- Tollhouse at Moretonhampstead
- Tollhouse at Whiddon Down
- Tollhouse at Bovey Tracey
- Tollhouse at Forches Cross, demolished in 2009
A382 | |
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Route information | |
Length | 19.1 mi [1] (30.7 km) |
Major junctions | |
South end | Newton Abbot 50°31′43″N3°36′54″W / 50.52872°N 3.615105°W |
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North end | Whiddon Down 50°43′13″N3°50′51″W / 50.720333°N 3.84745°W |
Location | |
Country | United Kingdom |
Constituent country | England |
Primary destinations | Newton Abbot, Bovey Tracey, Lustleigh, Moretonhampstead |
Road network | |
The A382 is a road in South West England, connecting Newton Abbot to the A38, then to Bovey Tracey and on through Moretonhampstead to the A30. [2]
The road starts in Newton Abbot at the junction with the A381, continuing out through the town, past the connection to the A383 which links to the A38 southbound.
It continues past Stover School, Stover Country Park and the Newton Abbot branch of Trago Mills before arriving at the junction with the A38, known as Drumbridges. [3] From the A38 roundabout, the road continues in a straight line for 2 km, known locally as the "Bovey Straight" [4] across Bovey Heath, with Heathfield on the east and Great Plantation on the west towards Bovey Tracey.
The road used to go through the centre of Bovey Tracey, but since 1987 it has bypassed the town, following part of the route of the old Moretonhampstead and South Devon Railway line, from where that line crossed the road near the former Bovey Tracey Pottery to just north of the junction with the B3387 road to Widecombe-in-the-Moor and Haytor. The former Bovey railway station was retained at the side of the road and is now a heritage centre. [3]
The bypass continues on a northerly route west of the town until it joins the former turnpike road which follows the hillside to Lustleigh, and thereafter the valley of the Wray Brook. It passes the former Hawkmoor County Sanatorium and the village of Lustleigh before arriving in the town of Moretonhampstead where the B3212 heads towards Postbridge and Princetown in one direction and towards Exeter in the other.
From here, the A382 continues north-west, through the small settlements of Easton and Sandy Park, eventually arriving at Whiddon Down, where there is a bypass around the village, before the road joins up with the A30 road. The A30 junction was previously a roundabout, known as the Merrymeet junction, [5] but was replaced in 2006 by a split-level junction allowing the A30 dual carriageway to run unimpeded by traffic from the A382, in what had been a major cause of traffic. [6] The new junction opened in December 2006. [7]
The road mainly follows the route of the road built by the Newton Bushell Turnpike Trust, one of a number of turnpike trusts operating in Devon, who upgraded, built, and maintained a number of trunk roads, which were often poorly served by the parish councils who were responsible for road maintenance but often prioritised roads within the parish rather than those between parishes. [8]
The trust was given the requisite Act of Parliament following a "petition of the Gentlemen, Clergy, and Freeholders of the feveral Parithes of Teingrafe, Bovey Tracey, Luftley, North Bovey, and Moreton Hampftead" on 19 January 1761, due their road being "incommodious, having a very troublesome ascent and descent, that has scarcely ever been considered a public road". [9] This caused the building of the turnpike road from Newton Bushell (now Newton Abbot) to Moretonhampstead. At Moretonhampstead, it met with the road of the Moretonhampstead Turnpike Trust which ran from Cherrybrook on Dartmoor to Dunsford (now the B3212) where it joined the Exeter turnpike. [10]
In 1826, a further Act was made to both repair and improve the road from Newton to Moretonhampstead, as well as extend it to Whiddon Down through the village of Sandy Park, [11] where it would join with the turnpike of the Okehampton Turnpike Trust. [12]
The turnpike trust had eight tollhouses along the route (as well as three on their branch to Ashburton, now the A383), [11] of which three remain standing. These were at:
The tollhouse at Forches Cross was demolished in 2009, despite the recommendation of the planning officer to refuse permission, as part of a deal by the adjacent garden centre to improve the dangerous junction. [13]
The turnpike trust had distinctive "Newton detail" milestones on the road between Newton and Moretonhampstead, although due to their non-completion of all of the agreed works from Moreton to Whiddon Down, there are none on that stretch. Fourteen of these original 26 milestones still remain, [11] marked with destinations and a distance in miles, furlongs, and poles, [14] and they are listed at Grade II. [15] [16]
Bypassing the town of Bovey Tracey was suggested in the 1930s by the owner of Parke, with a proposed route from the Dolphin Hotel North to the road near Dean Parke. [17]
