Camel Hill services
(former)
| Road: | A303 between Amesbury and Ilchester |
| Address: | Camel Hill, Queen Camel, Yeovil, Somerset BA22 7PH |
| Signposted from the road? | Yes |
| Services type: | Single site located at the side of the road |
An unremarkable Little Chef gave way to a truly unique restaurant. That restaurant is still trading as Mattia Diner, but it no longer forms part of a major service area.
Facilities
Catering: Mattia Diner Forecourt: Texaco, Best-One, Costa Express, LPG (Autogas), Free Cash Machine
Trivia and History
The A303 past this service area was replaced by a new dual carriageway on 10 August 2024. From this date, the road past the Mattia Diner was turned into a quiet cul-de-sac, and while it continues to trade, it is no longer acting as a major roadside service area. The media reported that trade had dropped by 75% as a result.
Leaving this restaurant isolated was one of several concerns raised by the Planning Inspectorate, but this didn't stop it going ahead; road signs calling the diner a "tourist attraction" will be added in 2025. The forecourt closed soon after work started.
Restaurant History
Food was originally served here from a green bus. A formal building was provided in 1963, with the opening of the Frying Pan Cafe. It had a bungalow attached for staff. In 1967 a hotel was planned to be added here. By 1980 there were plans to demolish and re-build it, but the building was then damaged by a fire in 1984.
Following the fire, the building was demolished and replaced by what was supposed to be a Little Chef, but opened as a Happy Eater. In 1996 this became the Sparkford branch of Little ChefHistory anyway. Granada wanted this restaurant to be a pilot site for a "new concept", which was called Little Chef Express and had a blue colour scheme, with rounded logos showing its mascot running and the word "diner" written all around the building. The trial ran for a year before the colour scheme reverted to normal in 1997, albeit with a few blue mascots still around. In 2008 the restaurant closed entirely and fell into a very poor state of repair.
The restaurant was purchased by Andrea Mattia and her family and on 28 January 2014 they reopened it as Mattia Diner, whose owners were remarked by the press as being a "USA-mad couple". The restaurant's theme is 1950s America and it is covered with distinctive Elvis memorabilia.
Two miles to the west of here was another service station, called Camel Cross. 'Camel Cross Motors' had been built in 1948 at what was the fork between the A303 and the A372, and is now just a bend in the B3151. It was later joined by one of the original (pre-1974) Welcome Break Cafes, and it had been converted to a Happy Eater by 1979, which was later closed in favour of the Camel Hill branch. The former shop building went on to become a bar and bistro, and the restaurant a bed and breakfast.
Forecourt
The filling station was built in 1967, and was sometimes known as 'Oasis'. It was once operated by Shell directly, but was sold to MFG, who upgraded the forecourt and shop throughout mid-2016, changing the shop from Select Shop to Londis in the process. At the back of the service area was a fenced off area, which appears to have been an exit through to Gason Lane.
Planning permission was granted to MFG in March 2018 for demolition and redevelopment of the forecourt. The plans also included the building of a drive thru coffee shop on waste land situated behind the forecourt.
The forecourt was put up for sale in September 2018, during the period of CMA investigation into the merger of MFG and MRH, and it was sold to TG Convenience Stores in April 2019. They rebranded the site from Shell to Texaco and added a Best-One store. TG Convenience Stores added the site to their SGN Retail estate in 2020.
The forecourt was compulsory purchased as part of the A303 works, and it permanently closed on 12 October 2022, at which point the official 'Services' signs were taken down. The forecourt was demolished in October 2024.
Area Map
This is an automatically generated map of the surrounding area. You can use the button on the right to switch between a map and an aerial photo. Historic maps may be available at SABRE Maps.
🗺 Grid reference: ST592255 | See GeoHack for modern layers