B3114
B3114 | ||||||||||
Location Map ( geo) | ||||||||||
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From: | Chew Magna (ST571630) | |||||||||
To: | Emborough (ST614510) | |||||||||
Via: | West Harptree | |||||||||
Distance: | 10.7 miles (17.2 km) | |||||||||
Meets: | B3130, A368, A39, B3139 | |||||||||
Former Number(s): | B3113 | |||||||||
Highway Authorities | ||||||||||
Traditional Counties | ||||||||||
Route outline (key) | ||||||||||
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The B3114 is a medium-length B-road in northern Somerset, running for the majority of its length alongside the route of the river Chew.
Route
Section 1: Chew Magna – West Harptree
The road starts on the B3130 at the west end of the High Street in Chew Magna, opposite the Catholic church. It heads south and soon reaches the next village of Chew Stoke, where the road bypasses the very centre of the village.
After going round Woodford Hill the B3114 skirts the edge of the Chew Valley Lake, a reservoir built in the 1950s. Part of the road was flooded by the reservoir - but only a short section had to be diverted. A mile further on the road reaches West Harptree and the A368.
Section 2: West Harptree – Emborough
The junction with the A368 is a wide T, with the main route swinging through 90 degrees to leave the village northbound. After a very short multiplex (little more than a staggered crossroads really), the B3114 continues its journey south eastwards through East Harptree. East Harptree is mostly off to the right as you drive through, although a few houses line the B3114.
We then rejoin the river Chew at Coley, and travel on through the little village of Litton, where we cross onto the other bank of the river. The B3114 turns around to the south west, before crossing back over the Chew and reverting to its original direction half a mile later in the hamlet of Ford. The road leads us straight into Chewton Mendip, where we reach the A39. The junction is another wide one, this time more of a Y than a T, with the village set at the bottom of a steep valley. To continue on our route, we need to turn right along a multiplex with the A39, finally leaving the Chew valley up the straighter hill, under the dark overhanging tree canopy.
At the top of the hill, a crossroads is met at Bathway, and the B3114 regains its number by turning off to the left. However, you would be forgiven for thinking that the right turn was the more important road, as it is a heavily trafficked unclassified route leading to the B3135 and so Cheddar Gorge.
From Bathway, the B3114 continues eastwards along a reasonably straight road which is narrow and penned in by tall hedges. The farmstead of Emborough, with parish church, is passed by almost without noticing, and then the road turns sharply to the right, to its terminus at Lechmere Water on the B3139.
History
Before 1935 the southern end of the B3114 was in Chewton Mendip on the then-A369 (present A39). The road to Emborough was originally the B3113, which retains its Class II status despite appearing far too narrow to be classified at all.
Chew Valley Lake Diversion - The new section between Chew Stoke and West Harptree was due to open in October 1954. Work was progressing rapidly per the 15 October 1954 Somerset Guardian and Radstock Observer, since the Reservoir could not be filled until the new road had been opened. It may have opened in early 1955.