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 The A442 passing through Telford as Queensway. | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Length | 56.2 mi (90.4 km) | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end | Droitwich | |||
 A38  A449  A451  A448  A456  A458  A53 | ||||
| North end | Hodnet | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United Kingdom | |||
| Primary destinations | Kidderminster Bridgnorth Telford | |||
| Road network | ||||
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The A442 is a main road which passes through the counties of Worcestershire and Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England.
From Droitwich in Worcestershire it runs towards Kidderminster where it meets the A449 from Worcester. This section of road used to be the B4192 until the late 1970s when it was upgraded to A road status.
At Kidderminster, it starts again and then runs north-north-west into Shropshire, via Bridgnorth and Telford (where it crosses the M54 motorway). Through Telford it is known as Queensway, and the Eastern Primary (EP). It ends where it meets the A53 just outside the village of Hodnet. Before the A53 bypass around the village was built, the A442 continued through Hodnet and joined the A41 near Darliston, south of Whitchurch. This section of road however has now been downgraded: most of it is declassified, but part has been reclassified as part of B5065.
From Droitwich to Low Hill (south of Kidderminster) the road is probably ancient, as it is referred to in the Saxon charter for Whitlinge (in Hartlebury) dated AD 980 as a stræte. [1] This road was maintained by a Droitwich turnpike trust established in 1755. [2]
North of Kidderminster it was a 'way' in the Saxon bounds[ clarification needed ] of Wolverley before being joined by the great street at Shatterford. At Shatterford, the Prior of Worcester was authorised to assart (i.e. to clear) 100 acres (0.40 km2) of wood and heath "for the greater security of persons going through the said pass". From Shatterford the old course of the road goes through Romsley and Allum Bridge, to rejoin the present road at Quatt. The old survives as lane and tracks. The present road began life as a new turnpike built in the late 1820s by the Kidderminster turnpike trust, which had been responsible for the road as far as Quatford since 1760. Bridgnorth only became the northern end of the road in 1821. [3] [4] The trust remained responsible for the road until 1873. [5]
North of Bridgnorth, the road formed part of the Stafford and Newport turnpikes. The Trust was established in 1763, [6] becoming their third district, when their Act was renewed in 1783. Beyond Sutton Cross in Sutton Maddock the turnpike continued through Shifnal to Woodcote, where it joined another turnpike (now the A41 road). [7] This continuation is now classified as the B4379 and the A4169 road.
The stretch immediately beyond Sutton Cross was part of the Madeley turnpike district, going to the Bucks Head on Watling Street. This was turnpiked in 1764, continuing southeast to the New Inn on Rudge Heath, but that stretch of road was evidently not improved until the 1960s, when it was upgraded to become the B4176. The northern terminus was altered in 1827 when the road from Balls Hill in Dawley to Bucks Head was discontinued in favour of an alternative route to Watling Street. [8] [9] [10] The course of the road was altered again when a new major road was built to take traffic through the built-up area of Telford New Town in the 1970s. Some of the old routes have completely disappeared.
The next section of the old route is from Watling Street to the smithy at Crudgington. The first part of this is now the A5223 road, but the new course of A442 then rejoins the old one. This was turnpiked in 1725 with the Shrewsbury to Crackley Bank section of Watling Street. [11] [12]
Further sections of the road are also former turnpikes.
Kidderminster is a large market and historic minster town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, 17 miles (27 km) south-west of Birmingham and 15 miles (24 km) north of Worcester. Located north of the River Stour and east of the River Severn, in the 2011 census, it had a population of 55,530. The town is twinned with Husum, Germany.
Shropshire is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to the north, Staffordshire to the east, Worcestershire to the southeast, and Herefordshire to the south. A unitary authority of the same name was created in 2009, taking over from the previous county council and five district councils, now governed by Shropshire Council. The borough of Telford and Wrekin has been a separate unitary authority since 1998, but remains part of the ceremonial county.
The Severn Valley Railway is a heritage railway in Shropshire and Worcestershire, England. The 16-mile (26 km) heritage line runs along the Severn Valley from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, following the course of the River Severn for much of its route, and crossing the river on the historic Victoria Bridge.
