The A41 is a trunk road between

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liv ...

, England. Now in parts replaced by

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

s, it passes through or near

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

Kings Langley Kings Langley is a village, former manor and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, north-west of Westminster in the historic centre of London and to the south of the Chiltern Hills. It now forms part of the London commuter belt. The villa ...

Hemel Hempstead Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of London, which is part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2011 census was 97,500. Developed after the Second World War as a new ...

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, South East England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery, David Tugwell`s house on Watermead and the Waterside Theatre. It is in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wy ...

, Bicester,

Solihull Solihull (, or ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census. Solihull is situated on the River Blyth ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ) is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is north-west of Birmingham. West Bromwich is part of the area ...

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

, Newport, Whitchurch,

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

and Ellesmere Port. With the opening of the M40 extension in 1990 from junction 8, much of the route was downgraded. The sections between Bicester and the M42 near Solihull in the

Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the In ...

have been re-classified B4100, A4177 and A4141.

Route

London to Kings Langley

Leavesden Green, A41 North Western Avenue - geograph

The route begins at Marble Arch from its junction on the

A40 road in London The A40 is a major trunk road connecting London to Fishguard, Wales. The A40 in London passes through seven London Boroughs: the City of London, Camden, Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea, Hammersmith & Fulham, Ealing and Hillingdon, to mee ...

with Portman Street/Gloucester Place (northbound) and

Baker Street Baker Street is a street in the Marylebone district of the City of Westminster in London. It is named after builder William Baker, who laid out the street in the 18th century. The street is most famous for its connection to the fictional detec ...

/Orchard Street (southbound). Named the Finchley Road, the A41 is dual-carriageway through

Swiss Cottage Swiss Cottage is an area of Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden, England. It is centred on the junction of Avenue Road and Finchley Road and includes Swiss Cottage tube station. Swiss Cottage lies north-northwest of Charing Cross. Th ...

and

Hendon Way Hendon Way is one of London's busiest roads. It connects Finchley Road to Watford Way. It passes through Hampstead and Hendon, and forms part of the A41 road The A41 is a trunk road between London and Birkenhead, England. Now in parts re ...

and intersects with the

North Circular Road The North Circular Road (officially the A406 and sometimes known as simply the North Circular) is a ring road around Central London in England. It runs from Chiswick in the west to Woolwich in the east via suburban North London, connecting ...

near Brent Cross shopping centre. The road passes through

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Gre ...

and after the junction with the A5150, (close to the

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

's police college and the RAF Museum). The A41 overlaps the A1 at ''Five Ways Corner'' with the section known as ''Watford Way''. It passes through

Mill Hill Mill Hill is a suburb in the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is situated around northwest of Charing Cross. Mill Hill was in the historic county of Middlesex until 1965, when it became part of Greater London. Its population counted 18,4 ...

, separating with the A1 at ''Apex Corner'' roundabout After crossing the M1, near

Elstree Elstree is a large village in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire, England. It is about northwest of central London on the former A5 road, that follows the course of Watling Street. In 2011, its population was 5,110. It forms part of t ...

, it links the M1 at Junction 4, and then meets the A5 at a roundabout (where the A5 becomes the A5183). The A41 continues alongside the M1 into

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For gov ...

. This section is known as ''Elton Way'', as far as the roundabout with the B462. Running parallel to the M1, it intersects with junction 5 (Berrygrove Interchange). The road continues north, passing over the River Colne, to the east of Watford, crossing the

A412 The A412 is a road in England between Slough and Watford. It was the main artery for this corridor and used to continue to St Albans prior to the construction of the M25. It provides interchange to the A4 in Slough, the A40/ M40 at the D ...

near Garston at "the Dome roundabout". After passing under the junction with the A405, the A41 turns towards the west. At a roundabout, with the A411 to Watford to the south, and the M25 spur straight ahead to join the M25 westbound at junction 19, the A41 continues north through Hunton Bridge crossing the River Gade and the

Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter ...

to meet the M25 at junction 20. The old route through Kings Langley is now classified A4251. It used to follow the route of the

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

, Akeman Street, between Berkhamsted and Bicester. The London to Aylesbury section was a similar route to the Sparrows Herne Turnpike Road.

