B1008
| B1008 | ||||
| Location Map ( geo) | ||||
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| From: | Chelmsford (TL708071) | |||
| To: | Great Dunmow (N) (TL621236) | |||
| Via: | Ford End | |||
| Distance: | 13.7 miles (22 km) | |||
| Meets: | A1099, A1016, A130, A131, B1417, A120, B1256, B1057, B184 | |||
| Former Number(s): | A130, A131 | |||
| Primary Destinations | ||||
| Highway Authorities | ||||
| Traditional Counties | ||||
| Route outline (key) | ||||
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The B1008 is a much-extended B-road in Essex.
As first designated in 1922, the B1008 was a short link in Chelmsford. It started by Shire Hall at the northern end of the High Street (A130), heading north from there along New Street before turning west to follow Rectory Lane and rejoin the A130 at a T-junction, where it terminated. The total length was about three quarters of a mile. Most of this route is still numbered B1008; however, the first 300 yards of New Street, south of the intersection with Victoria Street (A1099) has since been declassified.
A notable curiosity is that for 50 years or more Ordnance Survey maps consistently labelled this route B1003, despite simultaneously showing the "real" B1003 16 miles away in Bishop's Stortford. This may be an indication that the Chelmsford B1008 was never actually signposted on the ground.
With the rerouting of the A130 along Essex Regiment Way (Broomfield bypass), the B1008 was extended north from its original terminus to follow the old A130 through Broomfield to Little Waltham. The A130 had originally turned off just before Little Waltham and so the section of B1008 that now runs past the village is a part of the pre-bypass A131.
Until 2008, the B1008 ended at Sheepcotes Roundabout, the present junction of the A130 and A131 just north of Little Waltham. However, in that year the A130 onward from there to Great Dunmow was reclassified and became an extension of the B1008. This means that of the three routes meeting at Sheepcotes the B1008 is today the only one that does not terminate there. It continues through Ford End and Barnston to reach the A120 Dunmow bypass.
In the mid 2010s, the B1008 was further extended to follow the old route of the B184 through the centre of Dunmow as far as the northern end of the town's new western bypass at Bowyers Bridge Roundabout. The overall effect of all these extensions is that the B1008 is now something like 18 times longer than it was in 1923!
