| Pease Pottage | |
| Moto | |
 | |
| Road: | M23 at J11 (also accessible to traffic on the A23 and the A264) |
| Address: | Moto Break Pease Pottage Motorway Services Area Brighton Road Pease Pottage Crawley West Sussex RH11 9YA |
| Telephone number: | 01293 562852 |
| Signposted from the road? | As Burger King/Costa/M&S |
| Opened: | 1993 |
| Previous operators: | Welcome Break, Granada |
| Grid reference: | TQ263332 |
| Services type: | Single site located at a junction. |
| Visit Pease Pottage/Moto's official website Facebook Page Twitter: @PeasePottage1 | |
The only 'proper' services on the M23/A23 route and the last for almost 100 miles, Pease Pottage is very small and struggles as soon as two or more coaches try and stop at the same time.
Contents |
Facilities
General: Picnic Tables, Local Information, Moto Free WiFi
Restaurants: Eat & Drink Co., Burger King, Costa, West Cornwall Pasty Co.
Shops: WHSmith (with Costa Express Krispy Kreme), M&S Simply Food
Fuel: BP (with: Costa Express Calor LPG)
Motel: none
Parking Prices
First two hours free for all vehicles, after which cars must pay £12 and HGVs £21.50, or £23 to include a £9 food voucher.
Prices are paid using PayByPhone - more details. The location code is 2455.
The fees are strictly enforced by CP Plus.
Trivia
Pease Pottage has often been regarded as the smallest service area in the UK, but the title is actually a lot more complicated as there are a number of services which may or may not count, and Pease Pottage itself was originally developed as a a-road service area. Until recently the lack of size was clear from the fact that the services had relatively few facilities, the M&S being in a new extension. It is probably true that it has the smallest footprint of any MSA, but the smallest building is Severn View.
Given its lack of size you could be forgiven for thinking the services aren't needed. For over 15 years, heading north it was 100 miles to the next services - Toddington on the M1 and Oxford on the M40. Thankfully, two new services, Cobham on the M25 and Beaconsfield on the M40, have plugged the gap, but Pease Pottage is still quite isolated.
As the services are situated within Pease Pottage, a small village with few shops, they act as a corner shop to the residents, who can access it via a bridge over the A23 and a path round the side. This isn't actually allowed, as motorway services can't be built or designed in any way so that people will be making journeys just to visit them.
There was a sign on the M23 southbound which stated the distance to Pease Pottage, but under the name 'Moto GU221', with the 'GU221' being in a smaller font. It turned out that even the Highways Agency were completely unaware of this, but in December 2005 they found out and, after not even they knew why it was there, patched it over. Maybe it was added by someone as a joke, referring to Moto Guzzi the Italian motorcycle manufacturer?
The services were built by Welcome Break, but they became Granada (now Moto)'s after the Fortes and Granada merge/diverge mess, which is what happened at Sutton Scotney on the A34.
Survey Results
In May 2012 and August 2011, Visit England rated the services as 3 stars.
In 2006 the services won a four star loo award.
Alternatives
| Previous: | Next: | |
| none on M23 Clacket Lane (M25 east, 22 miles) Heston (M4 east, 49 miles) | Services on the M23 |
road becomes A23 Handcross (A23 southbound, 3 miles) Hickstead (8 miles) |
| none on M23 Thurrock (M25 east, 43 miles) Medway (M2 east, 51 miles) Heston (M4 east, 49 miles) | Moto services | none |
With thanks to the user 'luke85' for the information used on this page.