Kings Langley to Tring

North of the M25, the road is a near

standard "A" road with all junctions

grade-separated In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights (grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tr ...

via underpasses or flyovers, but curves and gradients a little steeper. There are no

hard shoulder A shoulder, hard shoulder (British) or breakdown lane, is an emergency stopping lane by the verge of a road or motorway, on the right side in countries which drive on the right, and on the left side in countries which drive on the left. Many wid ...

s but frequent lay-bys. It climbs through the

Chiltern Hills The Chiltern Hills is a chalk escarpment in England. The area, northwest of London, covers stretching from Goring-on-Thames in the southwest to Hitchin in the northeast - across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, and Bedfordshi ...

then descends into the valley of the River Bulbourne crossing water meadows just outside

at Boxmoor. There are grade-separated junctions with the A414, A4251 and A416. The route returns to open country north of here, passing west of

Berkhamsted Berkhamsted ( ) is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, in the Bulbourne valley, north-west of London. The town is a civil parish with a town council within the borough of Dacorum which is based in the neighbouring large new to ...

. It passes the National Film Archive. Before Tring, near Wigginton, it crosses the Icknield Way Path and

Chiltern Way The Chiltern Way is a waymarked long-distance footpath in the Chiltern Hills of southern England. It was created by the Chiltern Society as a Millennium project. Route The Chiltern Way runs for around .Tring (for the Ridgeway footpath) and descends the Chiltern

scarp Scarp may refer to: Landforms and geology * Cliff, a significant vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure * Escarpment, a steep slope or long rock that occurs from erosion or faulting and separates two relatively level areas of differing elevatio ...

into the Vale of Aylesbury. The Tring bypass was built in 1973 as the first section of the Watford-Aylesbury A41(M) motorway. On 6 July 1987, this section was downgraded to A41. The Tring bypass ends with the junction with the B4635, B4009 (the former route through Aston Clinton) and B488. The A41 from junction 20 of the M25 to the Tring bypass was built in the early 1990s and opened in two sections: the £23.9m

bypass opened September 1993 and the £32.7m

bypass opened August 1993.

Tring to Bicester

On 3 October 2003, the dual carriageway section was extended to the £25m

Aston Clinton Aston Clinton is a historic village and civil parish in the Vale of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England. The village lies at the foot of the Chiltern Hills, between the Wendover and Aylesbury arms of the Grand Union Canal. Surrounding towns i ...

Bypass, which was originally intended to be built at the same time as the two sections further south. It enters

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-e ...

and the district of

Aylesbury Vale The Aylesbury Vale (or Vale of Aylesbury) is a geographical region in Buckinghamshire, England, which is bounded by the Borough of Milton Keynes and South Northamptonshire to the north, Central Bedfordshire and the Borough of Dacorum (Hertford ...

. It crosses the

, and there is a junction with the B489, and finishes at a roundabout, becoming ''Aston Clinton Road''. The road goes straight through Aylesbury, which is a

bottleneck Bottleneck literally refers to the narrowed portion (neck) of a bottle near its opening, which limit the rate of outflow, and may describe any object of a similar shape. The literal neck of a bottle was originally used to play what is now known as ...

. It meets the A4157 at a junction as ''Tring Road'', and the next roundabout is near Aylesbury Grammar School and a

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues an ...

. It meets the A418 ring-road and becomes ''Exchange Street'', then meets the A413 from Wendover at a roundabout and becomes ''Friarage Road'', passing close to a

Morrisons Wm Morrison Supermarkets, trading as Morrisons, is the fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Scotland, as well as one in Gibraltar. The company is headq ...

and the

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

. The A418 turns to the left and A41 continues straight ahead to become ''Gatehouse Road'', then at the next roundabout, it leaves to left as ''Bicester Road'' near the Applegreen ''Aylesbury Service Station''. After four roundabouts, it crosses the

River Thame The River Thame is a river in Southern England. A tributary of the River Thames, the river runs generally south-westward for about from its source above the Buckinghamshire town of Aylesbury to the Thames in south-east Oxfordshire. Course ...

