Skip to content
Banburyshire
A village street curving past limestone cottages hung with flowers, a brick gable on the left and a pub sign beyond

Oast House Archive, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Silverstone

A village of about 2,800 people half a mile north of the circuit that shares its name, with a Victorian church, one pub, a shop and an old forest beside it. Most people only meet it on race weekends. On any other day it is a quiet place and the way to Bucknell Wood.

Nearest station
None. Silverstone's Grand Prix shuttles run from Banbury, Milton Keynes and Northampton stations, among others
Parking
We could not confirm a public car park in the village. Park on the street with care, and check before race weekends
Best time
A weekday outside race weekends, with the museum in the afternoon
When it's busy
The British Grand Prix (1 to 4 July 2027) and MotoGP (13 to 15 August 2027). Silverstone advises at least an extra hour on the roads on race weekend. Otherwise the village is quiet.

About Silverstone

Silverstone is a village of about 2,800 people (2021 census, parish) in West Northamptonshire, about 13 miles in a straight line from Banbury Cross and just over 3 miles south-south-west of Towcester. The world knows the name from the circuit half a mile to the south. The village was here first, in Domesday Book, and for most of the year it carries on as a place people live, with a church, a pub, a shop and a timber yard.

The village and the circuit

These are two different places with the A43 between them. The circuit grew from RAF Silverstone, a wartime training airfield, and the Silverstone Museum, Escapade Silverstone and the race-day gates are all on the circuit side. So set the satnav for the postcode the venue gives, not for the village: NN12 8TN for the museum. On race days, follow the directions in our British Grand Prix guide.

Nothing in the village is a motorsport attraction that we could find. The closest thing is a student documentary filmed in spring 2025 and linked from the parish council's site, Silverstone Village Life Beyond the Track , worth watching if you want to know the place.

Black and white photograph of the 1948 Silverstone grand prix, racing cars lined up on the grid
The 1948 Grand Prix, on the airfield next to the village

What to see in Silverstone

Half an hour covers it. St Michael's Church dates from 1884, designed by J.P. St Aubyn and paid for by Sir Reginald Loder of Whittlebury Lodge. It is listed Grade II, of limestone with ironstone dressings, with a timber bell turret and a shingled spire. North of the churchyard, the county's historic environment record notes the earthworks of two small rectangular ponds, medieval or later, tentatively linked to a royal hunting lodge.

Stocks Hill is the junction at the middle of the village, with the White Horse on it. The stocks stood on open ground near the church and were removed in 1886, and nobody now knows the exact spot. Timber is the old trade here: Linnell Bros , a family timber merchant founded in the 1880s, still runs its yard at Silverstone Fields Farm, open on weekdays and Saturday mornings. It sells to trade and DIY customers rather than to sightseers, but it is a living link with the forest trade.

A Victorian stone church with a steep tiled roof and a shingled bell turret, a lychgate and bus shelter in front
St Michael's Church, Silverstone Photo: Bikeboy, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Bucknell Wood and walks from Silverstone

Bucknell Wood, on the north-west side of the village, is the local walk. The Woodland Trust's directory lists it as a Forestry England wood of about 190 hectares, an ancient woodland and former medieval hunting forest, part of Whittlewood. We could not find a page from Forestry England itself, and the other sources disagree about where the car parks are, so check an OS map before you set out. The parish council publishes no walks, but it does have a footpaths councillor who can answer questions.

A day around Silverstone

Outside race weekends, take the morning at Bucknell Wood or at Sulgrave Manor, have lunch at the White Horse, and give the afternoon to the Silverstone Museum, on the other side of the A43. The museum says it is usually quieter in the afternoon, especially in term time. Brackley is about 8 miles down the A43 if you can make it a Friday, for its charter market.

Where people actually stay for Silverstone

For the most part, not in the village. On race weekends the choice is between walking to the gates in a tent and driving to a bed. Silverstone Farm Campsite is the village's own, at New Rookery Farm: about 1km from Copse Corner Gate 5, a 20 to 30 minute walk, by its own account. Around the circuit, Silverstone's own camping and glamping and Escapade are a short walk from the gates, and Whittlebury Park is the big hotel next door.

After that, people go to Towcester, under four miles from the circuit by Travelodge's own reckoning, or to Banbury, about 17 miles away, for restaurants, a station and a race-day shuttle you book ahead. Prices and the trade-offs are in our guide to where to stay for Silverstone, and Silverstone by train covers getting there without a car. We have no checked B&B or hotel inside the village, so ask early if you want one, and ask for the total race-week price.

Food and drink in Silverstone

The White Horse at 1 Stocks Hill is the village pub. It opens from midday every day, until 10pm from Monday to Thursday, 11pm on Friday and Saturday and 9pm on Sunday. In 2026 it is serving a festive menu from 23 November to 23 December, except Sundays. It does not state its parking or dog rules, so ask on 01327 855896. For supplies, the parish lists Crofts as the shop and post office.

When to come to Silverstone

For the village, any weekday when the circuit is quiet. Race weekends change everything: in 2027 the British Grand Prix runs from 1 to 4 July and MotoGP from 13 to 15 August, and Silverstone Farm Campsite also takes bookings for CarFest. Read the race-day traffic advice in our Grand Prix guide before you plan to drive through. Without a ticket, choose another weekend.

Last verified 11 November 2026 by our editors

  • A stone pub with bay windows and a hanging sign of a white horse, parked cars along the street in front
  • A round painted village sign showing sawyers in a timber yard, a deer, oak leaves and racing cars
  • A wooden bus shelter with window boxes of red geraniums beside a red post box, a church behind
  • A white-painted house with a blue door at a road junction, stone cottages continuing to the right
  • Slender oaks on a grassy slope with sunlight falling through a green summer canopy

Things to do in Silverstone

A high glazed atrium with a racing car suspended overhead above a shop and a staircase

Museums and galleries · Silverstone

Silverstone Museum

The interactive museum of British motor racing, at Silverstone Circuit: cars and bikes from the 1940s on, RAF Silverstone's wartime story, a sim suite and a trail round parts of the old track. Adults £24 online or £29 on the day, valid for return visits for a year.

