Star.pngStar.pngStar.pngStar.pngStar grey.png

Amersham

From Roader's Digest: The SABRE Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Amersham
Location Map ( geo)
The Market Hall - Geograph - 829811.jpg
Cameraicon.png View gallery (78)
County
Buckinghamshire
Forward Destination on
A355, A413
Next Primary Destinations
Aylesbury • Beaconsfield • London (Uxbridge)
Other Nearby Primary Destinations
High Wycombe • Watford
Places related to the A355
Places related to the A413
Places related to the A404

Amersham is a Primary Destination in the Chilterns. Historically it was a coaching town, with a great many coaching inns. Nowadays it is a commuter town, served by the very fringes of London Underground. Amersham's position between London and the West Midlands, on one of the flatter routes through the Chilterns, has meant that several proposals to link the two areas - most notably the Northern and Western Motorway of 1923 and the High Speed 2 railway proposals of 2010 - have passed just north of the Old Town (modified proposals for HS2 take the railway south of the town to minimize damage to the historic properties).

Routes

Route To Notes

A355

Beaconsfield, Coleshill formerly (and originally) B473 and was the B472 between the mid-1920s and 1935

A413

London, Chalfont St Peter, Chalfont St Giles

A413

Aylesbury, Great Missenden, Wendover

A404

Watford, Little Chalfont, Rickmansworth Formerly part of Hatfield - Reading Turnpike.

A404

Hazelmere, Wycombe Formerly part of Hatfield - Reading Turnpike. Was renumbered from A416 in 1935

A416

Chesham, Berkhamsted

A4154

Links A404 with A416. Formerly a spur of the A404, and before 1935 it was the A4090.

B4441

Sycamore Road between A416 and A4154

B4442

Chalfont St. Giles from Little Chalfont

U201

Chestnut Lane and the side roads off it

U202

Plantation Road

U390

Grove Road, Roundwood Road & Park Road and side roads

U731

Amersham and Wycombe College Lincoln Park and side roads

U764

Quill Hall Lane
Hyde Heath Copperkins Lane
Latimer, Flaunden Stony Lane, Little Chalfont

N&W
M'way

London, The NORTH would have passed immediately to the north of Amersham as it was then (i.e. just the southern, Old Town) [1]

History

Amersham was an important stop at the crossroads between the main coaching road between London and Aylesbury (and further to Oxford and Birmingham) and the route from Reading to Hatfield. It was mostly confined to a narrow strip of development in the Misbourne Valley (now called the Old Town), with a large common to the north. At the turn of the 20th Century, the Metropolitan railway opened at the top of the hill, and spurred some development there. However it wasn't until the Metroland movement of the 1930s that development 'on-the-hill' really took off.

The maps below show some of the history of road numbering in Amersham. Amersham classified roads.GIF

In the 1922 Road Lists, the old coaching routes were classified as follows: the London - Aylesbury route became the A413; the former turnpike towards Reading, the A416; and the former turnpike towards Hatfield, the A404. Other routes were also numbered: the road to Chesham and Berkhamstead as the A416 and the road to Beaconsfield and Slough as the B473.

Development, or perhaps error, led to the creation in 1924 of the A4090, running along the top of the hill. The next year, the B4441 was created, properly serving the core of the new developments in the area known as "Amersham on the Hill". The 1920s South Buckinghamshire Renumbering changed the number of the Amersham to Beaconsfield road to B472, which was undone in the 1935 Road numbering revision. Also renumbered in 1935 was the A416 Amersham - High Wycombe - Marlow - A4 route and the A4090: both became parts of the A404.

Being the shortest route between Aylesbury and London, the A413 got upgraded over time, giving Amersham a controversial bypass in the 1980s. Pressure from Hertfordshire Council to upgrade the A41, led to the A413's fall from favour as the way to get to Aylesbury, but only after Buckinghamshire Council had built the controversial Amersham and Wendover bypasses.

The A404 to High Wycombe used to be primary; however, when Beaconsfield became a Primary Destination, the primary route between the two was diverted via Beaconsfield and the M40. There never has been a primary route between Watford and Amersham.

