CB8 0XG
map and directions
Two sites located between junctions, with no public connection between them.
A service area shared between the A11 and the A14 on the Newmarket Bypass, with a subtle nod to the nearby racecourse.
Facilities
Catering: Greggs, Starbucks Amenities: westbound only: Free Cash Machine Outdoor Space: Grass verges only Charging Points: westbound only: EV Point 50kW CCS, 50kW CHAdeMO & 22kW Type 2 Forecourt: BP, M&S Simply Food, Wild Bean Café, Free Cash Machine
Parking Prices
Short stay customer parking is available for cars. No HGV parking is available.
This information is provided to us by third parties. You should always check with staff on site.
Contact Details
🏢 Address:
BP the Rowley Mile Filling Station Westbound
Newmarket Heath
Newmarket
CB8 0XG
Trivia and History
The service area is known as Newmarket, but each side comes with its own horse racing pun: the westbound forecourt is called Rowley Mile, and eastbound is called 1000 Guineas. The eastbound car park backs onto a local road, providing a secret exit.
Initial plans for a pair of service areas here came in 1983 when Landware Group Holdings, who called it 'Newmarket Heath services', submitted plans for each side to include a filling station, restaurant and toilet block. They claimed they were building it to tackle the lack of service areas on the M11, although the M11 is some distance away. It may be that they wanted to allow for possible services at Newport, or simply that they were keen to attract traffic from what was the A45.
Both sites were officially opened by Transport Minister Lynda Chalker in October 1984, with a Happy Eater restaurant and Mobil branded forecourt opening on each side. It's unusual for a Minister to make an official appearance at what was effectively just a restaurant, showing again how well-regarded Newmarket was.
The restaurants became Little Chefs in the mid-1990s. The filling stations were rebranded to BP in 1997, which they continue to trade as to this day. By 2003, BP had added their Wild Bean Café to both sides. In 2012, both filling stations gained M&S Simply Food stores.
The westbound Little ChefHistory closed in 2007 and remained empty until 2014 when Euro Garages purchased the building and refurbished the site, opening Starbucks and Subway stores inside the building. The car park also gained an Ecotricity electric vehicle charging point.
This Subway store closed in April 2022, after struggling to recruit in their location. The electric vehicle charger was switched off around a similar time. The Subway store was later converted into another Greggs store, opening in Autumn 2022. EG Group later installed one of their EV Point chargers in late 2022, re-introducing an EV charger to the westbound side.
The eastbound Little ChefHistory soldiered on alone until spring 2017 when Euro Garages purchased Little Chef and decided to close the restaurant later in the year. The site reopened in early 2018 as another Starbucks store to mirror the westbound side. A Greggs store was added in a new extension to the back of the current building in 2018.
Alternatives
| Previous: | Next: | |
| Worsted (southbound only, 9 miles) Fourwentways (11 miles) | Services on the A11 | Milford (northbound, 10 miles) Barton Mills (Fiveways) (10 miles) |
| Cambridge (17 miles) | Services on the A14 | Tot Hill (29 miles) |
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