Leigh Delamere 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 M4 motorway situated one mile west of Junction 17, between

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 ...

and Swindon (close to Chippenham and

Malmesbury Malmesbury () is a town and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, which lies approximately west of Swindon, northeast of Bristol, and north of Chippenham. The older part of the town is on a hilltop which is almost surrounded by the upp ...

). It takes its name from the adjoining village of Leigh Delamere. It is one of Europe's largest service stations. The service area is 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 ...

History

It was planned to open in January or February 1972, run by Esso Tavernas; other sites of Esso were Birch Services, Washington services,

Woolley Edge services Woolley Edge services is a motorway service station on the M1 motorway within the borough of the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It lies between junctions 38 and 39 close to West Bretton and west of the village of Woolley. Histor ...

, Southwaite Services. The site cost £650,000.

Opening

It opened on Monday 3 February 1972, with the largest petrol station in the UK.

Buildings

It served petrol only for the first 8 weeks

Food

At opening it had 188 restaurant seats and 60 cafeteria seats.''Reading Evening Post'' Monday 3 January 1972, page 7

In popular culture

The station is mentioned in ''

The Eyre Affair ''The Eyre Affair'' is the debut novel by English author Jasper Fforde, published by Hodder and Stoughton in 2001. It takes place in an alternative 1985, where literary detective Thursday Next pursues a master criminal through the world of Char ...

'' by

Jasper Fforde Jasper Fforde (born 11 January 1961) is an English novelist, whose first novel, '' The Eyre Affair'', was published in 2001. He is known mainly for his '' Thursday Next'' novels, but has published two books in the loosely connected '' Nursery Cr ...

and is supposedly named after the mother of an associate of the main villain. It features several times in BBC's

Gavin & Stacey ''Gavin & Stacey'' is a British sitcom written by James Corden and Ruth Jones about two families: one in Billericay, Essex; one in Barry, South Wales. Mathew Horne and Joanna Page play the titular characters Gavin and Stacey and the writers ...

, although scenes purportedly at Leigh Delamere were filmed at Cardiff Gate services in Wales.

References

External links

Motorway Services Online - Leigh Delamere
M4 motorway service stations Moto motorway service stations Buildings and structures in Wiltshire {{UK-road-stub