Timeline

Watford Gap 50th birthday.

Below is a list of service areas organised by when they were opened. It gives you an idea how quickly they spread and when the industry really struggled, plus gives you something to compare the current rate of expansion to.

Motorway services in Great Britain

Motorway service areas can be awkward things. They only really count when blue signs are placed on the motorway, as that's when they start to form part of the system. But for all-sorts of reasons, some of these places existed for decades before those road signs were put up.

Where this has happened, we generally sort them by the date the signs were put up, but include the date that the place itself (or a similar facility previously built on that land) was built.

Services	Road	Opened
Newport Pagnell	M1 between J14 and J15	phased from 2 November 1959 to August 1960
Watford Gap	M1 between J16 and J17	phased from 2 November 1959 to September 1960
Strensham	M5 between J7 and J8	20 July 1962 (original) 1994 (new northbound) 2002 (new southbound)
Medway	M2 between J4 and J5	29 May 1963
Charnock Richard	M6 between J27 and J28	29 July 1963
Knutsford	M6 between J18 and J19	15 November 1963
Keele	M6 between J15 and J16	15 November 1963
Toddington	M1 between J11 and J12	20 May 1964
Lancaster	M6 between J32 and J33	from 29 January 1965
Leicester Forest East	M1 between J21 and J21A	15 February 1966
Frankley	M5 between J3 and J4	27 July 1966
Severn View	M48 at J1; M4 at J21 and J22	9 September 1966
Heston	M4 between J2 and J3	phased from 21 February 1967 to 3 January 1968 (rebuilt 1981 and 1998)
Trowell	M1 between J25 and J26	23 March 1967
Woodall	M1 between J30 and J31	1 April 1968
London Gateway	M1 between J2 and J4	17 March 1969
Washington	A1(M) between J64 and J65	27 August 1970
Burton-in-Kendal	M6 between J35 and J36	23 October 1970
Hilton Park	M6 between J10A and J11	built by 1967 rumoured opening 26 October 1970
Rivington	M61 between J6 and J8	from December 1970 main building rumoured 8 April 1971 rebuilt in 2011
Heart of Scotland (Harthill)	M8 between J4 and J5	31 August 1971 rebuilt 1987 rebuilt 2006
Michaelwood	M5 between J13 and J14	12 December 1971
Corley	M6 between J3 and J3A	17 January 1972
Leigh Delamere	M4 between J17 and J18	rumoured 14 March 1972
Membury	M4 between J14 and J15	phased from around 15 April 1972
Woolley Edge	M1 between J38 and J39	rumoured 25 April 1972
Killington Lake	M6 between J36 and J37	rumoured 9 May 1972 (rebuilt 1985)
Tebay	M6 between J38 and J39	27 June 1972
Southwaite northbound	M6 between J41 and J42	from 3 July 1972
Birch	M62 between J18 and J19	phased from 18 December 1972
Gretna	A74(M) between J21 and J22	1972 (TRSA) 16 June 1993 (MSA)
Gordano	M5 at J19	7 May 1973
Hartshead Moor	M62 between J25 and J26	from 22 May 1973
Fleet	M3 between J4A and J5	6 June 1973
Burtonwood	M62 at J8	rumoured 19 August 1974
Sandbach	M6 between J16 and J17	1975
Hamilton	M74 between J5 and J6	20 June 1975 rebuilt 1986?
Bothwell	M74 between J4 and J5	27 June 1975 rebuilt 1986?
