Bicester Heritage (RAF Bicester)

Bicester Heritage is the old technical site of RAF Bicester, on the north-east edge of Bicester, now home to specialist firms that restore, service and sell historic cars. Historic England calls the airfield the best preserved of the bomber bases built in the RAF's expansion from 1923, and its hangars, stores and workshops are listed. The site, run by Bicester Motion, opens to the public on event days.

The story of RAF Bicester

Military flying began here in 1918 with a Training Depot Station, which closed in 1920. The Air Ministry then chose the site for a bomber station, sanctioned in June 1923, and it opened in January 1928, when Hawker Horsleys arrived from Spittlegate. Six Type A hangars were planned, but money was short and only two were built, followed by two larger Type C hangars, added in 1936 and finished in 1937.

Blenheims arrived in 1938, and from then until 1944 Bicester trained bomber crews as an Operational Training Unit. The first prototype Halifax flew from here in October 1939. From the autumn of 1943 the station supported the build-up to D-Day, and after 1945 No. 71 Maintenance Unit salvaged aircraft here; gliding followed. Our story of RAF Bicester tells it in full.

Protection and revival

Historic England listed many of the buildings on 1 December 2005 and scheduled the southern bomb stores and a series of airfield defences in 2006. It says the grass flying field largely keeps its 1939 boundaries, and that the site is the best surviving example of a wartime Operational Training Unit. Bicester Motion says the site was added to the Heritage at Risk Register in 2008 after being neglected for most of the previous 40 years. Its story began with the purchase of the 444-acre site in 2013, and it says it has since restored or brought back into use nearly all the buildings (99% on its about page, over 95% on its heritage page). The old technical site's group of historic car specialists is the part known as Bicester Heritage.

What to look for

On an event day, look for:

• The two Type A hangars, Buildings 79 and 137, of 1926, steel-framed with concrete panels. Only 34 of the type were built, on 17 sites. Bicester Motion finished a £4 million restoration of Hangar 137 in March 2026 and let it to TeamSport for an indoor e-karting centre
• The two Type C hangars, Buildings 108 and 113, finished in 1937; Bicester Motion published plans in October 2025 to convert Hangar 113 into offices and event space
• The smaller listed buildings of the technical site, among them the main stores, the parachute store, the fire party house and the motor transport sheds
• The grass flying field, still close to its 1939 shape
• The workshops and showrooms of the specialist firms, which open their doors at the Scramble, and the site's Heritage Trail

Visiting Bicester Heritage

Come on an event day. On weekdays the site is open only to people who work there or have booked to visit one of its 50-plus specialist businesses, through Gate 1 for the heritage site. The main public days are the Scrambles: the next is on Sunday 10 January 2027, 9am to 2pm, themed on the three-door off-roader, with cars lining the avenues, workshop and showroom visits, the Heritage Trail and free children's activities in the Little Top. Bicester Motion has also announced a two-day Super Scramble on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 April 2027 and a Scramble on Sunday 3 October 2027. Tickets are per person and sold in advance only through Universe, with none at the gate; for January the booking page listed adult tickets at about £41 and children aged 5 to 14 at about £5, with under-5s free but still needing a ticket. Well-behaved dogs are welcome on a lead. Parking in the pre-2001 and performance car area needs a free pass registered in advance.

There are two coffee shops on site, Seven Mile and Auto Wax Works, and four Crew Rooms for overnight stays. The airfield was not taking flying bookings when we checked in November 2026.

Getting there

The address is Building 123, Buckingham Road, Bicester, OX27 8AL. Bicester North station is about a mile away by our measurement on the map; getting to Bicester has the trains and buses. For arrival on event days, Bicester Motion says to check with the event's organiser.

Nearby

The other great airfield of the district is RAF Upper Heyford, whose Cold War sites at Heyford Park can be seen on a guided tour. In town, Bure Park Nature Reserve is on the north side and the Market Square in the centre.