  • A vast classical stone front with a six-columned portico at the top of a wide flight of steps, under a blue sky

    Stowe House and Gardens

    Historic houses and heritage

    Two attractions on one estate, about 30 minutes east of Banbury: Stowe House, a Grade I palace run by an independent charity and shared with a school, and the National Trust's landscape gardens around it. Separate tickets, entrances and parking.

    Family-friendly · Dog-friendly · Walker-friendly

    Verified Nov 2026

Where to stay in Silverstone

Places to stay in Silverstone
  • Cars, tents and a caravan along a mown track through a green field at dusk

    Dadford Road Campsite

    Camping · Silverstone

    A family-run farm campsite just south of the circuit, 5 to 10 minutes' walk from Club Corner at best, open all year. Its F1 page, open for 2027 bookings, prices a non-electric pitch from £140 to £240 by arrival day, and you need a race ticket. No pets, save guide dogs.

    Verified Nov 2026

  • A terrace with wicker chairs and a dining table looking across the Silverstone track to the grandstands

    Escapade Silverstone

    Hotel · Silverstone

    A hotel inside Silverstone Circuit between Copse and Becketts: 184 bedrooms in 60 private residences of one to four bedrooms, some facing the track, with a pool, gym and restaurant.

    Family-friendly · EV charging

    Verified Nov 2026

  • Rows of tents and motorhomes across a field beside a main road, seen from the air

    Hamilton Fields Campsite

    Camping · Silverstone

    A big event campsite on the A413 in Silverstone village, just over a mile from Gates 5 and 3, with tent and motorhome pitches, pre-pitched tents, glamping, a bar, a food village and a big screen. 2027 Grand Prix bookings are open, with quieter and lively areas. No dogs.

    Verified Nov 2026

Where to eat and drink in Silverstone

  • A stone pub with bay windows and a hanging sign of a white horse, parked cars along the street in front

    The White Horse, Silverstone

    Pubs · Silverstone

    The village pub on Stocks Hill in Silverstone, about 1.5 miles by road from the circuit, open from noon every day with food until 8pm or 9pm. A useful supper for anyone camping in the village, though its pages say nothing about race weekends.

    Verified Nov 2026

  • A white-painted front beside a black and white timbered range under a red tile roof

    The Brave Old Oak, Towcester

    Pubs

    A town-centre pub on Watling Street, Towcester, in what it calls a 300-year-old building, open daily from 11am, with dogs welcome in the bar. Food stops early, at 7pm most days, so it suits a late lunch or an early supper before the drive back from Silverstone.

    Dog-friendly

    Verified Nov 2026

History of Silverstone

Domesday Book lists the village in 1086 as Silvestone and Selvestone, and the name probably means the farm of a man called Saewulf or Sigewulf. The Royal Commission's inventory suggests a royal hunting lodge may have stood near the present church, with royal interest ending in the early fourteenth century. Silverstone's life was bound up with Whittlewood Forest. A map of about 1608 shows houses at West End that had gone by 1827, and the village long remained in three separate parts.

The Rev J.R. Linnell told the forest story in Old Oak in 1932, a book now out of print, as is Silverstone: An historical mosaic; the parish council points to Towcester library for local history. RAF Silverstone trained Wellington bomber crews in the Second World War, and the first Grand Prix came to the airfield in 1948. The A43 now passes between village and circuit.

Questions about Silverstone

Is Silverstone village the same as Silverstone Circuit?

No. Silverstone village is about half a mile north of the circuit, with the A43 between them. The museum, Escapade and the race gates are on the circuit side, and the village has the church, the pub and the shop.

Can you stay in Silverstone village?

Yes on race weekends, mainly by camping. Silverstone Farm Campsite is in the village, about 1km from Copse Corner Gate 5. We have not checked a B&B or hotel in the village, and most people stay at Whittlebury Park, Towcester or Banbury.

Where do people stay for the British Grand Prix?

On the circuit if they can afford it, at Silverstone's camping, glamping or Escapade, then at Whittlebury Park, Towcester and Banbury. Banbury is about 17 miles away, with a station shuttle you book ahead. Our where-to-stay guide has the prices.

Is there a pub in Silverstone?

Yes. The White Horse at 1 Stocks Hill opens from midday every day and serves food until 8pm most days, 9pm on Friday and Saturday and 6pm on Sunday. It is the village's one pub.

What is there to do in Silverstone apart from racing?

Not a great deal, and that is the appeal. Silverstone has St Michael's Church, Bucknell Wood on its edge and a village pub. The Silverstone Museum, on the circuit side, opens outside race days, and Sulgrave Manor is about 7 miles west.

Getting to Silverstone

By car
About 17 miles from Banbury by road, about 30 minutes on a clear run. Towcester is just over 3 miles north-north-east.
By bus
Stagecoach 88 (Northampton, Towcester, Brackley) stops opposite the White Horse about seven times each way, Monday to Saturday, none on Sundays (November 2026). The 500 links Brackley and Banbury.
By train
No station. For the Grand Prix, Silverstone runs shuttles, booked ahead, from Banbury and other stations. On other days it is a taxi from Banbury or Milton Keynes, or the bus from Northampton.
Map of Silverstone
© OpenStreetMap contributors

Places near Silverstone

Don't miss a thing

What is on, what is new and what is in season in Banburyshire, in your inbox about once a month.

About once a month. Unsubscribe at any time.