Charnock Richard MSA


Charnock Richard Services is a motorway service station, between Junctions 27 and 28 of the M6 in England. The services are close to the boundary between the Lancashire borough of Chorley and the Metropolitan borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester. It was the first service station to open on the M6 Motorway, when it opened in 1963. It is currently operated by Welcome Break.

Design

The complex was designed by Terence Verity, of Verity Associates.
The fastfood restaurant is located on the bridge over the motorway, instead of there being one on each side. In 2006, the bridge restaurant had to be restructured. It was operated by Trust House Forte, when it opened in 1963. The nearest town is Chorley.
The southbound side has a unique layout. It is usual in motorway service areas within the United Kingdom for the fuel forecourt to be the last facility encountered, before rejoining the motorway. Charnock Richard services has the fuel forecourt sited at the top of the entry slip road, i.e., on arrival.
Architecture of motorway service areas was then still experimental, and this arrangement was not deemed a success, and therefore not repeated.

Satisfaction

The Motorway Services User Survey of 2019 found that Charnock Richard's southbound side was in the bottom five motorway services in the United Kingdom for customer satisfaction.