Castle Combe

Circuit guide by Chris Pollitt · dates updated 2 November 2026

Castle Combe began as RAF Castle Combe, a wartime training airfield, and the first race meeting on its perimeter road ran in July 1950. It's still a proper old-school airfield circuit: quick, fairly flat, and lined with tyre walls and banks rather than acres of tarmac run-off. There's only one layout, 2.977km with two chicanes that were added over the winter of 1998 to 1999 to slow the cars down, and it's a short hop off the M4 for anyone in the South West, Bristol or South Wales.

It's a busy little place, with car days, bike days (Castle Combe's own bike days run with a cap of 12 bikes on track at once) and plenty of club events. The noise rules are tighter than at a lot of venues, as the village is right next door, so loud cars need to check the limits before booking. It suits drivers who like quick corners and don't mind a bit of commitment, but novices get on fine here too, because the lap is easy to learn.

A lap of Castle Combe

Layout: Full Circuit, 2.977 km (1.85 miles)

From the start line you head into Folly, a flat-out right kink. Watch your mirrors and the left side here, because the pit exit feeds in on that side. Use all the road on the exit and you're set up for Avon Rise, a shallow left over a crest. Don't brake on the top. The car goes light, the wheels lock, and it all goes wrong. Lighter cars can go flat with an early turn-in, while heavier saloons brake before the rise and dab again once they're over it.

Quarry comes next, and it's the corner Castle Combe is known for. It's a long, fairly slow right with a late apex about two-thirds of the way round, and the exit kerb is bumpy, so don't lean on it too hard. Then it's along Farm Straight to the Esses chicane. Brake just before the marker board, take a straight line between the two apexes, and drive out using the whole road.

Old Paddock is a left that most cars take flat in the dry. Aim for the geometric apex and let the car drift out to the exit kerb rather than holding it tight. Hammerdown is another quick left, but take it with a late apex so the car is straight for Tower. Tower is a proper braking zone, and turn-in is later for heavy cars than for light ones. There's barely time for a gear change before you're braking again for Bobbies, the second chicane. Brake where the concrete strip on the left ends, clip the first apex, run straight to the second, and let the car drift left through Westway.

The last corner is Camp, and it matters more than any other because it leads onto the long, flat-out run past the pits and through Folly. Brake around where the pit entry road splits off, turn in late, and apex late too, about three-quarters of the way round. Plenty of people spin here because they try to hold the car tight on the exit. Let it run out wide and keep your foot in.

Track day tips

• Don't brake on the crest at Avon Rise. Get it done before the rise, or go over light and smooth.
• Camp is the money corner. A late apex and a clean exit are worth far more than braking late into it.
• Noise is taken seriously here because of the village. Check whether your day has a drive-by limit and, if your car is loud, don't turn up on a race exhaust.
• Keep an eye on the left at Folly on every lap, as cars rejoining from the pit lane come out there.
• Quarry's exit kerb is bumpy. Use it gently, especially on stiff suspension or a bike.
• The tyre walls are close in places. Build speed over a few sessions rather than finding the limit on lap two.

Getting there

Castle Combe sits on the B4039 just outside the village of Castle Combe, a few miles north-west of Chippenham. From the M4, come off at junction 17 and follow the A350 towards Chippenham before picking up the signs for the circuit, or use SN14 7EY in the sat nav. Chippenham railway station is about 12 minutes away by taxi. Bristol Airport is the nearest airport, and there are plenty of hotels and B&Bs in Chippenham and around Bath.