Hickstead services
A23 between Crawley and Brighton
(also accessible to traffic on the A2300)
Signposted from the road.
RH17 5NZ
map and directions
Single site located at a junction.
One of the only purpose-built, full service areas on the A23.
Facilities
Catering: Burger King, Starbucks Amenities: Travelodge Outdoor Space: Small grass space next to hotel; public footpath connections Charging Points: Shell Recharge 175kW CCS & 75kW CHAdeMO Forecourt: Shell, Little Waitrose & Partners at Shell Select, Deli by Shell, Costa Express, Free Cash Machine
Parking Prices
Short stay customer parking is available for all vehicles.
No overnight parking is available.
This information is provided to us by third parties. You should always check with staff on site.
Contact Details
🏢 Address:
Jobs Lane
Hickstead
Haywards Heath
West Sussex
RH17 5NZ
Trivia and History
The Hickstead junction on the A23 used to offer easy access to The Castle Hotel and a 1920s garage, which in the 1970s became a full petrol station accompanied by a branch of Little ChefHistory; for a while it was Little Chef's biggest restaurant. There was a plan to add a hotel here but it didn't happen.
In the late 1980s, plans to upgrade the A23 here were proposed, which involved demolishing the garage and Little Chef. In response, in 1988 Trusthouse Forte started submitting plans for a new, much larger service area in the opposite corner of the new junction. Their original plan included a new filling station and Little Chef restaurant, which would include a Coffee Stop shop alongside a new hotel and tourist information centre. A revised option had no hotel and was approved. A final proposal, dated 1991, reintroduced the Travelodge adjusted the site layout; this was approved on appeal.
While Forte were planning this service area, BP proposed their own larger development at the next junction up, Bolney. That plan was refused in favour of this one.
The filling station finally opened in 1993 as a Shell filling station. This later became known by Shell as Ricebridge, but they have since returned back to the generic Hickstead name. The filling station was later joined by the relocated branch of Little Chef and a 40-bed Forte Travelodge hotel, their 100th hotel, in October 1994. An opening ceremony was held on 24 October, with Forte's Chairman Rocco Forte joined by actress Judith Chalmers for the ribbon cutting. The new Little Chef restaurant also opened with Forte's Coffee Stop coffee shop brand too.
The restaurant gained an extension in 1998 which saw the Coffee Stop turned into a Burger King. The Travelodge also received a 40-bed extension in the same year.
The Little Chef closed in 2017 as part of Euro Garages' shutdown of the brand, with the restaurant being converted over the summer and being replaced with a Starbucks in September 2017. This was one of two Euro Garages trial sites for a Starbucks to be situated adjacent to a Burger King. Upon inspection from senior managers at Starbucks, they decided not to let Euro Garages continue to roll out Starbucks adjacent to Burger King, which ultimately delayed the conversions from Little Chef elsewhere and led to the development of the mini-food courts at other former Little Chef sites.
Shell installed four Shell Recharge electric vehicle charging bays on the forecourt in 2022 but these didn't go live until Spring 2024 due to power supply issues.
Alternatives
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| Jeremy's Corner (northbound, 3 miles) Handcross (southbound, 6 miles) Pease Pottage (9 miles) | Services on the A23 | Pyecombe (northbound, 5 miles) Pyecombe (southbound, 6 miles) |