. It then meets a roundabout with access for the new ''Berryfields'' development as well as Aylesbury Vale Parkway before passing under a railway line, then through Waddesdon, then passes close to Westcott near the former airfield of RAF Westcott. At Kingswood, it passes the ''Crooked Billet'' (now the "Akeman Inn") and ''Plough and Anchor'' (now an Italian restaurant) pubs. It enters

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primaril ...

and the district of Cherwell, and at

Blackthorn ''Prunus spinosa'', called blackthorn or sloe, is a species of flowering plant in the rose family Rosaceae. The species is native to Europe, western Asia, and regionally in northwest Africa. It is locally naturalized in New Zealand, Tasmania, ...

it crosses the River Ray and meets a low bridge which was originally a limit but due to bridge strikes, the road was lowered and the bridge now has a limit. Plans for an Aylesbury bypass exist and are well supported locally but no government decision has been made.Speak now if you want a bypass
by Hartley-Parkinson The Bucks Herald, 21 March 2007. Accessed January 2009.

Bicester to Solihull

The £5.7m first stage of the Bicester bypass opened in November 1990, with the £3.9m second stage (part of the A421 section to Wendlebury) opened in May 1993, and has many roundabouts. Since 1993, the road now heads south-west where it officially becomes part of the M40 at junction 9, meeting with the A34 (which also overlaps the M40 to Birmingham – to draw traffic off the previous routes). The former route went through

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...

. From here to the M42, the original route is now mainly designated as the B4100 (multiplexing at points with the current A361 and A422 through Banbury, plus the A452 and A425 approaching and through Warwick) followed by the A4177 and A4141, the latter two both excellent wide roads. At junction 5 of the M42, the A41 follows its old course. Further north, the road bypasses

and goes through the city centres of

and

. This renumbering took place in 1991. The A4141 and B4100 are new designations, while the A4177 is an extension of an existing route.

Solihull to Wolverhampton

The road manifests from the junction which opened in November 1976 with the A4141 and M42 near Berry Hall Farmbr>(Picture)
and crosses the River Blythe and bypasses

. The former route through Solihull is now the B4025 and B425, which passes

Solihull School Solihull School is a coeducational independent day school in Solihull, West Midlands, England. Founded in 1560, it is the oldest school in the town and is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. History In 1560 th ...

. The A41 has a staggered junction with the B4102 (for Solihull and Catherine-de-Barnes) near the

BUPA Bupa , legally British United Provident Association Limited, is an international health insurance and healthcare group with over 38 million customers worldwide. Bupa's origins and global headquarters are in the United Kingdom. Its main countrie ...

br>Parkway Hospital
At Lode Heath, there is crossroads with the B425 (fo
Solihull Hospital
where the road is the ''Seven Star Road''. The A41 resumes the old route at another junction with the B425, becoming ''Warwick Road'', which is the name of the route all the way into Birmingham. At Worlds End there is the Shell Solihull garage on the left. Next is Ulverley Green and it passes the BP Mereside garage on the right and passes under the

Chiltern Main Line The Chiltern Main Line is a railway line which links London () and Birmingham ( Moor Street and Snow Hill), the United Kingdom's two largest cities, by a route via High Wycombe, Bicester, Banbury, Leamington Spa and Solihull. It is one of ...

(for Leamington) near Olton station
Olton Library
and Olton Reservoir. At the junction with the B4514, there is a

petrol station and the road enters the city of Birmingham. The B4514 leads onto Olton Boulevard and can be used to bypass Acocks Green, although there is one section to be completed near Sparkhill. It passes Archbishop Ilsey RC School at

Acocks Green Acocks Green is an area and ward of southeast Birmingham, England. It is named after the Acock family, who built a large house there in 1370. Acocks Green is one of four wards making up Yardley formal district. It is occasionally spelled "Aco ...

, then meets the B4146 and B4217 at a roundabout near a

Sainsburys J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company ...

. It meets the A4040 ring road at a staggered junction and crosses the Birmingham - Stratford Line near Tyseley station and the

Tyseley Locomotive Works Tyseley Locomotive Works, formerly the Birmingham Railway Museum, is the engineering arm of steam railtour promoter Vintage Trains based in Birmingham, England. It occupies part of the former Great Western Railway's Tyseley depot, built in ...