Rownhams westbound	M27 between J3 and J4	21 June 1976
Taunton Deane southbound	M5 between J25 and J26	1976
Exeter	M5 at J30	rumoured 24 May 1977 (would have been phased opening)
Southwaite southbound	M6 between J41 and J42	1977
Leeming Bar	A1(M) at J51	1977 (TRSA) 2016 (rest area)
Northampton	M1 at J15A and A43	1978 main building opened July 1979
Kinross	M90 at J6	29 May 1979 1981 (likely when it became a service area)
Scotch Corner	A1(M) at J53 and A66	1980 (TRSA) 2017 (rest area)
Sarn Park	M4 at J36	1981? rebuilt in May 1986 rebuilt in 2016
Pont Abraham	M4 at J49	17 June 1983
Old Inns	M80 at J6	1984 (TRSA) 2011 (MSA)
Ferrybridge	M62 at J33; A1(M)/A1 at J40 and J41	from 2 February 1985
Stirling	M9 at J9 and M80 at J6	17 March 1986
Sedgemoor southbound	M5 between J21 and J22	1975? (rest area) rumoured 28 April 1986 (MSA)
Chieveley	M4 at J13 and A34	27 June 1986
Sedgemoor northbound	M5 between J21 and J22	1975? (rest area) phased from 17 April 1987 (MSA)
South Mimms	M25 at J23 and A1(M) at J1	6 June 1987
Rownhams eastbound	M27 between J3 and J4	1987?
Blyth	A1(M)/A1 at J34	February 1988
Pease Pottage	M23 at J11 and A23	26 May 1988
Taunton Deane northbound	M5 between J25 and J26	1989
Cardiff West	M4 at J33	April 1990
Tamworth	M42 at J10 and A5	24 May 1990
Swansea West	M4 at J47	9 August 1991
Magor	M4 at J23A	8 April 1992
Thurrock	M25 at J30 and J31, A13 and A282	16 June 1992 (temporary facilities available earlier)
Tebay southbound	M6 between J38 and J39	3 June 1993
Abington	M74 and A74(M) at J13	17 June 1993
Clacket Lane	M25 between J5 and J6	phased from 21 July 1993
Cherwell Valley	M40 at J10 and A43	31 March 1994 (rebuilt and reopened in June 2011)
Cairn Lodge	M74 at J11 and J12	1994
Warwick	M40 between J12 and J13	1994
Durham	A1(M) at J61	23 August 1994
Birchanger Green	M11 at J8	9 March 1995
Annandale Water	A74(M) at J16	March 1995 (ceremony 6 April)
Reading	M4 between J11 and J12	1995
Stafford northbound	M6 between J14 and J15	1 April 1996
Maidstone	M20 at J8	1997
Chester	M56 at J14	1973 (rest area) 29 July 1998 (MSA)
Oxford	M40 at J8A and A40	1998
Tibshelf	M1 between J28 and J29	1999
Stafford southbound	M6 between J14 and J15	1999
Bridgwater	M5 at J24	1999?
Donington	M1 at J23A and J24, A42 and A50	8 July 1999
Hopwood Park	M42 at J2	22 August 1999
Cullompton	M5 at J28	3 September 1999
Doncaster (North)	M18 at J5 and M180	2000
Cardiff Gate	M4 at J30	2000?
Peterborough	A1(M)/A1 at J17	15 January 2001
Baldock	A1(M)/A1 at J10	22 January 2001
Winchester	M3 between J8 and J9	2001
Blackburn with Darwen	M65 at J4	2002
Telford	M54 at J4	17 March 2003
Norton Canes	M6 Toll between JT6 and JT7	9 March 2004
Folkestone	M20 at J11	from 9 January 2008
Wetherby	A1(M) at J46	from 23 August 2008
Beaconsfield	M40 at J2	17 March 2009
Cobham	M25 between J9 and J10	13 September 2012
Gloucester northbound	M5 between J11A and J12	7 May 2014
Gloucester southbound	M5 between J11A and J12	19 May 2015
Leeds Skelton Lake	M1 at J45	from 30 March 2020
Rugby	M6 at J1	30 April 2021

