 The reduced but still hamlet-sized estate had been bought in 1830 by his father from the death estate of Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany for £28,000 () 

Locke King decided during a European tour that Britain had to have its own motor testing track if its fledgling car industry were to develop and prosper in competition with Europe.He soon spent over £150,000 () of his money developing it, which was returned with a small profit by its value to industry at his death.Locke King devised and built the world’s first banked motor racing circuit here in 1906 and it became the home of British motor racing until 1939.