. At Sparkhill, it crosses the River Cole and meets the B4145 at a roundabout nea
Golden Hillock School
At

Sparkbrook Sparkbrook is an inner-city area in south-east Birmingham, England. It is one of the four wards forming the Hall Green formal district within Birmingham City Council. Etymology The area receives its name from Spark Brook, a small stream that f ...

, it meets the A34 ''Stratford Road'' and there is a crossroads with the A4540 and B4126. The two main routes overlap around central Birmingham and meet The Middleway (A4540) inner ring road. The former route of the A41 through inner Birmingham is now the B4100 heading past the

National Express National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...

Birmingham coach station Birmingham Coach Station (formerly Digbeth Coach Station) is a major coach interchange in Digbeth, Birmingham, England offering services to destinations throughout the island of Great Britain and also to Belfast and Dublin. National Express, the ...

, and passes near St Chad's RC Cathedral. The A41 previously resumed at Constitution Hill near Snow Hill train station but following downgrading of much of the former Inner Ring Road, resumes in Hockley where it meets the northern section of the A4540. (The section from the A4540 to city centre is another part of the B4100). There is a staggered junction with the A4040 as the road passes through Handsworth (at this point known as Soho Road) which is a particular bottleneck with narrow lanes, on-street parking, bad drivers and several close-set junction, often very badly congested. Just before The Hawthorns football stadium, home of

West Bromwich Albion F.C. West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

, it leaves Birmingham and enters the borough of

Sandwell Sandwell is a metropolitan borough of the West Midlands county in England. The borough is named after the Sandwell Priory, and spans a densely populated part of the West Midlands conurbation. According to Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council ...

. It meets the M5 at junction 1, where it also meets the A4252. In 2004, there were plans to re-route the road between Birmingham & West Bromwich along the current A457 via

Smethwick Smethwick () is an industrial town in Sandwell, West Midlands, England. It lies west of Birmingham city centre. Historically it was in Staffordshire. In 2019, the ward of Smethwick had an estimated population of 15,246, while the wider b ...

& up to the M5 at Junction 1 along the current A4252. These plans were scrapped soon after. It bypasses West Bromwich on a dual-carriageway called the ''Expressway'', which opened in 1973. There is a grade separated roundabout with the A4031 and the former route follows the A4196 from a roundabout. The grade separated roundabout opened over 20 years after the Expressway, relieving what had been a major bottleneck. The new route opened in 1995 and is called the

Black Country The Black Country is an area of the West Midlands county, England covering most of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall. Dudley and Tipton are generally considered to be the centre. It became industrialised during its ...

New Road, and crosses the

West Midlands Metro The West Midlands Metro (originally named Midland Metro) is a light-rail/tram system in the county of West Midlands, England. Opened on 30 May 1999, it currently consists of a single route, Line 1, which operates between the cities of Birmi ...

tram near Guns Village. There is a roundabout with the B4149 at Swan Village. From the roundabout with the A461 (for

Dudley Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...

) at Great Bridge, it overlaps the A461 (to

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

), crosses the Tame Valley Canal, meets the

A4037 List of A roads in zone Zone or The Zone may refer to: Places Climate and altitude zones * Death zone (originally the lethal zone), altitudes above a certain point where the amount of oxygen is insufficient to sustain human life for an ex ...

at a roundabout and goes under the West Midlands Metro near Wednesbury Parkway tram stop. The A461 heads off to junction 9 of the M6 and

. The A41 follows the old route from the next roundabout and enters the borough of

. At the junction with the A4444 (the final phase of the Black Country New Road) it crosses the Walsall Canal. There are junctions with the A4098 (where the road enters the borough of Wolverhampton) and B4163. The road goes straight through the middle of

Bilston Bilston is a market town, ward, and civil parish located in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It is close to the borders of Sandwell and Walsall. The nearest towns are Darlaston, Wednesbury, and Willenhall. Historically in Staffordshi ...

