First, the History of the location, personal notes to follow.
Leafield Technical Centre is a former radio transmission station, now turned motorsports centre of excellence, located in the hamlet of Langley, in the western part of the village of Leafield in Oxfordshire, England.
Developed from 1912 as a radio transmission station by the General Post Office, it was decommissioned by successor company British Telecom in 1986. BT Group redeveloped the site as a training college, but then closed the site in 1993.
Sold to a commercial property company, the site was then leased by Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) as a motorsport development centre for the Arrows Formula One team,[1] until the team's demise in the 2002 season. Leafield Technical Centre later became the headquarters of the Super Aguri F1 team, following the team's formation ahead of the 2006 season. Super Aguri remained at the site until folding during the 2008 season.
From 2003, Motorsport powertrain specialist Menard Competition Technologies Ltd. also maintained offices and workshops at the site. Throughout the late half of the decade to 2010, this engineering company (including some key engineers from the engine department of Tom Walkinshaw Racing) traded from Leafield and also a second site housing engine dynamometers at Kidlington. They completed design / build engine projects including the V12 engine for Superleague Formula, and engines for Norton Motorcycles' range of Commando 961 models from 2009. UK companies house records for MCT show that the company traded actively until 2011, when owner John Menard ceased to require an audit of the accounts. They also show the company was finally dissolved on 13 May 2014.
In January 2012, it was announced that the Caterham F1 team would be moving to the vacant Leafield from their original base at Hingham, Norfolk and 8 months later, Caterham F1 Team eventually completed their relocation to Leafield Technical Centre. After Caterham declared bankruptcy in early 2015, Leafield Technical Centre was abandoned and put up for sale. In early 2020, it was reported that the site was heavily vandalised during the five-year period of abandonment.
Now here's our account, we arrived on site, first obstacle was that there was security up front inside the entrance, so we knew this would be a sneaky fun time. We gained access fairly easily, and took some time to scout out the area inside, first we came across some of the older buildings that looked a little older than the main complex, these were really cool, not a lot too them, but, the decay was cool, being only our first proper outing we were still feeling cautious and apprehensive, especially being spooked by the numerous pigeons that had taken nest everywhere, including one flying into a window that we found quite amusing.
After the pigeon scare, we came out of the building coutiously and took a careful calculated route around, checking every angle and found our second building, which was.. atmospheric. We found ourselves having to go through the service basement, with an inch of standing water throughout, only lit by our phone torches, holding hands like cowards, but it was all part of the fun. We finally got to a staircase, and made our way up, again, it was pretty gutted, just a load of dust, glass, bird shit, and the occasional little novelty like a fire hydrant or old bottle of some chemical.
Realising we had seen everything we would in this building, we exited and moved on, again very cautiously with the awareness that there was security on site, we moved onto the main complex, hugging the walls and scouting out openings. We made our way inside, and we're welcomed by a large carpeted room, there was something about this one room that gave me a feeling of security, I don't know what it was but it felt like a safe space among all the risks, my friend was sure it was the carpet as everything else had been hard floor so far.
We then checked all the exits to the room and a maze of possibilies opened, corridors, stairwells doors blocked off, it was quite fun navigating and getting round the obstacles, and making sure we propped any door open slightly so as to not get locked in. Bathrooms seemed to be a highlight of the day as my friend was quite fascinated by them.
Everything was in such a state of disrepair, it gave the place such a cool feeling, we eventually through the corridors, came across some signs of the old Caterham team finding what looked like more of the graphic design team and marketing side of things.
We then checked the map view of the site to figure out where security was, growing more aware that we're we getting closer, so had to watch our steps. Finding a main staircase, it was barricaded from the other side, so doubling back, we found another small stairwell in hope that we could somewhat get into it from the bottom, so, after a few more creepy bathrooms and gutted kitchens, we followed the maze of corridors round and got into the main stairwell.
Now this side of the building seemed a lot darker and boarded up, so it got a little creepy, especially with us being sneakier due to the man outside. Here's what followed from the next wing of the building.
After realising we had covered pretty much everything, we made our way back through retracing our steps, poking our heads into random medical rooms and empty store rooms etc. Made our way back to the carpeted room of calmness, and left the main complex.
We made our way out of the site, and had a sigh of relief, our motorbikes were still where we left them, it was at this time my friend decided it was time to get her drone out for some final pictures (the first picture with the history was taken now). We then left on our stupidly loud bikes, maybe next time we'll put the baffles in!
If you got this far I hope you enjoyed our first serious report of something I hope is a worthy site report, if anything a little lengthy.
