Sedgemoor services

Sedgemoor services is a motorway service station on the M5 motorway near the village of Rooks Bridge in Somerset, 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.

Sedgemoor Services
Sedgemoor Services Location within Somerset
Information
County	Somerset
Road	M5 motorway
Coordinates:	51.2689°N 2.9215°W / 51.2689; -2.9215
Previous name(s)	Brent Knoll Rest Area
Northbound services
Operator	Welcome Break
Date opened	1987
Fuel	Shell
Website	welcomebreak.co.uk/locations/sedgemoor/
Southbound services
Operator	Roadchef
Date opened	May 1986
Fuel	Esso
Website	www.roadchef.com/locations/sedgemoor-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.^[1]

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.^{[citation needed]} They were upgraded to Motorway Service Area status in 1987 after two service buildings were added.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[2][3] It opened in early May 1986.^[4] The northbound side opened in April 1987.^[5]