As its name suggests, Cadwell Park evolved out of parkland and, because it follows the natural contours of that land, it provides a rollercoaster ride like no other circuit on Earth.
Encompassing wide open spaces and heavily wooded areas, the jewel in Cadwell’s crown is the legendary Mountain section where race bikes spectacularly take to the air and threaten to buck out of control on landing. Because of the up-and-down nature of the track, Cadwell is known as the mini-Nürburgring. It’s also one of the oldest circuits in Britain.
The land the circuit lies within originally belonged to Mansfield Wilkinson of Louth (the circuit is just five miles south of the Lincolnshire town) who bought it in 1927 with the intention of using it for shooting parties. But, after his two sons became obsessed with racing their motorcycles round the chalk paths of the estate, Wilkinson decided to develop a real racetrack within his grounds. Wilkinson’s son Charles founded the Louth and District Motorcycle Club in 1932 and Cadwell staged its first race two years later. In 1928 the chalk surface was paved, and the circuit was then widened and doubled in length (to 1.3 miles) in 1953. The full 2.25-mile layout as we know it today was completed in 1962 and allowed Cadwell to stage international events.
While the circuit used to host car races (James Hunt and Ayrton Senna have both raced there), as speeds increased it was deemed to be too narrow and Cadwell is now largely a bikes-only circuit.