Watling Street is a historic route in England that crosses the River Thames at London and which was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the Middle Ages. It was used by the ancient Britons and paved as one of the main Roman roads in Britannia. The route linked Dover and London in the southeast, and continued northwest via St Albans to Wroxeter. The line of the road was later the southwestern border of the Danelaw with Wessex and Mercia, and Watling Street was numbered as one of the major highways of medieval England.
The A5 is a major road in England and Wales. It runs for about 252 miles (406 km) from London to the Irish Sea at the ferry port of Holyhead. In many parts the route follows that of the Roman Iter II route which later took the Anglo-Saxon name Watling Street.
The A38, parts of which are known as Devon Expressway, Bristol Road and Gloucester Road, is a major A-class trunk road in England.
Bewdley is a town and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District in Worcestershire, England on the banks of the River Severn. It is in the Severn Valley three miles west of Kidderminster and 22 miles (35 km) southwest of Birmingham. It lies on the River Severn, at the gateway of the Wyre Forest national nature reserve, and at the time of the 2011 census had a population of 9,470. Bewdley is a popular tourist destination and is known for the Bewdley Bridge, designed by Thomas Telford, and the well preserved Georgian riverside.
Bridgnorth is a town in Shropshire, England. The River Severn splits it into High Town and Low Town, the upper town on the right bank and the lower on the left bank of the River Severn. The population at the 2011 Census was 12,079.
Wyre Forest is a large, semi-natural woodland and forest measuring 26.34 square kilometres (10.17 sq mi) which straddles the borders of Worcestershire and Shropshire, England. Knowles Mill, a former corn mill owned by the National Trust, lies within the forest.
The A458 is a route on the UK highway network that runs from Mallwyd, near Machynlleth, in Wales, to Halesowen, near Stourbridge, in England. On the way it passes through Welshpool, Shrewsbury, Much Wenlock, Bridgnorth and Stourbridge.
Hodnet is a village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. The town of Market Drayton lies 5.7 miles (9.2 km) north-east of the village.
The English county of Shropshire has a fairly large railway network, with 19 National Rail stations on various national lines; there are also a small number of heritage and freight lines, including the famous heritage Severn Valley Railway running along its eastern border with Worcestershire.
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.
Shatterford Hill is an English geographical feature that extends from Bewdley in north Worcestershire to Birdsgreen near Alveley, just over the border in Shropshire. The hill is a long ridge running up the east side of the Severn Valley and peaks at 202 metres near the village of Shatterford on the A442 road between Kidderminster and Bridgnorth.
Turnpike trusts were bodies set up by individual acts of Parliament, with powers to collect road tolls for maintaining the principal roads in Britain from the 17th but especially during the 18th and 19th centuries. At the peak, in the 1830s, over 1,000 trusts administered around 30,000 miles (48,000 km) of turnpike road in England and Wales, taking tolls at almost 8,000 toll-gates and side-bars.
The Severn Valley is a rural area of the West Midlands region of England, through which the River Severn runs and the Severn Valley Railway steam heritage line operates, starting at its northernmost point in Bridgnorth, Shropshire and running south for 16 miles (26 km) to Ribbesford, a few miles south of Bewdley, Worcestershire in the Wyre Forest.
The A491 is an A road in Zone 4 of the Great Britain numbering scheme.
Romsley is a hamlet and civil parish in southeast Shropshire, England. It is bounded on the north and west by Alveley and on the south by Upper Arley in Worcestershire. On its short eastern boundary it meets Compton on Kinver. It is a dispersed settlement and there is no church in the parish. The parish is mainly a farming community, comprising only 36 houses in 1961.
The River Worfe is a river in Shropshire, England. The name Worfe is said to derive from the Old English meaning to wander which the river is notable for in its middle section. Mapping indicates that the river begins at Cosford Bridge where the Cosford Brook and Albrighton Brook meet.
The North Midlands Rugby Football Union is a governing body for rugby union in part of The Midlands, England. The union is the constituent body of the Rugby Football Union for the counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire and the Greater Birmingham area.
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