The A144 is an A road in the English county of Suffolk. It runs from the town of Bungay, close to the border with

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, to the A12 trunk road near the village of

Darsham Darsham is a village in Suffolk, England. It is located approximately north east of Saxmundham. The village is bypassed by the A12 and is served by Darsham railway station, which is approximately one mile away from the village centre, on the ...

, passing through the market town of

Halesworth Halesworth is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in north-eastern Suffolk, England. The population stood at 4,726 in the 2011 Census. It lies south-west of Lowestoft, on a tributary of the River Blyth, upstream from Southwold. T ...

. It is around in length and is single carriageway throughout.

History

The A144 was first numbered in 1923 and originally ran from the outskirts of

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 ...

, through Bungay and

to the A12 at

. The section north of Bungay was reclassified as the B1332 in the 1960s, reducing the length of the A144 by half.Ordnance Survey One-inch to the mile, Seventh Series, 1955–1961
available at the National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 2015-10-24. Prior to the building of the Bungay northern bypass in the 1980s the road started in central Bungay at the Buttercross market place. The bypass was completed in 1983,Reeve.C (2013) ''Bungay Through Time'', Amberley Publishing Limited
Available online
retrieved 2015-10-24. re-routing the A143 around the northern edge of the town on the former Waveney Valley railway line which had closed to traffic in 1966. This led to the extension of the A144 as far as the bypass. The A143 had previously run through Bungay.

Route description

The A144 runs through the towns of Bungay and Halesworth in a generally north–south direction. It generally runs through rural areas along its route.

Bungay section

The A144 has its northernmost point at the roundabout with the A143 on the northern edge of Bungay near the Clays printing factory.''Landranger Sheet 134 – Norwich & the Broads'',

Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was a ...

1:50 000 sheet, 2015-10-21. It passes through the centre of the town, becoming part of the Bungay one way system established on a permanent basis in 2014.One-way system in Bungay to be made permanent
''Beccles and Bungay Journal'', 2013-12-21. Retrieved 2015-10-24.Bungay referendum to be held over roadworks
BBC news website, 2014-02-07. Retrieved 2015-10-24. This splits the road in places before it is reunited at the southern edge of the town centre having passed the grade I listed St Mary's Church. The road then passes Bungay Pool and Gym on the southern edge of the town before entering a rural section.

Bungay to Halesworth

South of Bungay the A144 runs through the parishes of St John, Ilketshall and St Lawrence, Ilketshall, passing close to both parish churches. Between St Lawrence and Halesworth it follows the route of the

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 lette ...

Stone Street for around .''Landranger Sheet 156 – Saxmundham, Aldeburgh & Southwold'',

1:50 000 sheet, 2015-10-21. Throughout this section the road is subject to a number of speed restrictions to slow traffic through villages and improve road safety.Action soon on A144 safety?
''

East Anglian Daily Times The ''East Anglian Daily Times'' is a British local newspaper for Suffolk and Essex, based in Ipswich. History The newspaper began publication on 13 October 1874, incorporating the ''Ipswich Express'', which had been published since 13 August ...

'', 2003-09-04. Retrieved 2015-10-21. In

Spexhall Spexhall is a village and civil parish in the north-east of the English county of Suffolk. The village, which is dispersed in nature, is around north of the market town of Halesworth Halesworth is a market town, civil parish and electora ...

parish it crosses the Lowestoft to Ipswich railway before arriving at the northern edge of Halesworth. The road crosses the railway again near

Halesworth railway station Halesworth railway station is on the East Suffolk Line in the east of England, serving the town of Halesworth, Suffolk. It is also the nearest station to the seaside town of Southwold. It is down the line from and measured from London Live ...

before bypassing the town centre to the east. The bypass was built in the late 1980s and leaves the town centre mainly pedestrianised.Halesworth – Local History
Halesworth and District Museum. Retrieved 2015-10-21. The B1123 from the east meets the A144 at the northern edge of the town centre, linking Halesworth to the A145 at

Blythburgh Blythburgh is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk. It is west of Southwold and south-east of Halesworth and lies on the River Blyth. The A12 road runs through the village which is split ...

. South of the town centre the westward section of the B1123 towards

Metfield Metfield is a village in Suffolk, England, but its name is derived from Medefeld or 'Meadow feld' (see ''Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place Names''). It is situated close to the border with Norfolk, being approximately 5 miles south eas ...

and Harleston joins the road, before the junction with the B1117 towards

Laxfield Laxfield is a small ancient village in northern Suffolk, England. It is located at a distinct bend in today's B1117 road. History Laxfield arose in Saxon times as it is known that an early church was there and the village itself appears in ...

and

Stradbroke Stradbroke ( ) is an English village in the Mid Suffolk district of the county of Suffolk. The ''Census'' of 2011 gave the parish a population of 1,408, with an estimate of 1,513 in 2018. Heritage The village was listed in the Domesday Book ...

is reached.

Halesworth to the A12

The road then re-enters a rural section, crossing the River Blyth before crossing the railway for a third time at a level crossing adjacent to Halesworth Golf Club. The A144 then runs through the centre of the village of Bramfield before reaching the A12 main trunk road between Great Yarmouth and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

to the north of the village of

Road Safety

The A144 is generally straight and has no record of significant safety issues. It has generally been rated as medium or low–medium risk in

European Road Assessment Programme European Road Assessment Programme (EuroRAP) is an international nonprofit ( vzw) organisation registered in Belgium. It operates from Worting House, Basingstoke, Hampshire. In partnership with national motoring organisations and local autho ...

(EuroRAP) surveys.Simple Measures Save Lives
,

Road Safety Foundation The Road Safety Foundation is a United Kingdom charity which carries out and procures research into safe road design and road safety. The Foundation is responsible for the European Road Assessment Program (EuroRAP) in the UK and Ireland. Histo ...

, May 2011. Retrieved 2015-10-21.Measuring to Manage – Tracking the safety of Britain's major road network
,

, 2013. Retrieved 2015-10-21. There were nine fatalities associated with road traffic accidents along its length between 1999 and 2010.Every death on every road in Great Britain 1999–2010
BBC news website. Data extracted for incidents on the A144 in Waveney District. Retrieved 2015-10-21. Congestion in Bungay has caused some safety problems on the A144MP lends support to Bungay bypass
''Beccles and Bungay journal, 2010-06-11. Retrieved 2015-10-24. and a one-way system was established in the town in 2014, the town having been bypassed to the north for east–west traffic in the 1980s. The road is limited to 30 miles per hour in Bungay and

as well as through some village areas. Some 40 mph and 50 mph restrictions are also in place either side of slower speed areas. Suffolk Constabulary operate mobile speed cameras on the road to enforce speed limits.Safecam
Suffolk Constabulary. Retrieved 2015-10-21. On-road cycle lanes, footpaths and pedestrian crossings are used within built up areas to support road safety, as do roundabouts at the northern junction of the road with the A143 and in Halesworth.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:1-0144 Roads in England Roads in Suffolk