Bassetts Pole

The fingerpost outside the pub of the same name

Bassett's Pole is a roundabout on the A38 in Staffordshire serving the A453 and A446.

According to a plaque on the pole itself, the name comes from Lord Bassett of Drayton who erected a boundary pole here in the reign of King John and the year of our Lord 1201, on the border between the counties of Stafford and Warwick.

History

The previous crossroads, shown in 1972

Blue, violet and orange BNRR scheme layout

The junction was originally a crossroads where the A446 and A453 met. In the early 1970s the Sutton Coldfield Bypass opened and the junction became a large roundabout with space for future grade separation.

In the 1980s the A446(M) Birmingham Northern Relief Road was planned to run along the A38 and an underpass would be built. All the route options passed through Bassett's Pole so the junction would be the same regardless of which route was chosen. However the slip roads on the north side of the junction would vary according to the northern section route. The brown and green routes would have followed the A38 to Weeford Interchange so the north facing slip roads would mirror those on the south side of the junction. The blue, violet and orange routes would have headed northwestwards so an extra fork junction is provided to maintain a link to the A38. There is no direct link to the BNRR main carriageways so traffic between the A38 and the south has to use the roundabout. The green route was chosen so the simpler layout was proceeded with.

However, in the late 1980s the decision to build the BNRR as a privately financed toll road changed the proposals again. The M6 Toll was built offline to the west of the junction so no major changes were necessary. The only changes since then has been the widening of the approaches to the roundabout and the installation of traffic lights in 2006.

Routes

Route	To	Notes
A38	Birmingham, Birmingham Airport (via toll road)
A38	Burton, Derby
A453	Tamworth
A446	Coventry
A453	Sutton Coldfield
A446	Lichfield	Now part of the A38
A446(M)	The N. West (M6 North), Cannock, Burton, Lichfield
A446(M)	London, Coventry (M6, M42)