A14 eastbound at J5
Signposted from the road.
NN14 1SS
map and directions
Single site located at a junction.
This is the original service area on the A14. For the new truckstop, see Rothwell Truckstop.
The first service area for cars on the A14 is reserved for eastbound traffic only.
Facilities
Catering: McDonald's Drive Thru Outdoor Space: Grass verge only; picnic tables at back of car park Forecourt: Esso, ASDA Express, Greggs, Subway, Krispy Kreme, Starbucks on the Go, Free Cash Machine
Parking Prices
Short stay customer parking is available for cars at both facilities. No HGV parking is available.
Parking within the McDonald's car park is limited to 90 minutes maximum stay and is strictly enforced by MET Parking.
This information is provided to us by third parties. You should always check with staff on site.
Contact Details
🏢 Address:
A14 Eastbound
Kettering
Northamptonshire
NN14 1SS
Trivia and History
See also: A14 Planning Applications
The A14 here didn't open until the mid-1990s, however it was built over the alignment of a previous road. That road, the A6, had the Rothwell Lodge to the south, and a pair of cottages to the north called Rothwell Lodge Cottages. In the 1930s a transport depot and garage opened next to these, as well as three properties called Jonlyn.
With the A14 passing through several local authorities in this area, a joint policy was created in 1987 for service areas on the new A14 to adhere to. This recommended building service areas at J1 and either J7 or J9. Three planning applications in the Kettering area were considered in a local inquiry in 1988. The site we now know as Rothwell services was described as: "the disused Rothwell Farm Garage petrol station, workshop, an empty house, bungalow and a run-down orchard". The other sites were south-east of Rothwell Lodge Farm, and west of Thorpe Malsor Road, both proposed by Lawlor Land Company. Kettering Borough Council also had their own proposal at J7 considered.
The successful plan was made by Esso and described as "an improvement on the existing corrugated iron workshops". The new petrol station replaced the garage, and Jonlyn became Esso's choice of restaurant partner, McDonald's, which opened in November 1995. The local paper strongly criticised what it thought was a proliferation of service areas on the A14, which it felt posed a safety risk.
Opening
Esso introduced their On the Run café to the site in around 2006 which featured a Costa Coffee offering. The site was then sold to Euro Garages in 2015 who removed the On the Run café and Costa offering and rebranded the shop to SPAR adding Greggs and Subway stores to the former On the Run space. The SPAR store rebranded to Asda On the Move in April 2023.
The filling station transferred into the Asda estate in March 2024, relaunching on 26 March with a new Asda Express store.
A large truckstop opened one mile to the west of here by Welcome Break in 2019. Technically it's a rival facility, although the existing Rothwell services only really caters for cars.
Alternatives
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| Rothwell Truckstop (1 mile) Rugby (M6, 21 miles) Leicester Forest East (M1 north, 33 miles) | Services on the A14 | Kettering (4 miles) |