Castrol Technology Centre

Castrol Technology Centre
BP Pangbourne, Pangbourne Technology Centre
Location within Oxfordshire
Former names	Bozedown House
Alternative names	Castrol Global Technology Centre, BP Technology Centre, Castrol Research Laboratories[1]
General information
Type	Chemical Research Centre
Address	Whitchurch Hill, Oxfordshire, RG8 7QR
Coordinates	51°30′00″N 1°04′52″W / 51.5°N 1.081°W / 51.5; -1.081
Elevation	130 m (427 ft)
Current tenants	500 staff
Completed	1907
Client	Castrol
Owner	BP/Castrol Ltd
Landlord	BP UK
Dimensions
Other dimensions	36 acres (14.6 ha)
Technical details
Floor count	3

The Castrol Technology Centre is a research institute owned by BP in South Oxfordshire, north of Whitchurch-on-Thames.

Castrol was founded by C.C.Wakefield in 1899, making lubricants (Wakefield lubricator) for railways.

The research site is based at Bozedown House, a former private residence originally built by William Fanning c.1870 and then rebuilt by Charles Palmer in 1907 ^[2] after the original house was destroyed by fire. It became a chemical research site in the 1950s and was purchased by Castrol in 1976.

In 1993 it won the Queen's Award for Technological Achievement for its Castrol Marine Cyltech 80.^[3] Castrol employs around 7,000 staff worldwide. Castrol was bought by BP in 2000.^[4]

The site is around three-quarters of a mile north of the River Thames, east of the B471, accessed from the A4074 at Woodcote. The site has around 500 staff.^{[citation needed]}

Castrol has twelve research sites around the world. The site at Pangbourne is the largest of the twelve sites. Research is done on rheology and the viscosity of engine oil.

• Former Esso Research Centre in Oxfordshire
• Former Shell Technology Centre in Cheshire

• Where we operate on BP website
• CASTROL R&D: research (archived, 13 Mar 2015)