B4455
B4455 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Location Map ( geo) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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From: | Halford (SP263461) | |||||||||||||||||||||
To: | High Cross (SP472886) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Via: | Fosse Way | |||||||||||||||||||||
Distance: | 30 miles (48.3 km) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Meets: | A429, A422, B4086, B4100, A425, A423, B4453, A45, A428, B4428, B4112, A5 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Former Number(s): | B4451, B4029 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Highway Authorities | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Traditional Counties | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Route outline (key) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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For the original route in north Warwickshire, see B4455 (Wolvey Heath - Cross in Hand).
The B4455 follows much of the route of the Fosse Way through Warwickshire. Despite the age of this highway the road was only classified around 1990.
The road starts on the A429 at a roundabout north of Halford and runs northeasterly, following the Roman road. It quickly crosses the A422, then goes over the B4086 and later the B4100 at roundabouts by Compton Verney and Harwoods House Farm respectively. Just after the latter the B4455 bridges the M40 and starts to pass to the east of Royal Leamington Spa. It crosses the A425 at a roundabout and passes over the Grand Union Canal at Fosse Wharf.
Another 4 km brings us first to an awkward, sight-restricted crossroads at Hunningham Hill, then to Eathorpe bypass and a crossing of the River Leam, followed by a staggered crossroads junction with the A423 at Princethorpe. Here we share the route of the B4453 for about 60 m before turning left and resuming our northeasterly course towards Stretton-on-Dunsmore and across the A45 at a roundabout, in the centre of which stands a war memorial (see panel below).
"Here in the centre of England where Telford's coaching road from London to Holyhead is crossed by the Roman Fosse Way on the 12th of March 1915 His Majesty King George V reviewed his troops of the immortal XXIX Division shortly before they embarked for active service in Gallipoli. In memory of their stay in Warwickshire 1914-15 and their incomparable services since, the avenue on this road was replanted and this monument erected by inhabitants of the county".
The route passes under the Rugby to Coventry railway line to the immediate east of Wolston, after which it joins the A428 for 450 m to cross the River Avon by a signal-controlled one-lane bridge to Bretford. After dog-legging through the small village we head straight towards Brinklow, where there is another, more pronounced dog-leg, and we leave the village by multiplexing with the B4428 for 2 km to Stretton Wharf, crossing the Oxford Canal and the West Coast Main Line on the way.
Resuming its independent course, the B4455 then bridges the M6, crosses the B4112, and reaches its terminus on the A5, Watling Street, at High Cross. Beyond this point the Fosse Way is only a track.