A plaque marking the site of the UK’s first ever petrol station has been unveiled in a Berkshire village after its location was discovered by a local council and historians.
Tim Green and Roger Day uncovered the site, which is located by a bus stop and layby, with the help of West Berkshire Council’s highway and archaeology teams, and the authority erecting a plaque to commemorate the forecourt.
The filling station was built by the AA in 1919 beside the main road in the Berkshire village of Aldermaston Wharf. It comprised a hut and small canopy constructed from timber and weatherboard, with fuel stored in a 500-gallon tank and dispensed via a hand-cranked pump.
In an echo of today’s geopolitical energy difficulties, the forecourt was stocked with British-refined fuel, with the AA encouraging early motorists not to buy imported Russian petrol following the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.
While the precise date of the site’s demise is unknown, the AA had phased out its early filling stations by 1932, by which point oil firms had largely taken over fuel-retailing operations in the UK.
Local historians Tim Green and Roger Day, with assistance from the local council, discovered the site after analysing archive British Pathé film footage alongside a historic sketch of the forecourt.
Jeff Brooks, leader of West Berkshire Council comments: “This is a wonderful piece of West Berkshire’s history and a fascinating reminder of how much our local area has contributed to the story of British motoring.
He adds: “We hope the plaque will encourage residents and visitors to discover more about this important part of our local heritage.”
Roger Day and Tim Green said: “We are delighted and pleased that West Berkshire Council have chosen to place an informative sign close to the site of Britain’s first purpose-built petrol filling station”.
