A22 | |
---|---|
Route information | |
Length | 48.3 mi [1] (77.7 km) |
Major junctions | |
South end | A2280 / A2290 in Eastbourne 50°47′06″N0°16′26″E / 50.785°N 0.274°E |
A27 near Polegate A26 near Uckfield Contents
| |
North end | A23 / A235 in London (Purley) 51°20′15″N0°07′00″W / 51.3375°N 0.1166°W |
Location | |
Country | United Kingdom |
Counties | East Sussex, West Sussex, Surrey, Greater London |
Primary destinations | Croydon East Grinstead |
Road network | |
The A22 is one of the two-digit major roads in the south east of England. Radial, it carries traffic from London to the Eastbourne area of the East Sussex coast, in which town it ends.
For part of its route the A22 utilises the turnpikes opened in the 18th century:
By 1820 the road ran for 34 miles (54 km) from Stones End Street, Borough, London to Wych Cross.
The road was extended north to Westminster Bridge which was later renamed the A23.
The A22 diverges from the A23 south of London at Purley Cross Junction (south of Purley). It runs over the North Downs into Surrey, crossing the M25 London Orbital Motorway just north of Godstone. This section incorporates the Caterham bypass, which opened in 1939 as one of the earliest such roads in the country, including the Wapses Lodge roundabout at the northern end. [2] It then travels along the route of an ancient Roman road.
To the south of the M25, the road briefly enters West Sussex at Felbridge, just to the north of East Grinstead, and the A264 between Crawley and Tunbridge Wells merges with the A22 for a short section. The A22 bypasses East Grinstead town centre, running along a disused railway cutting, part of a line which closed as a consequence of the Beeching Report, which cut large numbers of local rail services. Richard Beeching was a local resident, and as a result, some local residents wanted to call this section the "Beeching Cut". [3] Instead, it was named Beeching Way.
To the south of East Grinstead the A22 crosses into East Sussex, just north of Forest Row. Between Forest Row and Nutley the road crosses the ancient Ashdown Forest. The A22 is the only road through the forest not subject to 40 mph speed limits. The A275 branches south to Lewes at the Wych Cross junction. Both the A272 and the A26 cross the A22 between Nutley and Uckfield. The A26 merges with the A22 for the section round Uckfield. There are bypasses of East Hoathly and Hailsham. There is a junction with the A27, to the north of the end of the A22, in Eastbourne.
County | Location | mi [1] | km | Destinations | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
East Sussex | Eastbourne | 0.0 | 0.0 | Lottbridge Drove (A2290 south-east) / Cross Levels Way (A2280 south-west) – Town centre, Hampden Park | Southern terminus; north-western terminus of A2290; north-eastern terminus of A2280 |
Polegate–Westham boundary | 2.1 | 3.4 | A27 east to A259 – Hastings, Bexhill | Southern terminus of A27 concurrency | |
Polegate | 3.8 | 6.1 | A27 west (Polegate By-Pass) / Hailsham Road (B2247) – Brighton, Newhaven, Lewes, Polegate, Alfriston, Willingdon | Northern terminus of A27 concurrency | |
Arlington–Hailsham boundary | 5.6 | 9.0 | A295 north-east (South Road) – Hailsham | South-western terminus of A295 | |
Hellingly | 7.5 | 12.1 | A267 north / A271 east – Heathfield, Bexhill, Hor-am, Horsebridge | Southern terminus of A267; western terminus of A271 | |
Little Horsted–Uckfield boundary | 16.0 | 25.7 | A26 south-west / Lewes Road – Lewes, Brighton, Newhaven | Southern terminus of A26 concurrency | |
Maresfield–Uckfield boundary | 18.9 | 30.4 | A26 north-east / A272 east – Crowborough, Tunbridge Wells, Heathfield, Maresfield, Buxted | Northern terminus of A26 concurrency; southern terminus of A272 concurrency | |
Maresfield | 19.6 | 31.5 | A272 west / Batts Bridge Road – Haywards Heath, Maresfield, Newick | Northern terminus of A272 concurrency | |
Wych Cross | 25.7 | 41.4 | A275 south (Lewes Road) – Lewes, Chelwood Gate, Danehill | Northern terminus of A275 | |
West Sussex | East Grinstead | 31.6 | 50.9 | A264 east (Moat Road) – Tunbridge Wells | Southern terminus of A264 concurrency |
Surrey | Felbridge | 32.8 | 52.8 | A264 west (Copthorne Road) to M23 – Crawley, Gatwick Airport | Northern terminus of A264 concurrency |
Godstone | 40.9 | 65.8 | A25 (Oxted Road) – Westerham, Redhill, Oxted, Godstone | Godstone signed northbound only | |
41.7– 41.9 | 67.1– 67.4 | M25 / B2235 (Godstone Hill) to M23 – Gatwick Airport, Reigate, Sevenoaks, Dartford, Godstone | M25 junction 6 | ||
Greater London | Purley | 48.0 | 77.2 | A2022 east (Downs Court Road) – Selsdon, Sanderstead | Southern terminus of A2022 concurrency |
48.3 | 77.7 | A23 / A235 north to M25 – Brighton, Gatwick Airport, Central London, Croydon, South Croydon | Northern terminus; southern terminus of A235 | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
|
East Sussex is a ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement is the city of Brighton and Hove, and the county town is Lewes.