Other Services

The following service areas don't fit in to either of the above categories, but the data has been recorded so might as well be shared.

This is not meant to be an exhaustive list: if a period seems to have seen a lot of service areas open, it may just be that there is a lot more data available for that year than others.

A-road service areas didn't have any official status until 1982 (although a few were given official road signs in the 1970s), and many of the older sites have evolved from historic facilities rather than having an obvious opening date. We have therefore tried to include only the places that obviously resemble a service area.

Services	Road	Opened
Kings Worthy	A33 north of Winchester	1946
Grantham	A1 north of Grantham	1963 (transport café) 1972 (started to become a service area)
Peartree	A34 on the Oxford Ring Road	29 June 1964
Monmouth	A40 between Newport and Monmouth	1966 (original) rebuilt and reopened on 16 March 2016 and 21 May 2016
Ross Spur	A449 between M50 and A40	1966
Lolworth	A14 between J28 and J29	1969
Ballinluig	A9	1 March 1970
Oaktree	A1 near Bedale	1973
Symonds Yat	A40 between Ross-on-Wye and Monmouth	1975
Liphook	A3 between Hindhead and Petersfield	1983
Tayside Truckstop	A90 at Dundee	28 October 1983
Newmarket	A11 and A14	1984
Milton Heights	A34 at Didcot	1985
Whitchurch	A41 Whitchurch Bypass	1985
Weyhill	A303 between Andover and Amesbury	1986
Sutton Scotney	A34 north of Winchester	1986
Nene Valley	A45 between Northampton and Wellingborough	1987
Handcross	A23 between Crawley and Brighton	1987
Llanddulas	A55 at J23	1987
Copdock Mill	A12 and A14 at Copdock	November 1987
Guildford	A3 near Guildford	1988
Thorpe on the Hill	A46 at Lincoln	1988
Podimore	A303 at Podimore	1988
Markham Moor	A1/A57 Markham exit	1988
Saltash	A38 between Plymouth and Bodmin	early 1989
Leicester Markfield	M1 at J22	February 1989 (ceremony April 1989)
Colsterworth	A1 near Colsterworth	early 1989 (southbound Happy Eater) 5 September 1989 (Granada service area)
Alfreton	A38 between Mansfield and Derby	26 September 1989
Musselburgh	A1 near City Bypass	1989
Ilminster	A303 Ilminster Bypass	1989
Milton Keynes	A5 at Milton Keynes	1989
Fontwell	A27/A29 at Fontwell	1989
Dreghorn	A720 at the Dreghorn exit	1989
Countess	A303 at Amesbury	1990
Winthorpe	A17/A46 at Winthorpe Interchange	phased from 28 January 1991
Bangor	A5 and A55	March 1991
Talke	A500 north of Stoke	15 April 1991
Thrapston	A14/A45 at Thrapston	June 1991
Buckingham	A420 near Faringdon	1991
Ely	A10 at Ely	1991
Buckland	A421 at Buckingham	1991
Sutterton	A16/A17 junction	1991
Liphook	A3 between Hindhead and Petersfield	1991
Popham	A303 between Basingstoke and Andover	1991
Warminster	A36 near Warminster	1992
Blue Bell Hill	A229 between the M20 and the M2	1993
Crossbush	A27 near Arundel	1994
Monkton	A77 at Monkton	1994
Shrewsbury	A5/A49 at Shrewsbury	1995
Kettering	A14 between J8 and J9	1996
Bellshill	A725 Bellshill Bypass	1998
Tot Hill	A34 near Newbury	1998
Maresfield	A22 Maresfield Bypass	1998
Four Pools	A46 Evesham Bypass	1998
Broxden	M90/A9 Broxden Roundabout	2000
Cambridge	A14 at J28	1 December 2000
Rheged	A66 at Slapstones	2000
Farnham	A31 at Farnham	2001
Derby South	A50 near Derby	2001
Petersfield	A3 at Petersfield	2002
Cirencester	A417 at Cirencester	2002
Polegate	A27/A22 at Polegate	2005
Tunbridge Wells	A21 at Tunbridge Wells	2006
Leicester North	A46 north of Leicester	24 June 2008
Derby with Burton	A38/A50 near Derby	29 July 2008
Uttoxeter	A50 near Uttoxeter	2011
Cornwall	A30 near Roche	from 24 June 2014
Fairfield	A16 at Louth	1 November 2014
Templepatrick	M2 between J4 and J5	2015
Poppleton	A1237 York Ring Road	2016
Ashington	A24 between Horsham and Worthing	2016
Lisburn south-westbound	M1 between J3 and J6	2016
Lisburn north-eastbound	M1 between J3 and J6	2017
Spalding	A16 at Spalding	2017
Rothwell Truckstop	A14 at J3	April 2019
Seven Bridges	A419 between Cirencester and Swindon	9 December 2020

Specific Dates in Date Order

The following service areas are the ones we have an exact opening date for.

Note that this is more complicated than you'd think. Most service aras are opened in stages to get the money coming in before the building is finished. Many have a 'dummy run' where they quietly open so they can iron out any issues. Finally, there's then the official opening date, where the press are invited.

