The Bugatti Owners' Club was founded in 1929 and spent years searching for a permanent home after running events at venues including Lewes and the Chalfont Heights Estate. The club purchased the land at Prescott in 1937 following the abandonment of a planned development at Dancer's End near Tring, Hertfordshire, where noise objections had forced cancellation of a scheduled 1936 event.
A one-off precursor event was held at Joel Park, Northwood Hill, Middlesex, on 22 June 1935, won by Richard Ormonde Shuttleworth in a Bugatti with a time of 30.16 seconds.
The first official competitive event at Prescott took place in May 1938, using what is now the shorter course. Arthur Baron set the fastest time of the day at that inaugural meeting in a 2,270 cc supercharged Bugatti, recording 50.70 seconds. Sydney Allard set the sports car record at the same event in a V12 Lincoln-engined Allard Special.
George Abecassis broke the outright record on 3 July 1938, climbing in 47.85 seconds in a supercharged 1.5-litre Alta. Joe Fry improved on this unofficially with 47.62 seconds in the Freikaiserwagen on 27 August 1938. Raymond Mays brought the record down to 46.14 seconds on 30 July 1939, driving a 2-litre ERA. The second-placed finisher at that meeting was Jean-Pierre Wimille in a supercharged Bugatti, competing in the first international event held at Prescott.
The track was extended in 1960 to create the Long Course that remains the primary competitive layout. A Short Course of 880 yards (804.7 m) continues to be used for meetings organised by the Vintage Sports-Car Club.
Stirling Moss made his first hillclimb appearance at Prescott on 9 May 1948, driving a Mk2 Cooper. He had originally hoped to debut at Shelsley Walsh but found the entry list full; at Prescott he finished fourth in the 500 cc class out of twelve entrants. Ken Wharton set a track record of 43.81 seconds at the Bugatti Owners' Club International Event on 9 September 1951, driving a Cooper. Tony Marsh lowered it to 43.32 seconds in June 1956.
Peter Westbury clinched the 1963 British Hill Climb Championship at Prescott on 15 September 1963, finishing second to Peter Boshier-Jones in the championship run-off while also taking fastest time of the day in the class runs with 48.95 seconds in his Felday-Daimler.
A distinctive section of the Prescott course is named Allard's Gap in memory of Sydney Allard. The name dates from a Bugatti Owners' Club meeting on 15 June 1947, when Allard's car broke through the hedge at a semi-circle and landed in the adjacent field. The section — sometimes shortened simply to Allard's — became one of the most recognisable landmarks on the course.
Prescott has hosted at least one round of the British Hill Climb Championship every year since 1947. In the modern era the venue typically takes the opening round of the season, with a second round later in the year. A Test Day edition was introduced to the calendar shortly before the season opener, reinforcing Prescott's role as the traditional starting point for the British championship season.
The hill operates around 30 days per year, accommodating full competition days, driver schools, and car club fun run days. The range of events draws competitors from the top tier of the British championships through to pre-war classics.
An episode of the television programme Top Gear was filmed at Prescott, featuring a race between a body-stripped Austin-Healey Sprite and a V6 Peugeot 306 fitted with hydraulic suspension.
As the home course of the Bugatti Owners' Club, Prescott carries a heritage that predates the modern era of organised British hillclimbing. Its Long Course has witnessed the records of multiple generations of championship contenders, and its consistent presence on the British Hill Climb Championship calendar makes it one of the most historically significant active hillclimb venues in the country.