A3079
A3079 | ||||
Location Map ( geo) | ||||
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From: | Fowley Cross (SX558943) | |||
To: | Dunsland Cross (SS402039) | |||
Distance: | 12.8 miles (20.6 km) | |||
Meets: | A386, A3072 | |||
Former Number(s): | B3218 | |||
Primary Destinations | ||||
Highway Authorities | ||||
Traditional Counties | ||||
Route outline (key) | ||||
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For the former A3079 from Ilminster to Upottery, see A3079 (Ilminster - Upottery).
The A3079 runs from Fowley Cross near Okehampton to Dunsland Cross on the A3072 to Holsworthy.
A roundabout marks the initial junction with the A386 at Fowley Cross. The A3079 then heads west along an S2 road across typical Devon countryside. At Yelland is a 12% descent marked with a sign, followed by a 16% rise on the other side of the valley. At Thorndon Cross is a short 40 mph limit and we cross a bridge over a dismantled railway line - more on that later. The road then continues on and bears slightly to the right before going over a hill.
The next settlement, Halwill Junction, is named after the railway junction that was here. The railway line we've been following from Okehampton split here and three separate lines went north/west to Barnstaple, Bude and Launceston. None survived the Beeching cuts and the village now snoozes in the countryside. Graduated 40mph and 30 mph limits guard the village. More countryside follows and the road skirts the Forestry Commission plantation at Cookwothy. It eventually reaches a crossroads (if one counts the track opposite) west of Brandis Corner called Dunsland Cross, where it terminates on the A3072.
The entire length of the current road was formerly the B3218 (although that route continued eastwards into Okehampton town centre) and gained its current number in the 1980s.