Sedgemoor services is a

motorway service station Motorway service areas (MSA) also known as services or service stations, are rest areas in the UK and Ireland where drivers can leave a motorway to refuel/recharge, rest, eat and drink, shop, use the toilet or stay in an on-site overnight hotel ...

on the

M5 motorway The M5 is a motorway in England linking the Midlands with the South West England, South West. It runs from junction 8 of the M6 motorway, M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Brom ...

near the village of Rooks Bridge in

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, England. The location of the services can be identified from a long distance because of their proximity to Brent Knoll, an isolated hill on the

Somerset Levels The Somerset Levels are a coastal plain and wetland area of Somerset, England, running south from the Mendips to the Blackdown Hills. The Somerset Levels have an area of about and are bisected by the Polden Hills; the areas to the south ...

. The northbound station is operated by Welcome Break, and the southbound station is operated by Roadchef. The northbound station is one of fourteen service stations for which large murals were commissioned from artist David Fisher in the 1990s, designed to reflect the local area and history.

History

The sites opened in 1970 as Brent Knoll Rest Area by the Department for Transport; however, after high rates of crime, the services were transferred to Welcome Break and Roadchef. They were upgraded to Motorway Service Area status in 1987 after two service buildings were added.

Construction

Construction for the RoadChef side started on Friday 6 December 1985. Sedgemoor District Council had given planning permission for the site in the same week. It would cost £15m on 20 acres on the southbound side. It opened in early May 1986. The northbound side opened in April 1987.''Bristol Evening Post'' Thursday 16 April 1987, page 23

References

External links

* – Sedgemoor northbound * – Sedgemoor southbound M5 motorway service stations RoadChef motorway service stations Welcome Break motorway service stations Transport in Somerset Buildings and structures in Sedgemoor {{Somerset-struct-stub