It's about time I wrote a report for my favourite abandoned location, the Leafield Technical Centre in Oxfordshire. Many urban explorers have branded this place one of the largest abandoned places in Britain, and it's hard to argue with that viewpoint once you properly take a look around. This site has housed a range of different corporations, including TWR, but most recently the infamous F1 team "Caterham".
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,until the team's demise in the 2002 season. In January 2012, it was announced that the Caterham F1 team would be moving to the vacant Leafield Technical Centre. Caterham then declared bankrupt in early 2015 and since then Leafield Technical centre has been abandoned and is currently up for sale.
I did most of my visits to this location during the summer of 2017, a real purple patch for access here. Most of the rooms are stripped bare, however the power here still works on the HR Department building, and the water is still switched on meaning each tap found still actually works. In the warehouse building, there's still plenty to be seen- including 30 or so computer chairs, car wheels, tyres and even gym equipment?! Vandals here have stripped the copper wiring off the ceilings in most tunnel walkways (as seen in photos below). There are still stickers on the floors of the office space, featuring maps of the F1 racecourses, and the cinemaroom is a real interesting addition to the sits, despite being trashed. This space is a good 2 hour explore, and if you're lucky enough to find the 2 flooded basements (I have), there's plenty to be seen!
Security has since taken over the site, I ran into a security warden back in October, although I have heard countless cases of people still gaining access to the Technical Centre.
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,until the team's demise in the 2002 season. In January 2012, it was announced that the Caterham F1 team would be moving to the vacant Leafield Technical Centre. Caterham then declared bankrupt in early 2015 and since then Leafield Technical centre has been abandoned and is currently up for sale.
I did most of my visits to this location during the summer of 2017, a real purple patch for access here. Most of the rooms are stripped bare, however the power here still works on the HR Department building, and the water is still switched on meaning each tap found still actually works. In the warehouse building, there's still plenty to be seen- including 30 or so computer chairs, car wheels, tyres and even gym equipment?! Vandals here have stripped the copper wiring off the ceilings in most tunnel walkways (as seen in photos below). There are still stickers on the floors of the office space, featuring maps of the F1 racecourses, and the cinemaroom is a real interesting addition to the sits, despite being trashed. This space is a good 2 hour explore, and if you're lucky enough to find the 2 flooded basements (I have), there's plenty to be seen!
Security has since taken over the site, I ran into a security warden back in October, although I have heard countless cases of people still gaining access to the Technical Centre.
