Major Oscar Richard Herschel Chichester was born on 17 October 1915, the son of Shane Randolph Chichester and Madeline Herschel Whately. Educated at Wellington College and Trinity College, Cambridge, he graduated with a BA in 1937. He served in the Palestine campaign in 1936 and later in the Second World War, gaining the rank of Major in the Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort’s Own) and being awarded the Africa Star. From 1946 to 1948 he was Aide‑de‑Camp to the High Commissioner for Palestine.
It was in the post‑war Middle East that his long association with motoring really began. Posted to Jerusalem, he met Major Charles Lambton, another enthusiast for “proper cars”. Richard’s own transport in Palestine was a Rolls‑Royce Phantom Sedanca de Ville, which caught Lambton’s eye. The two men found a Rolls‑Royce Silver Ghost in a Tel Aviv scrapyard, bought it, revived it and drove it some 5,000 miles back to England. The journey cemented a lifelong friendship and set the pattern for Chichester’s later involvement with historic and competition motoring.
On 29 September 1951 he married Margaret Edmonston Farr (“Bunny”), daughter of Charles Edgar Farr. In 1953, having left the army, Richard and Bunny bought the then much run‑down estate of Wiscombe Park in Southleigh, near Colyton. One of the first practical improvements was the creation of a new tarmac drive to the house. In 1954 Daniel Richmond of Downton Engineering visited and drove Richard up the new drive at speed. The experience both alarmed and intrigued Chichester and suggested that the valley might serve as more than just a private approach road.
Lambton already had some hillclimbing experience, and on his first visit to Wiscombe he and Chichester quickly agreed that the steep, twisting drive would make an ideal hillclimb course. A small group of enthusiasts, led by Richard and later referred to as the “conspirators”, began planning and preparing a course. Hillclimbing was already the oldest form of motorsport, with events at Chanteloup‑les‑Vignes in 1898, Petersham Hill in 1899 and Shelsley Walsh from 1905, but Wiscombe would give East Devon its own demanding venue.
The first event at Wiscombe Park was held on 24 August 1958. The original course ran from the start through Wis Corner and Wis Straight (including “Bunny’s Leap”), then through The Gate and The Esses to Sawbench Hairpin. In 1961 it was extended to its present 1,000 yards with Castle Straight and Martini Hairpin. Wiscombe quickly attained national status, hosting a round of the RAC Championship in 1961. The first hill record was set by D. G. Addicott in a Lotus, with a time of 49.3 seconds. Since then the main drive has been used for speed events continuously.
Alongside his motoring interests, Chichester remained rooted at Wiscombe. By 2003 he was still recorded as living at Wiscombe Park, Southleigh, Colyton. He died on 28 May 2006 at Colyton, aged 90. He and Bunny had three children: Jane Caroline Sheelah Chichester (born 13 October 1952), Timothy Arthur Shane Chichester (born 23 April 1956) and Sara Kathleen Arabella Chichester (born 6 June 1958). His name is now closely associated with the creation of Wiscombe Park as a hillclimb venue and with the post‑war revival of historic motoring in this part of Devon.