The scheme was once again revived in the 1960s, with a proposed building date of 1971-1981. [18]
In the 1980s, a £3m scheme was proposed and this led to a public inquiry due to disagreement over the route, [19] despite being supported by council planners. [20] The bypass was finally approved in 1986 to largely follow the disused line of the Moretonhampstead and South Devon Railway. [21]
Construction had a number of unexpected elements, including the requirement for special tunnels to be installed under the road for the use of badgers, [22] and the discovery of granite milepost, which was re-erected close to the new road. [23]
The construction necessitated the demolition of a twin-arch road bridge near the Bovey Pottery (now the House of Marbles), [24] despite a campaign to save the bridge by local campaigners. [25] It also meant the 11-month closure of the road to Ashburton as the original rail bridge was demolished and replaced. [26]
The new bypass finally opened in October 1987, being accompanied by a celebratory fete titled "Bypass '87", [27] which raised money for charity, prior to its official opening a few days later by the county council chairman. [28]
The total final cost of the bypass was £2.25m, [29] (equivalent to over £6m in 2023 [30] ) and attracted some early criticism as being a "white elephant". [31]
In 2021 an upgrade of the section of road between Forches Cross and Whitehill Cross was made, costing £5.1m
In 2024 construction started on the construction of a link road from Forches Cross to Newton Abbot Community Hospital, called the Jetty Marsh Link, as well as improvements from Forches Cross to Drumbridges, anticipated to cost over £38m. [32] This will also involve connecting to a new link road running from near Forches Cross down to join the A383. [33] This link road is claimed to be the UK's first carbon negative road project, [34] with efforts including the relocation of around 2,000 trees and provision of a temporary nursery for them to be replanted. [35]
The 2024 improvement will see the A382's first section of dual carriageway installed between the A38 and the Trago Mills roundabout, with widening all the way to Forches Cross. [36] The widening has involved the compulsory purchase of land in use as part of Stover Golf Course, [37] [38] and this necessitated the replacement of four holes of the course through expansion of the club. [39] The scheme requires new roundabouts and will be designed to also improve walking and cycling routes. [40] There will also be the provision of a link road from one of the new roundabouts to the A383 road through the Houghton Barton development. [41]
The A382 saw five fatal accidents between 1999 and 2010, two resulting in the death of a car driver, and three in the death of a motorcyclist. [42] The road carries warning signs specifically related to motorcycle accidents, indicating 13 accidents over 3 years between Bovey Tracey and Moretonhampstead. [43]
In the period 2018-2022, there was one fatal collision on the stretch of the road between Drumbridges and Bovey Tracey (as well as 10 accidents with injuries) and another between Easton and Whiddon Down (with 10 injury accidents), whilst the Bovey to Moreton section had 12 injuries, 11 injuries between Drumbridges and Forches Cross, 16 injuries between Forches Cross and Newton Abbot, and 3 injuries between Moreton and Easton. [44]
The A30 is a major road in England, running 284 miles (457 km) WSW from London to Land's End.
The A4 is a major road in England from Central London to Avonmouth via Heathrow Airport, Reading, Bath and Bristol. It is historically known as the Bath Road with newer sections including the Great West Road and Portway. The road was once the main route from London to Bath, Bristol and the west of England and formed, after the A40, the second main western artery from London.
The A38, parts of which are known as Devon Expressway, Bristol Road and Gloucester Road, is a major A-class trunk road in England.
Moretonhampstead is a market town, parish and ancient manor in Devon, situated on the north-eastern edge of Dartmoor, within the Dartmoor National Park. The parish now includes the hamlet of Doccombe, and it is surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes of Drewsteignton, Dunsford, Bridford, Bovey Tracey, Lustleigh, North Bovey and Chagford.
Teignbridge is a local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based in the town of Newton Abbot. The district also includes the towns of Ashburton, Buckfastleigh, Dawlish, Kingsteignton and Teignmouth, along with numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. Teignbridge contains part of the south Devon coastline, including the Dawlish Warren National Nature Reserve. Some of the inland western parts of the district lie within the Dartmoor National Park. It is named after the old Teignbridge hundred.
Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge District of Devon, England. Its 2011 population of 24,029 was estimated to reach 26,655 in 2019. It grew rapidly in the Victorian era as the home of the South Devon Railway locomotive works. This later became a major steam engine shed, retained to service British Railways diesel locomotives until 1981. It now houses the Brunel industrial estate. The town has a race course nearby, the most westerly in England, and a country park, Decoy. It is twinned with Besigheim in Germany and Ay in France.
Bovey Tracey is a town and civil parish in Devon, England, on the edge of Dartmoor, its proximity to which gives rise to the slogan used on the town's boundary signs, "The Gateway to the Moor". It is often known locally as "Bovey". It is about 10 miles south-west of Exeter and lies on the A382 road, about halfway between Newton Abbot and Moretonhampstead. The village is at the centre of the electoral ward of Bovey. At the 2011 census the population of this ward was 7,721.
Lustleigh is a small village and civil parish in the Wray Valley, inside the Dartmoor National Park in Devon, England. It is between the towns of Bovey Tracey and Moretonhampstead. The village has often been named amongst the best or prettiest villages in the country in various publications, particularly due to the traditional thatched buildings in the village centre, and local activities such as the Lustleigh Show. This has also led to it being noted as the most expensive rural location to buy a house.
The Moretonhampstead and South Devon Railway was a 7 ft 1⁄4 in broad gauge railway which linked the South Devon Railway at Newton Abbot railway station with Bovey, Lustleigh and Moretonhampstead, Devon, England.
Bovey railway station sometimes known as Bovey for Ilsington was on the Moretonhampstead and South Devon Railway at Bovey Tracey, Devon, England.
The A380 is a road in South West England, connecting the Torbay area to the Devon Expressway, and hence to the rest of Great Britain's main road network.
Hawkmoor Hospital, originally known as Hawkmoor County Sanatorium, was a specialist hospital near Bovey Tracey in Devon, England, founded in 1913 as a pulmonary tuberculosis sanatorium as part of a network of such facilities, instigated by the Public Health 1912. From 1948, the hospital catered for patients with a range of chest ailments, as well as chest surgery, and mental disability patients. From 1973, the facility dealt solely with mental health problems until its closure in 1987.
North Bovey is a village and civil parish situated on the south-eastern side of Dartmoor National Park, Teignbridge, Devon, England, about 11 miles WSW of the city of Exeter and 1.5 miles SSW of Moretonhampstead. The village lies above the eastern bank of the River Bovey from which it takes its name. In 2001 the population of the parish was 274, compared to 418 in 1901 and 519 in 1801.
Teigngrace is a civil parish centred on a hamlet that lies about two miles north of the town of Newton Abbot in Devon, England. According to the 2001 census, its population was 235, compared to 190 a century earlier. The western boundary of the parish mostly runs along the A382 road; its short northern boundary along the A38; and its eastern partly along the rivers Bovey and Teign. It comes to a point at its southern extremity, near Newton Abbot Racecourse. The parish is surrounded, clockwise from the north, by the parishes of Bovey Tracey, Kingsteignton, Newton Abbot and a small part of Ilsington.
Brimley Halt was a railway station open in 1928 by the Great Western Railway (GWR) to serve the village of Brimley that lies between Bovey Tracey and Ilsington in South Devon, England. It had a single platform and was located on a curved section of track without a passing loop or sidings. A special train to Bovey Tracey visited Brimley Halt on 5 July 1970, its last known use by a passenger train. The track had been lifted by 8 September 1975.
The Dartmoor Sunday Rover was a Devon County Council-supported bus and rail network in Devon, England. It was withdrawn after the 2015 season.
Parke is an historic estate in the parish of Bovey Tracey in Devon, England. The present mansion house known as Parke House, a grade II listed building situated 1/2 mile west of the centre of the town of Bovey Tracey and on the opposite side of the River Bovey, was rebuilt in 1826/8 by William Hole (1799-1859) and is today the headquarters of the Dartmoor National Park Authority.
The Newton Bushell Turnpike Trust was a turnpike trust company in Devon which built and maintained trunk road connections from the West of Newton Bushell (now Newton Abbot between 1760 and November 1872. The trust built several roads, including what is now the A382 from Newton to Whiddon Down and the A383 to Ashburton.