, where it meets the dual-carriageway A463

Black Country Route The Black Country Route is a road in the West Midlands region of England. Original plans for an urban motorway were drawn up in 1962 to ease congestion in the Black Country towns of Bilston and Willenhall, as well as giving the residents of D ...

at a busy roundabout. Close by is the Bilston Central tram stop, near

. There is a junction with the B4484 (for the A454) near The Crescent tram stop. At Priestfield, it meets the B4162, and passes the City of Wolverhampton College Wellington Road Campus (Bilston) near Priestfield tram stop. From here, the West Midlands Metro runs down the centre of the road. There is a signalised junction with the A4126 (trams and buses use the nearside lane towards Wolverhampton) and the road passes under the Wolverhampton loop of the West Coast Main Line at

Monmore Green Monmore Green is an area of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It is situated about to the south-east of the city centre, in the East Park ward. It is where Monmore Green Stadium is situated, which is home to the Wolverhampton Wolves sp ...

, and crosses the Birmingham Canal. It overlaps the A4150 Wolverhampton Ring Road, then passe
West Park Hospital
and crosses the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal. It passes through Tettenhall, pas
Tettenhall College

Wolverhampton to Newport

After leaving the borough of Wolverhampton, it crosses the

River Penk The River Penk is a small river flowing through Staffordshire, England. Its course is mainly within South Staffordshire, and it drains most of the northern part of that district, together with some adjoining areas of Cannock Chase, Stafford, W ...

, then runs into

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands C ...

passing

Perton Perton is a large village and civil parish located in the South Staffordshire District, Staffordshire, England. It lies 3 miles to the south of Codsall and 4 miles west of Wolverhampton, where part of the village is almost contiguous with ...

Codsall Codsall is a large village in the South Staffordshire district of Staffordshire, England. It is situated 4.5 miles northwest of the city of Wolverhampton and 13 miles east-southeast of Telford. It forms part of the boundary of the Staffordshi ...

and the golf course at

Wrottesley Hall Wrottesley Hall is a 1923-built Grade II listed house in the civil parish of Perton, and historically part of Tettenhall in Staffordshire, England. The manor of Wrottesley had been held by the Wrottesley family (originally 'de Verdun') from the ...

. Next is a junction with the A464 (for Shifnal), and the road enters

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

. It crosses the Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury Line on the Albrighton bypass. The road passes close by the RAF Museum at Cosford. After junction 3 of the

M54 motorway The M54 is a 23-mile (37 km) east-west motorway in the counties of Shropshire and Staffordshire, England. It is also referred to as the Telford motorway, after the road's primary westbound destination, the town of Telford. It cost £65 ...

, the road passes through

Tong Tong may refer to: Chinese * Tang Dynasty, a dynasty in Chinese history when transliterated from Cantonese * Tong (organization), a type of social organization found in Chinese immigrant communities *''tong'', pronunciation of several Chinese ch ...

. The road meets the A5 at a roundabout, which is on the border with

. At Weston Heath, there is a junction with the B5314. At the junction of the B4379, the road enters

Telford and Wrekin Telford and Wrekin is a borough and unitary authority in Shropshire, England. In 1974, a non-metropolitan district of Shropshire was created called The Wrekin. In 1998, the district became a unitary authority and was renamed "Telford and Wrekin" ...

. The £6m Newport bypass opened in early 1985. The former route went through Chetwynd Aston. The A41 meets the A518 for Telford at a roundabout, followed by another roundabout with the A518 for travelling east, and then a roundabout with the A519 and the B5062.

Newport to Whitchurch

The road rejoins the old route and passes

Chetwynd Park Chetwynd Park is an 18th-century landscape garden with woodland, on the edge of Newport, Shropshire. The park can trace its history back to 1388, when it lay southeast of Chetwynd Park estate. The country house is now lost, but the medieval deer ...

. The £1.5m

Hinstock Hinstock is a village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It appeared in the Domesday book survey as "Stoche" (from Old English ''stoc'', "dependent settlement"); the present version of its name was created in the mediaeval period by prefi ...

Bypass opened in late 1983 It then passes through Standford, Standford Bridge and over the River Meese. It passes High Heath
Shakeford
Crickmery which is nea
Wistanswick
Nearby is the former wartime fighter base

RAF Ternhill Royal Air Force Tern Hill or RAF Tern Hill was a Royal Air Force station at Ternhill in Shropshire, England, near the towns of Newport and Market Drayton. The station closed in 1976, with the technical and administrative site transferring t ...

, now an army base known as

Clive Barracks Clive Barracks is a military installation at Ternhill in Shropshire in Western England. History The barracks were established, on the site of the former RAF Tern Hill airfield, in 1976: they were initially named Borneo Barracks before being ren ...