As we search our records, we find these dates have been mixed up. We're only interested in the date the main building opened, and have marked any entries where we think it might be wrong.

Services	Opened
Birch (westbound restaurant)	1 January 1973
Heston (eastbound restaurant)	3 January 1968
Folkestone	9 January 2008
Peterborough	15 January 2001
Corley	17 January 1972
Baldock	22 January 2001
Newark	from 28 January 1991
Forton (forecourts)	29 January 1965
Ferrybridge	from 2 February 1985
Leicester Forest East	15 February 1966
Heston (forecourts)	21 February 1967
Birchanger Green	9 March 1995
Norton Canes	9 March 2004
Leigh Delamere	rumoured 14 March 1972
Monmouth (rebuilt eastbound)	16 March 2016
Scratchwood	17 March 1969
Stirling	17 March 1986
Telford	17 March 2003
Beaconsfield	17 March 2009
Trowell	23 March 1967
Leeds Skelton Lake	from 30 March 2020
Cherwell Valley	31 March 1994
Woodall	1 April 1968
Stafford northbound	1 April 1996
Annandale Water	6 April 1995 (ceremony)
Anderton / Rivington / Bolton West / whatever	main building rumoured 8 April 1971
Magor	8 April 1992
Membury (forecourts)	rumoured 15 April 1972
Talke	15 April 1991
Cardiff West	20 April 1990 (ceremony)
Woolley Edge	rumoured 25 April 1972
Sedgemoor southbound	rumoured 28 April 1986
Rugby	30 April 2021
Gordano	7 May 1973
Gloucester (North)	7 May 2014
Killington Lake	rumoured 9 May 1972
Sedgemoor northbound (official)	18 May 1987
Gloucester (South)	19 May 2015
Toddington	20 May 1964
Monmouth (rebuilt westbound)	21 May 2016
Hartshead Moor	from 22 May 1973
Exeter	rumoured 24 May 1977
Tamworth	24 May 1990
Pease Pottage	26 May 1988
Farthing Corner	29 May 1963
Kinross	29 May 1979 (original information centre)
Tebay southbound	3 June 1993
Fleet	6 June 1973
South Mimms (main building)	6 June 1987
Thurrock	16 June 1992 (temporary facilities available earlier)
Gretna Green (motorway service area)	16 June 1993 (ceremony)
Pont Abraham	17 June 1983
Abington	17 June 1993
Hamilton	20 June 1975
Rownhams	21 June 1976
Leicester	24 June 2008
Tebay West	27 June 1972
Bothwell	27 June 1975
Chieveley	27 June 1986
Oxford Peartree	29 June 1964
Cherwell Valley (rebuild)	30 June 2011
Southwaite	from 3 July 1972
Donington Park	8 July 1999
Forton (cafés)	from 14 July 1965
Strensham	20 July 1962
Clacket Lane	phased from 21 July 1993
Frankley	27 July 1966
Charnock Richard	29 July 1963
Chester	29 July 1998
Derby with Burton	29 July 2008
Cambridge	9 August 1991
Newport Pagnell (northbound restaurant)	15 August 1960
Burtonwood	rumoured 19 August 1974
Hopwood Park	22 August 1999
Wetherby	from 23 August 2008
Durham	23 August 1994
Washington	27 August 1970
Harthill	31 August 1971
Cullompton	3 September 1999
Colsterworth (Granada)	5 September 1989
Aust	9 September 1966
Watford Gap (northbound restaurant)	13 September 1960
Cobham	13 September 2012
Swanwick	26 September 1989
Newport Pagnell (southbound restaurant)	30 September 1960
Watford Gap (southbound restaurant)	1 October 1960
Burton West	23 October 1970
Rothersthorpe	rumoured 24 October 1972, but this must be an error
Hilton Park	rumoured 26 October 1970
Newport Pagnell (forecourts)	2 November 1959
Watford Gap (forecourts)	2 November 1959
Knutsford, Keele	15 November 1963
Heston (westbound restaurant)	21 November 1967
Cambridge	1 December 2000
Michael Wood	12 December 1971
Birch	18 December 1972