The A120 is an A-road in England, which runs between

Puckeridge Puckeridge is a village in East Hertfordshire, England with a population of 3,561 ( 2011 Census). It is in the civil parish of Standon. History The earliest known settlement was founded by the Catuvellauni, Celts from northeastern France. The ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

and

Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-on- ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. Along its route, the A120 bypasses the towns of

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, just west of the M11 motorway on the county boundary with Essex, north-east of central London, and by rail from Liverpool Street station. Stortford had an estimated po ...

Great Dunmow Great Dunmow is a historic market town and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. It is situated on the north of the A120 road, approximately midway between Bishop's Stortford and Braintree, five miles east of London Stanst ...

, Braintree,

Coggeshall Coggeshall ( or ) is a small town in Essex, England, between Colchester and Braintree on the Roman road Stane Street and the River Blackwater. It has almost 300 listed buildings and a market whose charter was granted in 1256 by Henry III. ...

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

and

Dovercourt Dovercourt is a small seaside town and former civil parish, now in the parish of Harwich, in the Tendring district, in the county of Essex, England. It is older than its smaller but better-known neighbour, the port of Harwich, and appears in th ...

. The route meets the A10, A131, A12 and A133

primary route The United Kingdom has a network of roads, of varied quality and capacity, totalling about . Road distances are shown in miles or yards and UK speed limits are indicated in miles per hour (mph) or by the use of the national speed limit (NSL) sy ...

s and the

M11 motorway The M11 is a motorway that runs north from the North Circular Road (A406) in South Woodford to the A14, northwest of Cambridge, England. Originally proposed as a trunk road as early as 1915, various plans were considered throughout the 1960s ...

London Stansted Airport London Stansted Airport is a tertiary international airport serving London, England, United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England, northeast of Central London. London Stansted serves over 160 destinations acro ...

sits directly north of the route on the Essex and Hertfordshire border.

Harwich International Port Harwich International Port is a North Sea seaport in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports. It lies on the south bank of the River Stour one mile upstream from the town of Harwich, opposite the Port of Felixstowe. The port was formerly kn ...

, a

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

seaport A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

at the mouth of the River Stour, lies north of the A120 near Harwich. Part of the route constitutes

Euroroute The international E-road network is a numbering system for roads in Europe developed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). The network is numbered from E1 up and its roads ...

E32, between the A12 ( E30) at Colchester and Harwich International Port.

Route

Hertfordshire

At its western terminus, the A120 meets the A10 at a roundabout south-west of Puckeridge. The A10 runs southbound towards

Hertford Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a ford on the River Lea, ne ...

and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, and northbound towards Royston and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

. Carried by Standon Hill, the A120 passes along the southern perimeter of Puckeridge and into the village of Standon. The route then continues towards

Little Hadham Little Hadham is a village and civil parish in the district of East Hertfordshire, Hertfordshire, England. At the census of 2001 it had a population of 1,081, increasing to 1,153 at the 2011 Census. It is bypassed by the A120 road, which connects ...

, which it bypasses to the north, before reaching a roundabout with the A1184 and A1250 to the west of Bishop's Stortford. The town is bypassed to the north by the A120, crossing the

River Stort The River Stort is a river in Essex and Hertfordshire, England. It is 24 miles (38 km) long and flows from just south of the village of Langley to the River Lea at Hoddesdon. The river's name is a back-formation; the town of Bishop's Stort ...

and entering the county of

. The route is managed by

Hertfordshire County Council Hertfordshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Hertfordshire, in England, the United Kingdom. After the 2021 election, it consists of 78 councillors, and is controlled by the Conservative Party, ...

Essex

Entering Essex to the north of Bishop's Stortford and south of

Stansted Mountfitchet Stansted Mountfitchet is an English village and civil parish in Uttlesford district, Essex, near the Hertfordshire border, north of London. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 5,533, increasing to 6,011 at the 2011 census. The v ...

