Bentley's CW1 House - A Good Reason to Visit Crewe, Cheshire

By: Elijah Durojaiye | Published: 06/10/2026

There’s something quite special about the Bentley brand. When you look at one of the recent offerings from the marque, some choice words come to mind: elegance, class, prestige, and opulence.

It’s one of those brands many will be willing to forgive if a showroom visit required an invitation (and yes, I belong to that group).

If you’re a fan, your next visit to London, England (not the Canadian knock-off) has a new must-visit spot to add to your itinerary. Bentley just opened its visitor center at its Crewe, Cheshire headquarters to the public.

The marque's CW1 House is similar to the Mercedes offering in Weybridge. The Mercedes-Benz World offers its guests the chance to marvel at pre-war cars, modern offerings, and some championship F1 cars from McLaren and Mercedes. They also have a small track where you can toss a Mercedes around.

The CW1 House may not have a track to try out a Continental GT, but it does offer a guided tour of some of Bentley's most storied pre-war cars in the Heritage Collection (and yes, for the initiated, that includes the Team Blower).

But this isn’t some museum where those of us only interesting in the latest and greatest will get bored in five minutes or less. Also on display are modern Bentleys and recent heritage cars. Beyond cars, the marque is also displaying a selection of Bentley memorabilia (including historic race trophies).

The center was previously accessible to Bentley customers only, so if you hadn’t made up your mind about writing that big check for a Continental GT or one of those heavenly Mulliner Bacalars, this was one velvet rope you weren’t going to get past.

Now, any Bentley enthusiast can book a guided tour led by a Bentley host knowledgeable enough to share details about the cars and artifacts that represent the marque's storied history.

Highlights include the Lineage heritage exhibition, where visitors are treated to an immersive journey through history, from the company's 1919 founding. It offers visitors insight into Bentley's evolution via a rotating display of heritage cars.

The tour is bound to have a lasting impression, and the £20 cost is a lot less than what you’ll shell out to go to Crewe from London. For any fan still procrastinating about pulling out that checkbook for a car with that Bentley emblem at the tip of the hood, maybe this experience will be the tipping point.

Obviously, Bentley is looking to broaden its fan base, and a place like this is not a bad step to draw new fans. However, taking the leap will require some commitment. A drive to Crewe will take about four hours (the comment about the cost of getting over there from London wasn’t a joke).

If you’re not a big fan of long drives. It’s best to take a flight from London to Manchester, where you can take a much shorter 44-minute drive to Bentley’s location. While you’re there, be sure to pick up a few souvenirs from the merchandise store.

After all that effort to get to Crewe, you might as well visit a few of the attractions in the town before heading back to London. These include the Crewe Heritage Center railway museum and one of Cheshire's largest urban parks, Queens Park.