B3222
| B3222 | ||||||||||
| Location Map ( geo) | ||||||||||
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| From: | Exebridge (SS933243) | |||||||||
| To: | Barlynch (SS935278) | |||||||||
| Via: | Brushford & Dulverton | |||||||||
| Distance: | 4.3 miles (6.9 km) | |||||||||
| Meets: | A396, B3223, A396 | |||||||||
| Old route now: | A396 | |||||||||
| Highway Authorities | ||||||||||
| Traditional Counties | ||||||||||
| Route outline (key) | ||||||||||
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Route
The B3222 is a strange U-shaped road, connecting the small market town of Dulverton with the A396.
The road actually starts in Devon, on the A396 at Exebridge, but almost immediately crosses the Exe Bridge into Somerset. We then pass through Brushford, before picking up a wide and pleasant road along the banks of the River Barle, heading north west and entering Dulverton on its south side.
Almost immediately upon entering the town, we turn sharply to the east and cross the Barle Bridge into the High Street. On the left, the B3223 from Lynton arrives after crossing Exmoor. Then, at the top of the High Street, we turn around to the right, passing modern housing estates and so reaching the edge of this small but pretty market town. After half a mile, we cross the Hele Bridge, once more over the River Exe, and to terminate on the A396 at Machine Cross, Barlynch.
History
That is not the end of the story, however. In 1922 the B3222 cannoned off the A396 at Exebridge to follow the River Exe downstream to cross the A361 and meet the A396 again to the north of Cove. Then in the early 1930s the A396 and B3222 swapped numbers between Exebridge and Bampton. This gave the A396 its current route bypassing Bampton and the B3222 ran into the town, where it ended on the A361 (the road immediately south of Bampton retained its number, becoming a spur of the A396). This southern section of the B3222 had been declassified by the 1990s.