, the A120 meets the B1383 Stansted Road at a roundabout. The route continues to bypass the north-eastern portion of Bishop's Stortford before meeting the A1250 Dunmow Road, then the M11 motorway at junction 8. The motorway runs southbound towards

Harlow Harlow is a large town and local government district located in the west of Essex, England. Founded as a new town, it is situated on the border with Hertfordshire and London, Harlow occupies a large area of land on the south bank of the upp ...

and London, and northbound towards Newmarket and Cambridge. Birchanger Green service station is accessed from the junction 8 roundabout. The roundabout also provides access to the B1256 towards

Takeley __NOTOC__ Takeley is a village and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. History A number of theories have arisen over the origin of the village's name. One believes the village's name was a corruption from the "Teg-Ley" of ...

and

Little Canfield Little Canfield is a village and a civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. The village is situated the B1256 road, near the A120 road and the village of Takeley. Little Canfield is in the Takeley and the Canfields ward of Uttl ...

. East of the M11 motorway, the A120 carries traffic to Priory Wood Roundabout. The roundabout provides direct access to the M11 motorway southbound, which joins the main carriageway at junction 8A, and to Round Coppice Road (northbound to Stansted Business Park, Stansted Mountfitchet and

Elsenham Elsenham is a village and civil parish in north-west Essex in eastern England. Its neighbouring towns include Bishop's Stortford, Saffron Walden and Stansted Mountfitchet. History Elsenham is recorded in the ''Domesday Book'' of 1086 as ''Alsenh ...

). Direct access to the A120 eastbound is provided from the M11 northbound at junction 8A, on a carriageway which passes over the top of Priory Wood Roundabout (and vice-versa for A120 westbound/M11 southbound traffic). Landing over the A120 at Stansted - geograph

Landing over the A120 at Stansted - geograph

dual carriageway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

carries the A120 to Braintree, past Great Dunmow, with grade-separated junctions: * Stansted Airport * Dunmow West – B1256 Takeley,

, Great Dunmow,

Thaxted Thaxted is a town and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of north-west Essex, England. The town is in the valley of the River Chelmer, not far from its source in the nearby village of Debden, and is 97 metres (318 feet) above sea level (whe ...

* Dunmow South – B1008 ( B184) Great Dunmow, Barnston * B1417/B1256 –

Felsted Felsted (sometimes spelt Felstead) is a village and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. The civil parish includes the hamlets of Bannister Green, Bartholomew Green, Causeway End, Coblers Green, Cock Green, Frenches Gre ...

, Rayne * Panners/

Great Notley Great Notley is a village to the south-west of Braintree, Essex in England. It has an approximate population of 7,845 and became an independent civil parish on 1 April 2000 as a result of The Great Notley Parish Council Order 2000. Archeology Ex ...

– A131

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...

, Braintree * King William – Braintree The dual carriageway is broken at Galleys Corner, a roundabout with the B1018 (southbound to

Witham Witham () is a town in the county of Essex in the East of England, with a population ( 2011 census) of 25,353. It is part of the District of Braintree and is twinned with the town of Waldbröl, Germany. Witham stands between the city of Chelms ...

Cressing Road Cressing Road, also known as the Dunmow Group Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Braintree, Essex, and the home ground of Braintree Town, and formally their reserve side. It currently has a capacity of 4,222. History ...

and Long Green. The roundabout sits to the south-east of Braintree. Access to Braintree Village, a shopping area, and

Braintree Freeport railway station Braintree Freeport railway station is on the Braintree Branch Line in the East of England, serving the Braintree Village shopping centre (formerly known as Braintree Freeport). It is down the line from London Liverpool Street via and it is sit ...

is via the B1018. The A120 runs north–south along the eastern edge of Braintree town before reaching Marks Farm Roundabout. The north–south route continues as the A131 towards

Halstead Halstead is a town and civil parish in the Braintree District of Essex, England. Its population of 11,906 in 2011Haverhill and

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes) ** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal e ...

. Westbound from Marks Farm, the B1256 Coggeshall Road carries traffic into Braintree. The A120 resumes its east–west route along a single carriageway – which bypasses Coggeshall to the north – to

Marks Tey Marks Tey is a large village and electoral ward in Essex, England; it is located six miles west of Colchester. Facilities Marks Tey is one of a group of villages called the Teys, also including Great Tey and Little Tey. Its main features includ ...

. At Marks Tey, the A12 meets the A120 at junction 25. The A12 runs southbound towards

Kelvedon Kelvedon is a village and civil parish in the Braintree District of Essex in England, between Chelmsford and Colchester. It had a population of 4,717 in 2001, reducing to 3,587 at the 2011 Census. It is now home to several businesses including ...

