A456 road

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Coordinates: 52°22′06″N 2°19′41″W / 52.36847°N 2.32794°W / 52.36847; -2.32794
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

A456 shield
A456
A49
West endWoofferton
Location
Country
Primary
destinations
Birmingham Kidderminster Leominster
Road network
←
A457

Known as the Hagley Road in Birmingham, the A456 is a main road in

Elan Aqueduct which carries Birmingham's water supply from the Elan Valley.[2]

Route

Birmingham - Kidderminster

The A456 now starts on Hagley Road at Five Ways junction on the Middleway (

Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell
.

The road resumes its original route on the West side of Halesowen, entering Worcestershire and passing over the Clent Hills. The A491 is crossed in the village of Hagley, where the road becomes single carriageway once more, passing through the village, closely followed by the village of Blakedown. Beyond there a dual carriageway section takes the road to Kidderminster, crossing the A449, before following the town's Ring Road to the North side.

Kidderminster - Woofferton

Now on the West side of Kidderminster, the road passes the General Hospital before leaving the town and passing the

A49. The A456 terminates shortly after on the A49
in Woofferton.

History

Much of the road is almost certainly medieval in origin. However, the road was laid out, essentially in its present form (except where there are modern bypasses) by a series of 18th century turnpike trusts.

Birmingham - Blakedown

From Birmingham to

Lightwoods House west of Bearwood,[3] and the area south of Hagley Road between Lordswood Road and Wolverhampton Road is still referred to as "Beech Lanes"[4][5]

Blakedown - Bewdley Bridge

The section from Blakedown to Bewdley Bridge represents two of the eight roads from the market house in Kidderminster that were maintained by a trust established in 1759. The turnpike road passed through Halesowen, following what is now A458 road and B4183 to Hayley Green. Halesowen was bypassed around the south of the town in the 1950s due to rising traffic levels and the growth of the town, and Manor Lane became part of A456. Then in the 1970s, the Quinton Expressway was opened to connect with M5 motorway junction 3, when the northern section of M5 was opened in the 1970s.

Bewdley - Newnham Bridge

From the Welsh Gate of Bewdley to Newnham Bridge, it was managed by the Bewdley Trust established in 1753. From Monksbridge (the Shropshire boundary, to Woofferton and so to Ludlow, the road was repaired by the Ludlow First Turnpike Trust of about 1751. The intervening section was handled by the Hundred House Turnpike Trust of 1753. The Hundred House at Great Witley was probably the meeting place for Doddingtree Hundred. This trust was unusual in being responsible for several roads radiating from a place that was not a town.[6]

Bypasses and Realignments

  • Bewdley (Bypassed in the late 1980s, now B4190)
  • Halesowen (Former route now A458 and B4183)
  • Kidderminster (Now follows the route of the Ring Road rather than through the town centre)

Notable places

Water Crossings

The road crosses a number of water courses along its route, both natural and human-made. Traveling eastbound, one will cross Gosford Brook,

Elan Aqueduct and the BCN Main Line
, along with many other smaller streams and brooks.

References

  1. ^ "Driving directions to 52.312211, -2.704613". Google Maps. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  2. ^ Ordnance Survey map, 1:2500 scale, 1903, annotation at junction of Hagley Road and Barnsley Road, Bearwood.
  3. ^ Ordnance Survey map, 1903
  4. ^ Ordnance Survey map, Sheet 139, Birmingham, 1990 edition
  5. ^ Office for National Statistics, area designation for enumerators working on 2011 Census
  6. Acts of Parliament
    establishing the trusts.

52°22′06″N 2°19′41″W / 52.36847°N 2.32794°W / 52.36847; -2.32794

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