A1120
A1120 | ||||
Location Map ( geo) | ||||
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From: | Stowmarket (TM059573) | |||
To: | Yoxford (TM396688) | |||
Distance: | 26 miles (41.8 km) | |||
Meets: | A1308, A14, A140, A12 | |||
Former Number(s): | B1115, B1119, B1120 | |||
Old route now: | B1115 | |||
Highway Authorities | ||||
Traditional Counties | ||||
Route outline (key) | ||||
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For the original A1120 in Cambridge, see A1120 (Cambridge).
Route
The A1120 is a small A-road in Suffolk that links Stowmarket to the A12 near Yoxford. Most of the route is signed as the 'A1120 Tourist Route', complete with RCS style signs in brown, giving mileages to various tourist attractions along the route. Oddly, at some junctions (including the end of the route at the A12, and the crossing of the A140) the only indication that the road is classified is the brown sign: through traffic is signed instead via the A14 and A12 (see Telegraph article).
Stowmarket - Yoxford
The road begins in Stowmarket, at a junction with the A1308 and B1113, both of which used to be the A45. The first length is a D2 route, though limited to 50 mph and is also less than a mile long before reaching a roundabout with the local Tesco superstore. The D2 resumes for 200 yards or so, before reaching Cedars Interchange, better known as A14 J50. This is the end of the high standard A1120, and most traffic leaves to join the A14 here. The little traffic that does continue on down the 'Tourist Route' will find the road is little better than a B-road in standard, as the road twists and turns through Stowupland; at one point in the village there is a 90-degree bend (but not a true TOTSO as the A1120 keeps priority) with a local road.
The A1120 continues its twistiness through Forward Green, before reaching the first in a series of villages known collectively as 'The Stonhams', the first being Earl Stonham. Then there is a flat give-way junction with the A140, before the road passes through the second Stonham, Stonham Aspal, whose name is frequently misspelled as Stonham Aspall. The tourist route then passes its main attraction, Stonham Barns, a well-known owl sanctuary, before reaching a stop sign in the village of Pettaugh, where a TOTSO (though more so for the other direction) takes traffic right, with the road to the left leading to Debenham and the B1077. There is no improvement in standard, as the road continues to challenge drivers with a number of tight bends, including a sharp bend at the junction with the B1077 just past Pettaugh. The road is then a little straighter until Earl Soham (not to be confused with Earl Stonham), where the twistiness resumes before another TOTSO, again a right turn, with another unclassified road. Saxtead Green provides a right turn to the B1119, before winding on past Saxtead Mill and proceeding to Dennington, with junctions with the B1116 leading to Framlingham to the south, and several villages to the north, including Fressingfield and Laxfield.
After this junction, the road continues without much ceremony, its final junction with a classified road being with the B1120. From the other direction, the B1120 is the route to Framlingham, and indeed the road from here to the terminus was the full length of the B1120 once upon a time. It proceeds through Peasenhall and Yoxford, passing through the middle of both, before finally ending its twisty, slow trek from Stowmarket on the A12. The route onwards is part of the B1122 to Saxmundham.
History
The A1120 is a 1950s creation, cobbled together from the route of various other roads. Originally the Stowmarket to Stonham Aspal section was numbered B1114 - but this became an extension of the B1115 in 1935. The road through Pettaugh was unclassified after which the B1115 (which went north via Debenham) continued east to Saxtead Green (and on to Framlingham). The B1119 passed to the north of Framlingham (only part of which was classified in 1922) and then the B1120 concluded the route to Yoxford.
When the A1120 came into existence it took a straighter route to the south of Debenham.
The original western end of the A1120 was on the A45 (now A1308) in the centre of Stowmarket; when that road was moved onto the bypass the A1120 was moved to meet it and the bypassed section renumbered as the B1115 once again.
A1120 | ||
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