Dave_S., CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Things to do · Winchcombe
Prescott Speed Hill Climb
The Bugatti Owners' Club's hill climb course near Gotherington, between Cheltenham and Winchcombe, holding competitions since 1938, with spectator events from spring to November.
Hill climbing is motor sport against the clock, one car at a time up a short, twisting course, on a hillside a few miles from Winchcombe. Check the calendar: it opens only for events.
- Good: Under-16s free with an adult (Rallye Prescott 2026)
- Good: Bus stop outside the main entrance
- Good: Run by the Bugatti Owners' Club since 1937
- Worth knowing: Open on event days only
- Worth knowing: Advance ticket sales close at 5pm the day before
- Worth knowing: No dogs, except assistance dogs
About
Prescott Speed Hill Climb is a short, twisting course up a hillside off the A435, between Gotherington and Gretton, 5 miles north-east of Cheltenham and a few miles from Winchcombe. The Bugatti Owners' Club bought it from the Ellenborough estate in 1937 and held the first events in 1938, and still owns and runs it.
A hill climb is a timed sprint up the course, with competitors running one at a time against the clock. The season's big meetings are rounds of the British and Midland Hill Climb Championships; in 2027 the opening meeting is on 24 and 25 April and the closing one on 25 and 26 September. Rallye Prescott, on Saturday 7 November 2026, sends rally cars up the hill in daylight and after dark.
Tickets are per event. For Rallye Prescott 2026 an adult paid £18 at the early-bird advance price, under-16s with an adult and one carer went free, a programme was £4 and camping in the Orchard was £10 a pitch a night. Buy admission online before 5pm the day before (programmes and camping by 1pm); club members get in free. The venue opens only for events, so there is no quiet day to drop in: arrive at the start for the best spots along the course.
Drivers can learn the hill at the club's Hill Climb School in their own road car, with a full licence and a helmet (one can be hired), or try a simulator session. Pulhams' 606 bus from Cheltenham stops at the gate, about hourly Monday to Saturday but not on Sundays. Sudeley Castle is a short drive away for a second stop.
The club's venue information says parking is free with a ticket, in the Orchard or, on busy days, in fields a short walk away, and there is food in the Clubhouse and at kiosks around the course. Under motor sport rules no animals are allowed anywhere on the estate, except assistance dogs. There is parking for drivers and passengers with limited mobility just inside the main entrance, paved access to the lower paddock, a wooden viewing deck for wheelchair users by the start line and adapted toilets; the upper paddock is steep, so call the office before you go if you have specific needs.
Opening hours and season
Event days only. Rallye Prescott: Saturday 7 November 2026, 10am to 7.30pm. 2027 British Championship rounds: 24 and 25 April, 25 and 26 September. Office 9am to 5pm weekdays.
Facilities
- Bugatti ShopProgrammes collected at the gate or the shop
- Under 16sFree with an adult at Rallye Prescott 2026
- ParkingFree with a ticket; overflow fields a short walk away on busy days
- CateringIn the Clubhouse and at kiosks around the venue
- AccessBlue Badge parking inside the main entrance, a wheelchair viewing deck by the start line; the upper paddock is steep
- ToiletsAround the venue, with adapted toilets in the restaurant and by the Club Office
- DogsNot allowed, except assistance dogs
The details
- Time to allow
- A day at an event
- Features
- Shop · Parking · Café
- History
- Bought by the Bugatti Owners' Club in 1937; first events 1938
- Without a car
- Pulhams' 606 from Cheltenham stops outside the main entrance, about hourly Monday to Saturday, with no Sunday service. Nearest stations: Cheltenham Spa, Ashchurch for Tewkesbury and Evesham.
Photos
Vintage cars in the paddock Photo: Dave_S., CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons 
A Bugatti on the hill Photo: ChristopherJClarke, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons 
A single-seater on the hill 
The hill in evening sun
Location
Places to stay nearby
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Elms Farm
B&B · Winchcombe
A converted freight wagon and five Caravan and Motorhome Club pitches on a working farm at Gretton, about two miles north-west of Winchcombe.
Verified Oct 2026
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Cleeve Hill Hotel
B&B · Winchcombe
A 12-room bed and breakfast hotel on Cleeve Hill, about three miles south-west of Winchcombe, with views over the Severn Vale and a door onto Cleeve Common and the Cotswold Way.
Walker-friendly · Dog-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
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The Rising Sun Hotel
Hotel · Cleeve Hill
A Greene King Inns hotel, pub and restaurant with 23 bedrooms near the top of Cleeve Hill, with views over five counties from its beer garden.
Dog-friendly · Walker-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
Nearby walks, places and things to do
- Elms Farm 2.3 km away
- Cleeve Hill Hotel 2.8 km away
- The Rising Sun Hotel 2.9 km away
- The Royal Oak, Gretton 3.0 km away
Sights nearby
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St James' Chapel, Postlip
Sight · Church · Winchcombe
St James' Chapel is a small Norman chapel of about 1140 beside Postlip Hall below Cleeve Common, with a chevron-carved doorway, used as a farm building for centuries and restored for Catholic worship in 1891. Grade I; seen from the Cotswold Way.
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Tithe barn, Postlip
Sight · Historic building · Winchcombe
The tithe barn at Postlip is an eight-bay stone barn, probably of the fifteenth century, below Cleeve Common near Winchcombe, with raised crucks inside, said to have dried the town's tobacco in the 1600s and home every July to the Cotswold Beer Festival.
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Cleeve Common
Sight · Common or park · The Cotswold Edge
Gloucestershire’s largest common: more than 400 hectares of open limestone grassland on the Cotswold Edge above Cheltenham, with the highest point of the Cotswolds at 330m, an Iron Age hillfort, a Bronze Age cross dyke and views to the Malverns and the Black Mountains.
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St Peter's Church, Winchcombe
Sight · Church · Winchcombe
St Peter's is Winchcombe's Grade I parish church, built in one campaign in about 1458 to 1468, with some 40 carved grotesques round its walls, a fan-vaulted tower and two stone coffins tied to the St Kenelm story. Usually open daily.