Severn View services, formerly Aust Services is a

motorway service station Motorway service areas in the United Kingdom and Ireland, also known as services or service stations, are rest areas where drivers can leave a motorway to refuel/recharge, rest, eat and drink, shop or stay in an on-site overnight hotel. The vas ...

on the

M48 motorway The M48 is a long motorway in Great Britain, which crosses the Severn near Chepstow, Monmouthshire, linking England with Wales via the Severn Bridge. This road used to be the M4, and as a result is anomalously numbered: as it lies to the no ...

near the village of

Aust Aust is a small village in South Gloucestershire, England, about north of Bristol and about south west of Gloucester. It is located on the eastern side of the Severn estuary, close to the eastern end of the Severn Bridge which carries the M48 ...

, northwest of

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. It is owned by Moto.

History

Old building

The service was constructed by Higgs and Hill Ltd as part of the

M4 motorway The M4, originally the London-South Wales Motorway, is a motorway in the United Kingdom running from west London to southwest Wales. The English section to the Severn Bridge was constructed between 1961 and 1971; the Welsh element was largely ...

contract between Aust and

Almondsbury Almondsbury () is a large village near junction 16 of the M5 motorway, in South Gloucestershire, England, and a civil parish which also includes the villages of Hortham, Gaunt's Earthcott, Over, Easter Compton, Compton Greenfield, Hallen and ...

. The original services building was built near the edge of the cliff, allowing visitors to see the bridge and the

Severn Estuary The Severn Estuary ( cy, Aber Hafren) is the estuary of the River Severn, flowing into the Bristol Channel between South West England and South Wales. Its high tidal range, approximately , means that it has been at the centre of discussions in t ...

. A 1978 Government report stated that this service station had the largest public cafeteria in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. When the road was diverted over the

Second Severn Crossing or cy, Pont Tywysog Cymru, label=none, italic=unset , carries = M4 motorway (6 lanes) , crosses = River Severn , locale = South West England / South East Wales , maint = National Highways , architect ...

it was expected that these services would close. The original building which offered views of the

River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

was closed and sold and operations moved to an adjacent site.

New building

It has been owned by

Moto Hospitality Moto Hospitality, branded as Moto, is a British service station operator which operates 59 motorway service stations across the United Kingdom. It is currently the UK's largest service area operator. History Operations (2001–2020) Granada ...

since the company was founded in 2001, making it one of the first Motorway Services to be operated by Moto.

Burger King Burger King (BK) is an American-based multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based res ...

is the only surviving brand that has been operating there since 2001. Despite Moto's take over, the mini

amusement arcade An amusement arcade (often referred to as a video arcade, amusements or simply arcade) is a venue where people play arcade games, including arcade video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, merchandisers (such as cl ...

in the services, Gscape, remained there from the days when Granada owned the service station despite being Granada branded, as Granada created the 'Gscape' arcades to appear exclusively within their services, with the "G" in the logo being the same G that Granada had in their logo. The 'Gscape' branding was removed in the 2010s. A sign located beside the A403 road some distance before approaching the roundabout that serves the service station has generated some interest. The sign, depicting a

pictograph A pictogram, also called a pictogramme, pictograph, or simply picto, and in computer usage an icon, is a graphic symbol that conveys its meaning through its pictorial resemblance to a physical object. Pictographs are often used in writing and gr ...

symbol of a bed, is supposed to identify that the service station has a hotel, although the sign appears some distance outside the service station and gives no direction to get there. It was erected when Granada bought the service station, and the same sign is normally seen in other service stations once owned by Granada, inside the service station's entrance. The 2019 Motorway Services User Survey found that Severn View had the lowest level of customer satisfaction of motorway services in the UK.

Incidents

The services have been linked to several suicides, as drivers can abandon cars in the car park and walk out onto the bridge or the cliff face with minimal supervision. The

Manic Street Preachers Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Welsh Rock music, rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, Blackwood in 1986. The band consists of cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, lead guitar) and Sean Moore (musician ...

Richey Edwards Richard James Edwards (born 22 December 1967 – disappeared 1 February 1995), also known as Richey James or Richey Manic, was a Welsh musician who was the lyricist and rhythm guitarist of the alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers. He w ...

' car was reported as abandoned in the service station car park on 17 February 1995. He had been missing since checking out of a hotel in

Bayswater Bayswater is an area within the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on 1 February. His whereabouts remain unknown, but in 2008 he was legally declared to be presumed dead.

References

External links

Motorway Services Online - Severn ViewMotorway Services Trivia Site - Severn ViewMoto Services Official Site - Severn View
{{Transport in Gloucestershire Moto motorway service stations Buildings and structures in South Gloucestershire District