The A363 is a main road in the United Kingdom which runs through

Bath and North East Somerset Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES) is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority district in England. Bath and North East Somerset Council was created on 1 April 1996 following the abolition of the county of Avon. It is part of the Cer ...

and

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

. It provides a link between the small

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 or city. In Britain, small rural ...

s of West Wiltshire and Bath, the M4 westbound, and the M5. It runs from the A4 at

Bathford Bathford (pronounced with the emphasis on the second syllable) is a village and civil parish east of Bath, England. The parish, which includes Warleigh, has a population of 1,759 and extends over . History The ancient charter ''Codex Diplomat ...

to the A350 at

Yarnbrook Yarnbrook is a large hamlet in Wiltshire, England, between the towns of Westbury and Trowbridge. Most of it lies in the civil parish of North Bradley, the rest in West Ashton. Most of the settlement's houses stand on the A350 road, which runs be ...

, passing through

Bradford-on-Avon Bradford-on-Avon (sometimes Bradford on Avon or Bradford upon Avon) is a town and civil parish in west Wiltshire, England, near the border with Somerset, which had a population of 9,402 at the 2011 census. The town's canal, historic buildings, s ...

and

Trowbridge Trowbridge ( ) is the county town of Wiltshire, England, on the River Biss in the west of the county. It is near the border with Somerset and lies southeast of Bath, 31 miles (49 km) southwest of Swindon and 20 miles (32 km) southeas ...

. It also links Westbury by merging with the A350.

Route

The road starts off bypassing Bathford to the west. It then climbs up the hill known locally as ''Sally in the Woods'', on the edge of the Cotswolds

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of ...

, which has been the scene of a fatal accident. The road summits at the turn-off to

Monkton Farleigh Monkton Farleigh is a village and civil parish in west Wiltshire, England, on high ground northwest of Bradford-on-Avon, and a similar distance east of the city of Bath. The parish includes the hamlets of Farleigh Wick and Pinckney Green. In the ...

, at an altitude of 144 metres. After this, the road quality improves in that it widens and is straighter. This continues up to the approach to Bradford-on-Avon. Through Bradford-on-Avon itself, the road descends a steep 1 in 7 (14%) hill, known as ''Masons Lane''. This is the road's main bottleneck since this leads to Bradford-on-Avon's only vehicle bridge over the River Avon (which splits the town in two), and at this stage travellers have merged with traffic from

Melksham Melksham () is a town on the River Avon in Wiltshire, England, about northeast of Trowbridge and south of Chippenham. At the 2011 census, the Melksham built-up area had a population of 19,357, making it Wiltshire's fifth-largest settlement aft ...

Corsham Corsham is a historic market town and civil parish in west Wiltshire, England. It is at the south-eastern edge of the Cotswolds, just off the A4 national route, southwest of Swindon, southeast of Bristol, northeast of Bath and southwest of ...

and Chippenham ( B3109) which is fed here. The road passes on towards Trowbridge. 1/4 mile (400 m) after ''Town Bridge'', traffic to

Frome Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in eastern Somerset, England. The town is built on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills, and centres on the River Frome. The town, about south of Bath, is the largest in the Mendip d ...

splits off upon the restart of the B3109 which had been concurrent with the A363 for a short distance, thus easing congestion. The road passes over a low hill, then descends into Trowbridge. It is concurrent for a short distance with the A361, then emerges as ''Bradley Road''. There are three roundabouts as the road goes through

North Bradley North Bradley is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, between Trowbridge and Westbury. The village is about south of Trowbridge town centre. The parish includes most of the village of Yarnbrook, and the hamlets of Brokerswood, Cu ...

via the White Horse Business Park, to the south. Until the 1980s it passed through North Bradley's residential lane, but since the opening of the business park, the older road through North Bradley became declassified. The A363 then terminates at a roundabout with the A350 in Yarnbrook. When it was first designated in the 1920s, the road continued on from Yarnbrook as far as Chippenham, but by 1948 this stretch had been redesignated as a continuation of the A350.

Points of interest

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:3-0363 Roads in England Transport in Wiltshire Roads in Somerset