The A458 is a route on the UK highway network that runs from

Mallwyd Mallwyd () is a small village at the most southern end of Gwynedd, Wales in the Dinas Mawddwy community, in the valley of the River Dyfi. It lies on the A470 approximately halfway between Dolgellau and Machynlleth, and forms the junction of t ...

, near Machynlleth, in Wales, merging with the A456

Hagley Road Known as the Hagley Road in Birmingham, the A456 is a main road in England running between Central Birmingham and Woofferton, Shropshire, south of Ludlow. Some sections of the route, for example Edgbaston near Bearwood, are also the route of ...

and the Quinton Expressway on the outskirts of Birmingham, in England. On the way it passes through Welshpool,

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

Much Wenlock Much Wenlock is a market town and parish in Shropshire, England, situated on the A458 road between Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth. Nearby, to the northeast, is the Ironbridge Gorge, and the new town of Telford. The civil parish includes the villag ...

, Bridgnorth, Stourbridge and Halesowen

History

Welshpool to Shrewsbury

The road was one of several from "Welch Gate and Cotton Hill" (''sic'') turnpiked on 1758. Between Buttington and Halfway House the original course of the road was abandoned after it was disturnpiked in 1837. It was replaced by a new road built along the foot of Moelygolfa (hill), built in 1801. This Turnpike Trust ended in 1877.

Shrewsbury to Bridgnorth

This road is likely to be Anglo-Saxon in origin, as it links the burhs of Bridgnorth and Shrewsbury. It was used by the army of Henry I, which cleared trees near it on Wenlock Edge to make the road safe. The road was turnpiked in 1752, the trust being solely concerned with this road. It remained a turnpike until 1875. The Bridgnorth bypass, opened in 1985, was classified as A458, taking the main road around the south of the town, previously it ran through Low Town, but ran along low ground at the foot of the hillside up to the town centre.

Bridgnorth to Quinton

The final section of the road was a late creation, consisting of a road laid out in 1805 when Morfe Heath was enclosed (as far as

Six Ashes Six Ashes is a small village in Shropshire, England, on the Shropshire side of the border with Staffordshire. See also *Tripartite Indenture The Tripartite Indenture was an agreement made in February 1405 among Owain Glyndŵr, Edmund Mortimer ...

and then various existing roads for the rest of its route. This was turnpiked in 1816 and remained under the control of a trust until 1877. It terminates in the

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 ...

area on Halesowen's border with Birmingham and Oldbury. The split junction with Stourbridge Ring Road on the western side of the town replaced the formerly two way narrow section of the road but which necessitated the demolition of buildings on the new alignment. Until the 1950s, it terminated in Halesowen town centre, but was extended approximately two miles eastwards in the 1950s along the former route of the A456, which was by-passed on a new road around the south of the town.B. Trinder, 258.

References

Roads in England Roads in Wales Transport in Powys Transport in Shropshire Roads in Worcestershire Roads in Gwynedd {{England-road-stub