Leafield Technical Centre is a former radio transmission station, now turned motorsports centre of excellence, located in the hamlet of Langley, in the western part of the village of Leafield in Oxfordshire, England.
Developed from 1912 as a radio transmission station by the General Post Office, it was decommissioned by successor company British Telecom in 1986. BT Group redeveloped the site as a training college, but then closed the site in 1993.
Sold to a commercial property company, the site was then leased by Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) as a motorsport development centre for the Arrows Formula One team,[1] until the team's demise in the 2002 season. Leafield Technical Centre later became the headquarters of the Super Aguri F1 team, following the team's formation ahead of the 2006 season. Super Aguri remained at the site until folding during the 2008 season.
From 2003, Motorsport powertrain specialist Menard Competition Technologies Ltd. also maintained offices and workshops at the site. Throughout the late half of the decade to 2010, this engineering company (including some key engineers from the engine department of Tom Walkinshaw Racing) traded from Leafield and also a second site housing engine dynamometers at Kidlington. They completed design / build engine projects including the V12 engine for Superleague Formula, and engines for Norton Motorcycles' range of Commando 961 models from 2009. UK companies house records for MCT show that the company traded actively until 2011, when owner John Menard ceased to require an audit of the accounts. They also show the company was finally dissolved on 13 May 2014.
In January 2012, it was announced that the Caterham F1 team would be moving to the vacant Leafield from their original base at Hingham, Norfolk and 8 months later, Caterham F1 Team eventually completed their relocation to Leafield Technical Centre. After Caterham declared bankruptcy in early 2015, Leafield Technical Centre was abandoned and put up for sale. In early 2020, it was reported that the site was heavily vandalised during the five-year period of abandonment.
Now here's our account, we arrived on site, first obstacle was that there was security up front inside the entrance, so we knew this would be a sneaky fun time. We gained access fairly easily, and took some time to scout out the area inside, first we came across some of the older buildings that looked a little older than the main complex, these were really cool, not a lot too them, but, the decay was cool, being only our first proper outing we were still feeling cautious and apprehensive, especially being spooked by the numerous pigeons that had taken nest everywhere, including one flying into a window that we found quite amusing.
After the pigeon scare, we came out of the building coutiously and took a careful calculated route around, checking every angle and found our second building, which was.. atmospheric. We found ourselves having to go through the service basement, with an inch of standing water throughout, only lit by our phone torches, holding hands like cowards, but it was all part of the fun. We finally got to a staircase, and made our way up, again, it was pretty gutted, just a load of dust, glass, bird shit, and the occasional little novelty like a fire hydrant or old bottle of some chemical.
Realising we had seen everything we would in this building, we exited and moved on, again very cautiously with the awareness that there was security on site, we moved onto the main complex, hugging the walls and scouting out openings. We made our way inside, and we're welcomed by a large carpeted room, there was something about this one room that gave me a feeling of security, I don't know what it was but it felt like a safe space among all the risks, my friend was sure it was the carpet as everything else had been hard floor so far.
We then checked all the exits to the room and a maze of possibilies opened, corridors, stairwells doors blocked off, it was quite fun navigating and getting round the obstacles, and making sure we propped any door open slightly so as to not get locked in. Bathrooms seemed to be a highlight of the day as my friend was quite fascinated by them.
Everything was in such a state of disrepair, it gave the place such a cool feeling, we eventually through the corridors, came across some signs of the old Caterham team finding what looked like more of the graphic design team and marketing side of things.
We then checked the map view of the site to figure out where security was, growing more aware that we're we getting closer, so had to watch our steps. Finding a main staircase, it was barricaded from the other side, so doubling back, we found another small stairwell in hope that we could somewhat get into it from the bottom, so, after a few more creepy bathrooms and gutted kitchens, we followed the maze of corridors round and got into the main stairwell.
Now this side of the building seemed a lot darker and boarded up, so it got a little creepy, especially with us being sneakier due to the man outside. Here's what followed from the next wing of the building.
After realising we had covered pretty much everything, we made our way back through retracing our steps, poking our heads into random medical rooms and empty store rooms etc. Made our way back to the carpeted room of calmness, and left the main complex.
We made our way out of the site, and had a sigh of relief, our motorbikes were still where we left them, it was at this time my friend decided it was time to get her drone out for some final pictures (the first picture with the history was taken now). We then left on our stupidly loud bikes, maybe next time we'll put the baffles in!
If you got this far I hope you enjoyed our first serious report of something I hope is a worthy site report, if anything a little lengthy.
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