slower.
If you do visit the circuit on a race day, I can recommend going to stand near Quarry corner. You can be sure of some acton there!
Sports cars at Quarry Corner
Copyright © 1996/9 by
Hugh Collins
This Page Last Updated
16 November 1999