The A431 is an A road running from

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

to Bath in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It runs parallel to, and about to the north of, the A4, the principal route between Bristol and Bath on the south side of the River Avon.

Route

The A431 begins at a junction with the A420 road to

Chippenham Chippenham is a market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village ...

St George Saint George (Greek language, Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin language, Latin: Georgius, Arabic language, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christians, Christian who is venerated as a sa ...

, about east of central Bristol. From there it runs through

Hanham Hanham is a suburb of Bristol. It is located in the south east of the city. Hanham is in the unitary authority of South Gloucestershire. It became a civil parish on 1 April 2003. The post code area of Hanham is BS15. The population of this c ...

Longwell Green Longwell Green is a suburb just outside the east fringe of Bristol. Longwell Green takes its name from the medieval well which used to be situated on the site of the Church. It is located within the traditional county of Gloucestershire and t ...

Bitton Bitton is a village and civil parish of South Gloucestershire in England, to the east of the Greater Bristol area on the River Boyd. It is in South Gloucestershire. The parish of Bitton has a population of 9,307, and apart from the village ...

and

Kelston Kelston is a small village and civil parish in Somerset, north west of Bath, and east of Bristol, on the A431 road. It is situated just north of the River Avon, close to the Kelston and Saltford locks. The parish has a population of 248. ...

. It passes around the edge of Kelston Round Hill, and past the estate of

Sir John Hawkins Sir John Hawkins (also spelled Hawkyns) (1532 – 12 November 1595) was a pioneering English naval commander, naval administrator and privateer. He pioneered, and was an early promoter of, English involvement in the Atlantic slave trade. Hawki ...

Newbridge, Bath Newbridge is a largely residential electoral ward on the western edge of Bath, England. Geography The Newbridge electoral ward can be divided into three areas from south to north: *Locksbrook: an industrial and residential area between the River ...

, where it joins the A4 which continues to central Bath. Some of the road runs on the alignment of a

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 ...

between Bristol and Bath.

History

What is now the A431 was the upper turnpike between Bristol and Bath, north of the River Avon (the lower turnpike, south of the Avon, being the A4). Both roads were turnpiked by the Bath Trust in 1707. The Bristol Trust attempted to turnpike the western half of the upper road, but faced opposition from colliers at Kingswood, and it was not fully completed until the 1740s. By the 19th century, the Upper Bristol Road to Kelston was described as a "pleasing and nearly level ride". When roads were first numbered in 1923, the A431 formed the full extent of the upper Bristol – Bath turnpike as far as the old Post Office at the corner of George Street and Milsom Street. In 1935, the

Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government age ...

rerouted the A4 along this route towards Bristol and

Avonmouth Avonmouth is a port and outer suburb of Bristol, England, facing two rivers: the reinforced north bank of the final stage of the Avon which rises at sources in Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Somerset; and the eastern shore of the Severn Estuar ...

, curtailing the A431 to its current eastern point at Newbridge.

Incidents

Kelston Park landslip

In February 2014 the road was closed near

Kelston Park Kelston Park is an 18th-century country house in the village of Kelston, approximately 3 miles from Bath in North East Somerset, England. Altogether the house and gardens of Kelston Park cover an area of approximately . The house has been des ...

due to a landslip. The closure lasted until 17 November 2014 as the ground continued to move. Local resident Mike Watts created a private

toll road A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or ''toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented ...

over agricultural land to bypass the closed section, which opened in August 2014.Bath & North East Somerset Council, http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/services/streets-and-highway-maintenance/roadworks/major-transport-schemes/a431-kelston-road-council

References

Citations Sources *

External links