, Witham, Chelmsford and London, and northbound towards Colchester,

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

and

Felixstowe Felixstowe ( ) is a port town in Suffolk, England. The estimated population in 2017 was 24,521. The Port of Felixstowe is the largest container port in the United Kingdom. Felixstowe is approximately 116km (72 miles) northeast of London. His ...

Marks Tey railway station Marks Tey railway station is on the Great Eastern Main Line (GEML) in the East of England, serving the village of Marks Tey, Essex. It is down the line from London Liverpool Street and on the GEML is situated between to the west and to the ...

, on the

Great Eastern Main Line The Great Eastern Main Line (GEML, sometimes referred to as the East Anglia Main Line) is a major railway line on the British railway system which connects Liverpool Street station in central London with destinations in east London and t ...

between

and

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

, lies directly north-west of the junction. A gap in the A120 is plugged by the A12 junctions 25–29, which runs to the north-west of Colchester. The remainder of the A120 sits to the east of the A12 between Colchester and Harwich, meeting the London to Ipswich road at junction 29. At the junction, the A120 also meets A1232 Ipswich Road (southbound into Colchester). Along this section of the route, the A120 bypasses Elmstead,

Wix Wix may refer to: Computing * WiX (Windows Installer XML Toolset), a software toolset * Wix.com, an Israeli software company providing cloud-based web development services Places * Wix, Essex, United Kingdom * Vicques, Switzerland, formerly O ...

Ramsey Ramsey may refer to: Geography British Isles * Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, a small market town in England * Ramsey, Essex, a village near Harwich, England ** Ramsey and Parkeston, a civil parish formerly called just "Ramsey" * Ramsey, Isle of Man, t ...

and Dovercourt. The A133 meets the A120 at a junction between Elmstead and Wix, which carries traffic towards

Great Bentley Great Bentley is a village, civil parish and electoral ward in the Tendring district of north Essex, England, located seven miles east of Colchester. The parish includes the hamlets of Aingers Green and South Heath. It is home to the second larg ...

Weeley Weeley is a village and civil parish in Tendring, east Essex, England. The population of the parish at the 2011 Census was 1,768. It is served by Weeley railway station on the Sunshine Coast Line. It has bus links to Clacton-on-Sea and Colchester. ...

and

Clacton-on-Sea Clacton-on-Sea is a seaside town in the Tendring District in the county of Essex, England. It is located on the Tendring Peninsula and is the largest settlement in the Tendring District with a population of 56,874 (2016). The town is situated a ...

. Through the Dovercourt and Harwich towns, the B1352 runs roughly parallel to the A120. The B1352 meets the A120 at a roundabout near Ramsey and at the route's eastern terminus near Harwich Quay.

The A120 runs along the northern edge of both towns, meeting the A136 Parkeston Bypass for access to Harwich International Port and

Harwich International railway station Harwich International railway station on the Mayflower Line, a branch of the Great Eastern Main Line, serves Harwich International Port in Essex, England. It is from London Liverpool Street, between to the west and to the east. Its three-le ...

. The route then continues eastbound towards Harwich town centre and Harwich Navyard, past the

and Harwich Town railway stations which lie directly south-east of the route. The eastern terminus of the A120 is a roundabout with the B1352 West Street and The Quay. Navyard lies east of the A120's eastern terminus. Within Essex,

Essex County Council Essex County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Essex in England. It has 75 councillors, elected from 70 divisions, and is currently controlled by the Conservative Party. The council meets at County Hall ...

manages the A120 west of the M11 motorway, near Bishop's Stortford.

National Highways National Highways, formerly the Highways Agency and later Highways England, is a State-owned enterprise, government-owned company charged with operating, maintaining and improving Roads in England, motorways and major A roads in England. It al ...

is responsible for the remainder of the route.

History

According to the Society for All British and Irish Road Enthusiasts (SABRE), the Ministry of Transport's 1922 List of Class I and Class II Roads and Numbers listed the A120 as being the route Puckeridge – Bishop's Stortford – Great Dunmow – Braintree – Marks Tey.

Stane Street

The A120 roughly follows the path of the Stane Street

Roman Road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

. At its western end, Stane Street met

Ermine Street Ermine Street is a major Roman road in England that ran from London (''Londinium'') to Lincoln (''Lindum Colonia'') and York (''Eboracum''). The Old English name was ''Earninga Strǣt'' (1012), named after a tribe called the ''Earningas'', ...

