In 1958, Briton Ken Tyrrell founded Tyrrell Racing in a modest ex-military shed purchased from the UK’s Ministry of Defence. Located in the yard of his family’s timber business in Ockham, Surrey, this unassuming structure produced three Championship-winning Formula 1 cars before the team was sold to British American Racing (BAR) in 1998.
BAR later evolved into Honda’s Works F1 team, then Brawn GP, winner of the 2009 title, before transforming into the all-conquering Mercedes-AMG squad, which dominated Formula 1 with eight consecutive Constructors’ Championships from 2014 to 2021. It all started in that humble shed.
“This was Shed Number One – the heart of everything,” says Sam Medcraft, general manager at the Goodwood Motor Circuit, where the shed now resides following a momentous rescue effort. “They designed the six-wheeled P34 here, along with Sir Jackie Stewart’s two Championship-winning cars. Later, it became a storage facility.” Today, it sits proudly on the Hurricane Lawn behind the circuit’s Woodcote Grandstand.
The drive to save the shed was led by Sir Jackie Stewart, Doug Nye and Martin Brundle. Initially they hoped to relocate it to Brooklands, but fundraising efforts fell short. Eventually, Stewart approached the Duke of Richmond, who agreed to bring it to Goodwood. Sam was tasked with assessing whether it could be dismantled and moved.
“The biggest challenge was removing the asbestos roof safely,” Sam explains. “But the shed itself was well constructed – completely modular. We took the roof off first, then disassembled it section by section, carefully labelling everything.”
During disassembly, they unearthed fascinating artefacts: faded health-and-safety signage, the silhouette of the Tyrrell logo on the apex and a forgotten stash of front wing end-plates hidden behind a wooden panel. “One of the engineers had initialled them, probably intending to come back to them later – but they’d been left there for years,” Sam says.
Once catalogued, the dismantled shed was loaded onto three lorries for the journey from Surrey to the Chichester motor circuit.
“Rebuilding it was like assembling a giant Lego set,” Medcraft notes. Many of the relics, from photographs and posters to an old pillar drill, were donated by former team mechanics. The result is a deeply evocative experience – stepping into the shed for the first time feels like being transported into the past. “You have to engage people and bring the noise and the atmosphere – just like we do with the Goodwood Revival,” Sam sagely adds.
Neglected for decades, the shed now has a new purpose at Goodwood. It will host displays for key events, including this year’s Revival, where it will “almost certainly” play a central role in celebrating the 60th anniversary of Jackie Stewart’s Goodwood lap record. There are also plans to use it for training apprentices in heritage skills, ensuring its legacy is preserved for generations to come.