Named junctions in and around Amersham

Image Name Classified Road(s) Grid Reference More Info Map
Photo-required.png Ann's Corner SU967991 in nearby Chesham Bois
SABRE • Google • geo
Blackhorse Bridge (C) Simon Hollett - Geograph - 3916989.jpg Blackhorse Bridge A404 / A4154 SU973981
SABRE • Google • geo
Boot and Slipper roundabout (C) Simon Hollett - Geograph - 3917282.jpg Boot and Slipper Roundabout A416 / A4154 SU962988 Named after pub
SABRE • Google • geo
Photo-required.png Gore Hill Roundabout A355 / A413 SU959970
SABRE • Google • geo
Roundabout on the Amersham bypass (C) David Howard - Geograph - 2633037.jpg Hospital Roundabout A404 / A413 SU952967
SABRE • Google • geo
Roundabout in Amersham Old Town centre - Geograph - 2254812.jpg Market Square SU957973 The original centre of Amersham, now two mini roundabouts linked by a stretch of S4
SABRE • Google • geo
Little Chalfont- Nightingales Corner - Geograph - 102239.jpg Nightingales Corner A404 / B4442 SU993974 in nearby Little Chalfont
SABRE • Google • geo
Chesham Road, Amersham - Geograph - 2216981.jpg Oakfield Corner A416 / B4441 SU963984 Double Mini Roundabout
SABRE • Google • geo
Amersham- A413 Shardeloes roundabout - Geograph - 1895652.jpg Shardeloes Roundabout A413 SU945981 End of the bypass
SABRE • Google • geo
Photo-required.png Stanley Roundabout A355 / A404 / A413 SU967970
SABRE • Google • geo
B4441 Market.JPG Sycamore Corner A4154 / B4441 SU965987 Double Mini Roundabout
SABRE • Google • geo
Photo-required.png TESCO's Roundabout A355 SU960971 Roundabout by the TESCO Superstore
SABRE • Google • geo

Heritage Cycle Routes

Three cycle loops from Amersham, into the surrounding areas, have been created. Each one is roughly 25 miles long, though short cuts exist to create family-friendly routes. All routes begin at the council offices near to the station.

  • Hampden Route (Red, North West) via Chesham Bois, Hyde Heath, Little Missenden, Holmer Green, Great Kingshill, Prestwood, Great Missenden, South Heath, Kings Ash, The Lea, Lee Common, Chartridge, Lower Pednor, Chesham and Chesham Bois
  • Harding Route (Yellow, North East) via Chesham Bois, Chesham, Asheridge, St Leonards (near Wendover), Cholesbury, Ashley Green, Ley Hill, Flaunden and Chenies (with an alternate route from Chenies back to Amersham via Little Chalfont)
  • Milton Route (Green, South) via Little Chalfont, Chorleywood West, Chalfont Common, Chalfont St Peter, Chalfont St Giles, Seer Green, Coleshill, Penn Bottom, Penn Street and Winchmore Hill

Links




Amersham
Junctions
Roads
Miscellaneous
Related Pictures
View gallery (78)
Longfield Drive, Amersham - Geograph - 50651.jpgAmersham- Stanley Hill Avenue - Geograph - 131792.jpgA413, Amersham bypass - Geograph - 1158169.jpgA413 Amersham bypass - Geograph - 966183.jpgRoundabout in Amersham Old Town centre - Geograph - 2254812.jpg
Places in Berks, Bucks, Oxon and Hants
Major DestinationsBournemouth • Milton Keynes • Oxford • Portsmouth • Reading • Southampton • Winchester
Primary DestinationsAlton • Amersham • Andover • Aylesbury • Banbury • Basingstoke • Beaconsfield • Bracknell • Fareham • High Wycombe • Maidenhead • Newbury • Petersfield • Ringwood • Slough
Other PlacesAbingdon • Aldershot • Ascot • Bicester • Buckingham • Burford • Camberley • Chipping Norton • Chesham • Christchurch • Cowes • Eastleigh • Farnborough • Freshwater • Gerrards Cross • Gosport • Havant • Henley • Hungerford • Lyndhurst • Marlow • Newport • Princes Risborough • Romsey • Ryde • Sandown • Silchester • Southampton Airport • Thame • Wallingford • Waterlooville • Wendover • Windsor • Witney • Wokingham

SABRE - The Society for All British and Irish Road Enthusiasts
Discuss - Digest - Discover - Help