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A456
The A456 passing near Clent Hills
Route information
Length	40 mi (64 km)
Major junctions
East end	Birmingham
Major intersections	A38 A457 A4540 A4030 A4123 A458 M5 J3 A459 A491 A450 A449 A451 A442 A4535 A4117 A443 A4112 A49
West end	Woofferton
Location
Country	United Kingdom
Primary destinations	Birmingham Kidderminster Leominster
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones
← A454 → A457

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.

Route

Birmingham - Kidderminster

The A456 now starts on Hagley Road at Five Ways junction on the Middleway (A4540) in Birmingham. It previously started at the Paradise Circus junction with the former Inner Ring Road (A4400) but originally ran along New Street in the city centre. 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

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.

Birmingham - Blakedown

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, and the area south of Hagley Road between Lordswood Road and Wolverhampton Road is still referred to as "Beech Lanes"

Blakedown - Bewdley Bridge

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.

Bewdley - Newnham Bridge

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.

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

• Birmingham Oratory, Edgbaston
• West Midland Safari Park
• Severn Valley Railway
• Wyre Forest
• River Teme

Water Crossings

The road crosses a number of water coursesalong its route, both natural and human-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.

In Popular Culture

John Combe's 2008 book Get Your Kicks on the A456 (ISBN-10: 0955048206) documents the contributions made by musicians from the Kidderminster and Wyre Forest areas to pop and rock music between the mid-1950s and the 1970s, with reference to bands such as Chicken Shack and Led Zeppelin.

References

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

v t e A roads in Zone 4 of the Great Britain road numbering scheme
	A4 A40 A41 A42 A43 A44 A45 A46 A47 A48 A49
	A400 A403 A404 A405 A406 A412 A413 A414 A415 A417 A418 A419 A420 A421 A422 A423 A426 A427 A428 A429 A431 A432 A433 A441 A442 A444 A445 A446 A448 A449 A452 A453 A454 A456 A458 A461 A465 A466 A468 A469 A470 A473 A474 A475 A476 A477 A478 A479 A482 A483 A485 A486 A487 A489 A490 A491 A493 A494 A496 A498 A499
	A4005 A4006 A4008 A4010 A4018 A4032 A4042 A4050 A4053 A4054 A4055 A4059 A4060 A4061 A4063 A4069 A4074 A4076 A4080 A4085 A4086 A4103 A4107 A4109 A4110 A4113 A4117 A4118 A4119 A4123 A4130 A4133 A4135 A4136 A4138 A4142 A4144 A4146 A4148 A4150 A4155 A4160 A4161 A4174 A4200 A4202 A4204 A4214 A4216 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

v t e 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 Pauls Square Victoria Square
Suburban streets	Orphanage Road
A roads	A34 A38 A4040 (outer ring road) A41 A4400 (inner ring road) A45 A4540 (middle ring road) A47 A435 A456 A5127
Motorways	A38(M) M5 motorway M6 motorway
Defunct	The Crescent
Category

v t e 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 West Midlands 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	Route 5 Route 54

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

• Bridges across the River Severn
• Roads in England
• Transport in Birmingham, West Midlands
• Roads in Shropshire
• Roads in the West Midlands (county)
• Roads in Worcestershire
• Transport in Herefordshire