The A23 road is a major road in the United Kingdom between London and Brighton, East Sussex, England. It is managed by Transport for London for the section inside the Greater London boundary, Surrey County Council and West Sussex County Council for the section shadowed by the M23 motorway, National Highways between the M23 and Patcham, and by Brighton and Hove Council from the A27 to the centre of Brighton.
Wealden is a local government district in East Sussex, England. Its council is based in Hailsham, the district's second largest town. The district also includes the towns of Crowborough, Polegate and Uckfield, along with numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. The district's name comes from the Weald, the landscape and ancient woodland which occupies much of the centre and north of the area.
The A27 is a major road in England. It runs from its junction with the A36 at Whiteparish in the county of Wiltshire, follows the south coast of Hampshire and West Sussex, and terminates at Pevensey in East Sussex.
The A25 road is an east–west main road in the South-East of England. Its carries traffic east from Guildford, Surrey, eastward through Surrey and into mid-west Kent, to the town of Sevenoaks, and then on to Wrotham Heath where it connects with the A20.
The A272 is a road in southeast England. It follows an approximate east–west route from near Heathfield, East Sussex to the city of Winchester, Hampshire.
Hailsham is a town, a civil parish and the administrative centre of the Wealden district of East Sussex, England. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book, where it is called Hamelesham. in one part, yet mentioned in another part of the same book as ‘’’Tilux’’’, the land of Ricard de Tunbrige. The town of Hailsham has a history of industry and agriculture.
Maresfield is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. The village itself lies 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north from Uckfield; the nearby villages of Nutley and Fairwarp; and the smaller settlements of Duddleswell and Horney Common; and parts of Ashdown Forest all lie within Maresfield parish.
Wealden was a constituency in East Sussex in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It was represented by members of the Conservative Party since its creation in 1983. Its final MP from 2015 to 2024, Nus Ghani, is the first Muslim woman to be elected as a Conservative member of Parliament.
Godstone is a village and civil parish in the Tandridge District of Surrey, England. It is 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Reigate, 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Oxted, 22 miles (35 km) east of Guildford and 18 miles (29 km) south of London. Close to the North Downs, both the North Downs Way and the Greensand Way pass through Godstone.
Nutley is a village in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. It lies about 5 mi (8.0 km) north-west of Uckfield, the main road being the A22. Nutley, Fairwarp and Maresfield together form the Maresfield civil parish.
The A264 is an east–west road in southern England that runs from Pembury in west Kent to Five Oaks in West Sussex.
The Wealdway, Kent and East Sussex, is a public footpath that runs for 83 miles / 134 km from Gravesend, Kent on the Thames estuary, to the A259 at Eastbourne, 3 km north of Beachy Head.
Groombridge railway station is a station on the Spa Valley Railway (SVR) in Groombridge, East Sussex, England. Once a busy station serving four directions, it closed in 1985 to British Rail services. A new station the other side of Station Road bridge was opened by the SVR in 1997 as part of a standard gauge heritage railway to Tunbridge Wells West.
The Cuckoo Line is an informal name for the now defunct railway service which linked Polegate and Eridge in East Sussex, England, from 1880 to 1968. It was nicknamed the Cuckoo Line by drivers, from a tradition observed at the annual fair at Heathfield, a station on the route. At the fair, which was held each April, a lady would release a cuckoo from a basket, it being supposedly the 'first cuckoo of spring'. The railway line served the following Sussex communities: Polegate, Hailsham, Hellingly, Horam for Waldron, Heathfield, Mayfield, Rotherfield and Eridge. Services continued through Eridge and onward via Groombridge to Tunbridge Wells.
The Three Bridges–Tunbridge Wells line is a mostly disused railway line running from Three Bridges in West Sussex to Tunbridge Wells Central in Kent via East Grinstead in West Sussex, a distance of 20 miles 74 chains (33.7 km). Opened in 1855, the main section of the line was a casualty of the Beeching Axe – the last train ran on 1 January 1967. The remaining section to Tunbridge Wells closed on 6 July 1985, although the section between Groombridge and Tunbridge Wells West was reopened in 1997 under the auspices of the Spa Valley Railway.
The London to Lewes Way is a 71 kilometres (44 mi) long Roman road between Watling Street at Peckham and Lewes in Sussex. The road passes through Beckenham and West Wickham, then crosses the North Downs above Titsey, on the county boundary between Surrey and Kent, and is overlain by Edenbridge High Street. The road continues on this alignment onto the high ground of Ashdown Forest, where the more grassy vegetation on the silted up outer ditches contrasts very clearly with surrounding heather in aerial photographs, then descends through Piltdown to Lewes, linking with the Sussex Greensand Way at Barcombe Mills and with a network of roads at Lewes.
The London to Brighton Way, also called the London to Portslade Way, is a Roman road between Stane Street at Kennington Park and Brighton in Sussex. The road passes through Streatham and Croydon, then through the Caterham Valley gap in the North Downs. It passes through Godstone and Felbridge, then follows an almost straight line through Ardingly, Haywards Heath, Burgess Hill and Hassocks to the South Downs at Clayton. At Hassocks it crosses the Sussex Greensand Way at a large Roman cemetery. It climbs the South Downs escarpment, crossing the ridgeway and connecting with other local tracks. South of Pyecombe the route is uncertain, and may have continued to Brighton or to Portslade.