
Collection Item
Clubhouse
The green-domed Clubhouse was built in 1907 to accommodate the race track officials such as stewards, the Clerk of the Scales and the Clerk of the Course.
The Clubhouse also housed a weighbridge for the cars, changing rooms for the drivers and a large open viewing stand for the press facing south across the circuit. It had a bar and dining room exclusively for Brooklands Automobile Racing Club (BARC) members and their guests. In 1913 a luncheon room was added with stairs leading up from the Paddock, but it was not until 1930 that major alterations were made that included a Ladies’ Reading Room, Billiard Room, Members’ Lounge and Tea Room. Although anybody was allowed to join the BARC, few enthusiasts could afford to and, with its slogan “The Right Crowd and No Crowding”, the club only admitted into the building those wearing their member's or member's guest badges.
In 1947 the building was occupied by Barnes Wallis as part of the Vickers-Armstrongs Research and Development Department. Many alterations were made when rooms were turned into drawing offices and the original drivers’ bathroom was adapted as a shower room for those who worked in the newly-built Stratosphere Chamber next door. The Clerk of the Course’s Office, Ladies’ Reading Room and the Billiard Room have now been refurbished and form part of the Clubhouse displays.
Collection Data
Date Built
1907
Location
Clubhouse & Paddock
Category
Historic Buildings
