The course was designed in 1965 by Tony Marsh, one of the most prominent British hillclimb competitors of his era. The first practice meeting was held on 25 June 1967, when Patsy Burt, driving a McLaren-Oldsmobile, set a time of 39.90 seconds. The first official competition event followed on 23 July 1967. The British Hill Climb Championship held its first round at Gurston Down in 1971, won by D. Hepworth in a Hepworth FF with a time of 35.06 seconds.
Tony Marsh continued to compete at the venue he had designed, remaining active in the premier over-2000cc racing car class as late as 2007. Following his death in May 2009, the third round of the Gurston Down championships that July was dedicated to his memory. The 2020 championship sponsor was Turbo Dynamics, a company owned and run by Peter Marsh, Marsh's son.
The course measures 1,058 yards (967 metres) and rises a net total of 140 feet (43 metres) from start to finish. Its most distinctive characteristic is that the opening section runs downhill before the hill proper begins — a feature unique among British hillclimb venues, though examples exist elsewhere in Europe. The farmland through which the course passes also serves as a pheasant shoot and as a gravity racing venue.
The outright hill record stands at 25.00 seconds, set by Alex Summers on 29 May 2022 driving a DJ Firestorm during a round of the British Hill Climb Championship.
Gurston Down hosts eight competitive events per year: two two-day events and five single-day events. A Test Day precedes the competitive season annually. Four Hill Climb School days follow the syllabus set by AHASS (the Association of Hill Climb and Sprint Schools).
Two rounds of the British Hill Climb Championship are held at the venue each year, in May and August. The venue also hosts seven events of its own championship alongside rounds of the ASWMC, ACSMC, and HSA series among other national championships. Motorcycles compete at five of the single-day events, with riders affiliated to the National Hill Climb Association (NHCA).
| Year | Round | Winner | Car | Time | |------|-------|---------|-----|------| | 1971 | Round (30 Aug) | D. Hepworth | Hepworth FF | 35.06 sec | | 1972 | — | Mike MacDowel | Brabham BT36X-Repco 5-litre | 30.94 sec | | 1973 | — | Mike MacDowel | Brabham BT36X-Repco 5-litre | 30.50 sec (R) | | 1991 | Round 5 | Martyn Griffiths | Pilbeam DFR | 27.64 sec (R) | | 2005 | Round 9 | Martin Groves | Gould-NME GR55B 3.5-litre | 26.57 sec | | 2005 | Round 10 | Martin Groves | Gould-NME GR55B 3.5-litre | 26.27 sec | | 2008 | Round 7 | Trevor Willis | — | 31.05 sec | | 2008 | Round 8 | Martin Groves | Gould | 26.50 sec | | 2022 | Round 5 | Alex Summers | DJ Firestorm | 25.00 sec (R) |
R = Course Record at the time.
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