A456 road

A456
The A456 passing near Clent Hills
Route information
Length:	40 mi^[1] (60 km)
Major junctions
East end:	Birmingham A38 road 52°28′45″N 1°54′23″W / 52.4791°N 1.9064°W / 52.4791; -1.9064
	A457 road A4400 road A4540 road A4030 road A4123 road A458 road [[Image:Motorway Left.svg\|[ \|x30px\|link=]] M5 motorway J3 A459 road A491 road A450 road A449 road A451 road A442 road A4535 road A4117 road A443 road A4112 road
West end:	Woofferton A49 road 52°18′44″N 2°42′17″W / 52.3122°N 2.7046°W / 52.3122; -2.7046
Location
Primary destinations:	Birmingham Kidderminster Leominster

Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones

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 the Elan Aqueduct which carries Birmingham's water supply from the Elan Valley.^[2]

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.

From Birmingham to Blakedown 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 west of Bearwood,^[3] and the area south of Hagley Road between Lordswood Road and Wolverhampton Road is still referred to as "Beech Lanes"^[4]^[5]

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.

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.^[6]

Route

Birmingham - Kidderminster

The A456 starts as Broad Street at the Paradise Circus junction on Queensway in the city centre, leading on to the Five Ways junction on the Middleway (A4540) in Birmingham, heading West through the Birmingham suburbs of Edgbaston and Quinton 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 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. Beyond there a dual carriageway section takes the road to Kidderminster, crossing the A449, 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 (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, the A4112 providing access to the town, and then through the village of Little Hereford (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

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

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 Elan Aqueduct and the BCN Main Line, along with many other smaller streams and brooks.

References

↑ "Driving directions to 52.312211, -2.704613". Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
↑ Ordnance Survey map, 1:2500 scale, 1903, annotation at junction of Hagley Road and Barnsley Road, Bearwood.
↑ Ordnance Survey map, 1903
↑ Ordnance Survey map, Sheet 139, Birmingham, 1990 edition
↑ Office for National Statistics, area designation for enumerators working on 2011 Census
↑ Details of the trusts are taken from the original Acts of Parliament establishing the trusts.

A roads in Zone 4 of the Great Britain road numbering scheme
	A4 A40 A41 A42 A43 A44 A45 A46 A47 A48 A49
	A403 A404 A405 A406 A412 A413 A414 A415 A417 A418 A419 A420 A421 A422 A423 A425 A426 A427 A428 A429 A431 A432 A433 A435 A441 A442 A444 A445 A446 A448 A449 A452 A453 A454 A456 A458 A461 A465 A468 A469 A470 A472 A473 A474 A475 A476 A477 A478 A482 A483 A484 A485 A486 A487 A488 A489 A490 A491 A493 A494 A496 A497 A498 A499
	A4005 A4006 A4008 A4010 A4012 A4018 A4025 A4032 A4037 A4040 A4042 A4050 A4053 A4054 A4055 A4059 A4060 A4061 A4063 A4067 A4069 A4074 A4076 A4080 A4085 A4094 A4103 A4107 A4109 A4110 A4113 A4117 A4118 A4119 A4123 A4130 A4133 A4135 A4136 A4138 A4142 A4146 A4148 A4150 A4155 A4160 A4161 A4169 A4173 A4174 A4202 A4212 A4216 A4217 A4221 A4226 A4230 A4232 A4234 A4240 A4241 A4260 A4361 A4400 A4536 A4540
List of A roads in Zone 4 List of B roads in Zone 4

Streets and roads in Birmingham, England
City centre streets	Bennetts Hill Broad Street Colmore Row Corporation Street Edmund Street Hurst Street New Street Newhall Street Paradise Circus Paradise Street
City centre squares	Brindleyplace Centenary Square Chamberlain Square Five Ways Old Square St Paul's Square Victoria Square
Suburban streets	Orphanage Road
A roads	A34 A38 A41 A45 A47 A435 A456 A5127 A4040 (outer ring road) A4400 (inner ring road)
Motorways	A38(M) M5 motorway M6 motorway
Defunct	The Crescent
Category

Transport in Worcestershire

Road

Motorways	M5 M42 M50
A-roads	A38 A44 A46 A422 A435 A441 A442 A448 A449 A456 A491 A4025 A4536
Service stations	Frankley services Hopwood Park services Strensham services
Other	Icknield Street List of settlements on the A38

Rail

Main lines	Cross-City Line Cross Country Route North Warwickshire Line Birmingham to Worcester via Bromsgrove Line Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster line Cotswold Line
Closed lines	Oxford–Worcester–Wolverhampton line (Dudley to Wolverhampton section)
Stations	Alvechurch Barnt Green Blakedown Bromsgrove Droitwich Spa Evesham Great Malvern Hagley Hartlebury Honeybourne Kidderminster Malvern Link Pershore Redditch Worcester Foregate Street Worcester Shrub Hill Wythall
Closed stations	Astwood Bank Aston-under-Hill Beckford Bengeworth Bredon Eckington Foley Park Halt Hinton Littleton and Badsey Malvern Wells Ripple Upton-on-Severn Wadborough
Heritage stations	Arley Bewdley Kidderminster Town Northwood Halt
Heritage railways	Severn Valley Railway
Under construction	Broadway Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway

Buses

Routes	Worcestershire bus route 144
Companies	Diamond Bus First Midland Red
Other	Bus transport in Bromsgrove

Waterways

Rivers	River Arrow River Avon River Severn River Stour River Teme
Canals	Droitwich Canal Leominster Canal Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal Worcester and Birmingham Canal
Other	Diglis Basin Hampton Ferry Tardebigge Engine House Tardebigge Locks

Footpaths

Long-distance footpaths	Cotswold Way Monarch's Way Severn Way Worcestershire Way Wychavon Way

Cycle paths

Coordinates: 52°22′06″N 2°19′41″W / 52.36847°N 2.32794°W / 52.36847; -2.32794

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