A456 road (Great Britain)
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Known as the Hagley Road in Birmingham, the A456 is a main road in England running between
Central Birmingham Birmingham City Centre, also known as Central Birmingham and often known locally as town, is the central business district of Birmingham, England. Following the removal of the Inner Ring Road, the city centre is now defined as being the area wi ...
and Woofferton, Shropshire, south of Ludlow. Some sections of the route, for example Edgbaston near Bearwood, are also the route of the Elan Aqueduct which carries Birmingham's water supply from the
Elan Valley The Elan Valley ( cy, Cwm Elan) is a river valley situated to the west of Rhayader, in Powys, Wales, sometimes known as the "Welsh Lake District". It covers of lake and countryside. The valley contains the Elan Valley Reservoirs and Elan Villag ...
.


Route


Birmingham - Kidderminster

The A456 now starts in the underpass at the end of Broad Street ''Five Ways'' junction on the Middleway ( A4540) in Birmingham. It previously started at the Paradise Circus junction with the former Inner Ring Road (
A4400 Queensway is the name of a number of roads in central Birmingham, especially those that formed the A4400 Inner Ring Road. The name most often refers to the Great Charles Street Queensway tunnel, part of the A38. The Queensways were built as du ...
) but originally ran along New Street in the city centre. Heading West through the Birmingham suburbs of Edgbaston and
Quinton Quinton is a place name, a surname or a masculine given name. The place name originates from Old English ''cwen'' "queen" or ''cwene'' "woman" and ''tun'' "farmstead, estate". The English surname and given name may originate from the English plac ...
using a mixture of dual carriageway and single carriageway roads, though maintaining at least 2 lanes in each direction. Just beyond Quinton, the A458 exits towards Halesowen, while the A456 bypasses the town to the South, meeting the M5 at Junction 3. This route was completed in the 1960s, beginning with Quinton Expressway and resuming beyond the motorway junction as Manor Way (the Halesowen By-Pass). Part of the historic Staffordshire/Worcestershire border runs along the road by Lightwoods Park, and today this is the boundary between Birmingham City Council and the 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 The A491 is an A roads in Zone 4 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A road in Zone 4 of the Great Britain numbering scheme. History The road north of Oldswinford forms part of an ancient road, probably of Anglo-Saxon origin, joining the bur ...
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 Blakedown is a village in the Wyre Forest District lying along the A456 in the north of the county of Worcestershire, England. Following enclosures and the arrival of the railway, it developed both agriculturally and industrially during the 19th c ...
. Beyond there a dual carriageway section takes the road to Kidderminster, crossing the
A449 The A449 is a major road in the United Kingdom. It runs north from junction 24 of the M4 motorway at Newport in South Wales to Stafford in Staffordshire. The southern section of the road, between Ross on Wye and Newport forms part of the tru ...
, 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 West Midland Safari Park. The next town of Bewdley is now bypassed by a single carriageway road to the South and West, this road being completed in 1987. Just after Bewdley the
A4117 road The A4117 is a single-carriageway 'A road' in western England, largely in Shropshire, which passes through part of the Wyre Forest and Clee Hills. Route It branches from the A456 west of Bewdley, at a place called Fingerpost. Only the first ...
(to Cleobury Mortimer) begins at the Fingerpost junction with the A456. Continuing West, the road is entirely rural in nature, passing the Wyre Forest eventually meeting the A443 at a "T" junction. The road passes just to the North of
Tenbury Wells Tenbury Wells (locally Tenbury) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the northwestern extremity of the Malvern Hills District of Worcestershire, England. Its northern border adjoins Shropshire, and at the 2011 census it ...
, the A4112 providing access to the town, and then through the village of
Little Hereford Little Hereford is a small village and civil parish in Herefordshire, England. The civil parish includes the hamlet of Middleton. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 394. Location The village is in the north of the county ...
(therefore passing briefly through Herefordshire). Between Newnham Bridge and Burford the road enters Shropshire, and then enters Herefordshire for about the same distance, before entering Shropshire again at its junction with 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
Blakedown Blakedown is a village in the Wyre Forest District lying along the A456 in the north of the county of Worcestershire, England. Following enclosures and the arrival of the railway, it developed both agriculturally and industrially during the 19th c ...
section was the responsibility of one trust established in 1753 to improve roads from the market house in Stourbridge. Blakedown was then part of Hagley, giving rise to the name for it of 'Hagley Road'. Sections of the route have had other names. For example, the 1903 Ordnance Survey map shows the name "Beech Lane" by
Lightwoods House Lightwoods Park is a public park in Bearwood in the West Midlands, England. It lies on the north-west side of Hagley Road, which here forms the boundary between Birmingham and the borough of Sandwell. History of Lightwoods House The park was ...
west of Bearwood, and the area south of Hagley Road between Lordswood Road and Wolverhampton Road is still referred to as "Beech Lanes"


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.Details of the trusts are taken from the original Acts of Parliament establishing the trusts.


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

*
Birmingham Oratory The Birmingham Oratory is an English Catholic religious community of the Congregation of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri, located in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham. The community was founded in 1849 by St. John Henry Newman, Cong.Orat., the fi ...
, Edgbaston * West Midland Safari Park * Severn Valley Railway * Wyre Forest * River Teme


Water Crossings

The road crosses a number of water courses along its route, both natural and man-made. Traveling eastbound, one will cross Gosford Brook, River Teme, Ledwyche Brook, Corn Brook, River Rea, River Severn, River Stour, (in both Kidderminster and Halesowen), the
Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal is a navigable narrow canal in Staffordshire and Worcestershire in the English Midlands. It is long, linking the River Severn at Stourport in Worcestershire with the Trent and Mersey Canal at Haywoo ...
, the Elan Aqueduct and the
BCN Main Line The BCN Main Line, or Birmingham Canal Navigations Main Line is the evolving route of the Birmingham Canal between Birmingham and Wolverhampton in England. The name ''Main Line'' was used to distinguish the main Birmingham to Wolverhampton rout ...
, along with many other smaller streams and brooks.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:4-0456 Bridges across the River Severn Roads in England Transport in Birmingham, West Midlands Roads in Shropshire Roads in the West Midlands (county) Roads in Worcestershire Transport in Herefordshire