, which ran north–south between ''

Londinium Londinium, also known as Roman London, was the capital of Roman Britain during most of the period of Roman rule. It was originally a settlement established on the current site of the City of London around AD 47–50. It sat at a key cross ...

'' (

), ''

Lindum Colonia Lindum Colonia was the Latin name for the settlement which is now the City of Lincoln in Lincolnshire. It was founded as a Roman Legionary Fortress during the reign of the Emperor Nero (58–68 AD) or possibly later. Evidence from Roman tomb ...

'' (

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln ...

) and ''

Eboracum Eboracum () was a fort and later a city in the Roman province of Britannia. In its prime it was the largest town in northern Britain and a provincial capital. The site remained occupied after the decline of the Western Roman Empire and ultimate ...

'' (

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

). In the east, Stane Street's terminus was at ''

Camulodunum Camulodunum (; la, ), the Ancient Roman name for what is now Colchester in Essex, was an important castrum and city in Roman Britain, and the first capital of the province. A temporary "strapline" in the 1960s identifying it as the "oldest re ...

'' (

Archaeologists Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

have uncovered

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

artefacts at several A120 towns. In 2022, archaeologists unearthed Roman graves and evidence of a Roman settlement at Bishop's Stortford. Oxford Archaeologists, leading the project, described as a "once-in-a-lifetime discovery" and said evidence suggests the site was a major transport and trading post in the

East of England The East of England is one of the nine official regions of England. This region was created in 1994 and was adopted for statistics purposes from 1999. It includes the ceremonial counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire ...

. Of Great Dunmow, a Heritage Gateway report notes:

"Excavations between 1968 and 1972 uncovered the remains of a minor Roman linear settlement located along Stane Street, extending over 2 to 3 acres occupied from the 1st century AD to the 4th century AD; a Roman cremation cemetery and possible shrine were discovered along with timber buildings. The settlement is considered to be a
vicus In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (plural ) designated a village within a rural area () or the neighbourhood of a larger settlement. During the Republican era, the four of the city of Rome were subdivided into . In the 1st century BC, Augustus r ...
."

Of Braintree, a similar report reads:

"The site of a Roman settlement at Braintree. Material found here suggests an extensive pre-Roman settlement, which continued as a small Roman urban centre at the intersection of Roman roads through the 1st century and perhaps diminishing in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th centuries."

Bypasses

The A120 bypasses several towns and villages. These include: * Little Hadham (Opened December 2021) – According to Hertfordshire County Council, the project was first proposed in 2007 as a "solution to congestion in the area". In 2019, the government's Department for Transport agreed to provide £27.9 million funding for the scheme. * Bishop's Stortford – Former A120 renumbered A1250. * Takeley, Great Dunmow, Rayne and Braintree (Opened July 2004) – According to a

Highways Agency National Highways, formerly the Highways Agency and later Highways England, is a government-owned company charged with operating, maintaining and improving motorways and major A roads in England. It also sets highways standards used by all fo ...

study in July 2011, the 18.5 km dual carriageway between the M11 motorway and Braintree, past Stansted Airport, resulted in a journey saving time of 10–12 minutes. The report noted an "accident saving of 288 accidents per year", although it highlighted there were some issues with the number of biodiversity schemes that were implemented. The previous A120 route was renumbered B1256. * Coggeshall * East of Colchester – Previously A604.

Economy

The A120 passes UK "international gateways" at London Stansted Airport and Harwich International Port. Connecting roads link the A120 with other UK gateways, such as the A12 towards

and the M11 towards London. Since 2010, organisations including National Highways, A120 Driving Economic Growth and Transport East have identified the "A120 corridor" as one which supports UK government's economic ambitions such as

growth Growth may refer to: Biology * Auxology, the study of all aspects of human physical growth * Bacterial growth * Cell growth * Growth hormone, a peptide hormone that stimulates growth * Human development (biology) * Plant growth * Secondary growth ...

and " levelling up".

References

External links

Sabre Roads' page on the A120

Opening of the improved A120 between the M11 and Stansted

Highways Agency – proposals to improve the A120 between Braintree and the A12

South East England Road Photos: A120 changes
{{DEFAULTSORT:1-0120 Roads in England Transport in Uttlesford Roads in Essex Roads in Hertfordshire Roads in London