A345
From Roader's Digest: The SABRE Wiki
| A345 | ||||||||||
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| From: | Salisbury (SU143307) | |||||||||
| To: | Marlborough (SU185687) | |||||||||
| Length: | 26.9 miles (43.3 km) | |||||||||
| Meets: | A36, A303, A3028, B3085, A342, B3087, B3052, A4 | |||||||||
| Former Number(s): | A338, B3087, A419 | |||||||||
| Now part of: | A338, A346, A419, A4259, B4006, A4311 | |||||||||
| Primary Destinations | ||||||||||
| Marlborough • Salisbury • | ||||||||||
| Highways Authorities | ||||||||||
| Traditional Counties | ||||||||||
| Route outline (key) | ||||||||||
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The A345, like the A342 and A360, is another great drive over Salisbury Plain and the historical area around Stonehenge.
Route
The route starts off at a roundabout with the A36 Salisbury Ring Road and heads north to the prehistoric castle of Old Sarum at the edge of town. From here, it's a nice fast run across the plain, along the side of the Avon Valley. The road runs close to Boscombe Down Airfield, which is one of the most important RAF airfields in the country, and one place that's likely to land you in big trouble if you get out and start taking photos of the scenery!
Having passed around Boscombe Down, there's a descent to Amesbury, the nearest town to Stonehenge. The famous megaliths lie a few miles to the west of here. Meanwhile, the A345 passes through the town and at the other side crosses over the A303 at a large roundabout at Countess. This is the first at-grade junction that the A303 meets travelling westbound from the M3 - nearly 30 miles away. If / when the tunnel under Stonehenge and closure of the A344 takes place, there are plans to remove the existing visitor "facilities" and move them here.
From here, the A345 runs past more MOD activity at Larkhill and runs back onto the down, following the Avon Valley again, though there are numerous more buildings and villages along this section. It snakes its way along the valley through Upavon, where it meets the A342 on its own journey over the plain, and crosses the Avon to the north of the village. Then there's a straight run into Pewsey.
Beyond Pewsey, there's a view of Oare Hill to the north, which the A345 heads up to and climbs over. Then it runs along the hill and descends sharply just before entering Marlborough, where it meets the A4 at the bottom of the hill and terminates.
History
The A345 used to continue north on what is now the A346, and cannoned off the A419 to head through the middle of Swindon, meeting the A420 / A361 multiplex where the Magic Roundabout is now. It then headed north on what is now the A4311 to meet the A419 again running along Ermin Street, where it ended. However, the original number of the section through Swindon was the A419.
In 1922, the A345 used to run south of Marlborough along the current A346 as far as Ludgershall where it terminated on the A342. The A345 was rerouted along what was largely the A338 in 1935.
As such, the A345 does not follow its original route at all.
An image has been requested for this article.