. The road crosses the

River Tern The Indian river tern or just river tern (''Sterna aurantia'') is a tern in the family Laridae. It is a resident breeder along inland rivers from Iran east into the Indian Subcontinent and further to Myanmar to Thailand, where it is uncommon ...

, meets the A53 at a roundabout at Ternhill. After Bletchley Manor, there is of dual carriageway. The road passes through Prees Higher Heath near a former airfield (RAF Tilstock), and meets the A49 at a roundabout near Tilstock. The £13.7m Whitchurch Bypass opened in July 1992, where the road meets the A49.

Whitchurch to Birkenhead

Chester Road (A41) from Backford Cross - geograph

The final stretch of the road leaves Shropshire and heads north through Cheshire on a modern alignment bypassing the villages of Tushingham cum Grindley and No Mans Heath before reaching a nineteenth century bypass of the stagecoach road through Broxton. The road crosses the A534 at Broxton Roundabout before passing Beeston, Bolesworth and

Peckforton Peckforton is a scattered settlement (centred at ) and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The settlement is located to the north east of Malpas and to the west of Nantwich. T ...

Castles. The road bypasses Chester, before running through the suburbs of Ellesmere Port (where the road was downgraded for safety reasons in the early 1990s). It heads to junction 5 of the M53 motorway and the

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wir ...

county boundary at Hooton. From this junction it is named New Chester Road, passing through

Eastham Eastham or East Ham, may refer to: People * Ashley Eastham (born 1991), English footballer * George R. Eastham (1914–2000), English footballer * George E. Eastham (born 1936), English footballer and son of the George R. Eastham * Harry Eastham ( ...

and

Bromborough Bromborough is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Cheshire, it is situated on the Wirral Peninsula, to the south east of Bebington and to the north of East ...

. At Port Sunlight the A41 diverts onto a dual-carriageway section bypassing New Ferry and Rock Ferry before rejoining New Chester Road at

Tranmere Oil Terminal Tranmere Oil Terminal is situated on the River Mersey, south of Birkenhead. It was opened on 8 June 1960 to handle vessels of up to 65,000 tons, at two berths (North and South). It is connected to the Stanlow Oil Refinery by a pipeline. Part o ...

. After passing Green Lane railway station, a spur of the A41 separates at the southern approach to the Queensway Tunnel, which passes under the

River Mersey The River Mersey () is in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed par ...

and enters

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

to meet the start of the A59. The road then passes a junction with the A554 near

Hamilton Square railway station Birkenhead Hamilton Square railway station (commonly shortened to Hamilton Square station) serves the town of Birkenhead, in Merseyside, England, on the Wirral Line of the Merseyrail network. The station is close to Hamilton Square in Birke ...

, terminating at the bus station at

Woodside Woodside may refer to: Places and buildings Australia * Woodside, South Australia, a town * Woodside, Victoria, a town Canada * Woodside National Historic Site, the boyhood home of William Lyon Mackenzie King *Woodside, Nova Scotia, a neighbo ...

. The end of the road has views over the Mersey to Liverpool and transport links to Mersey Ferry services.

Major junctions

History of the road number

The original (1923) route was

Stanmore Stanmore is part of the London Borough of Harrow in London. It is centred northwest of Charing Cross, lies on the outskirts of the London urban area and includes Stanmore Hill, one of the highest points of London, at high. The district, whi ...

north-west of London to Oakengates, west of

, in

, meeting the A5 at both ends. The A41 was extended by numbering as follows: The northern extension dates from 1935; in Shropshire, it swapped with a combination of the A464/A529; from Kingswood Common to Nantwich, Cheshire and the original A529 ran from

. North of Chester, the A41 replaced part of the A51. The southern extension dates from after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

using Watford Way which opened in about 1930 as the A5088. In the remaining years after 1935, it was renumbered A500.

Notes

References

External links

BBC News – ''Village gets bypass after 40 years'' – 03/10/2003

Highways Agency – Aston Clinton scheme page.

CBRD – Futures – A41 Aston Clinton Bypass.

Pathetic Motorways – A41(M)
{{DEFAULTSORT:4-0041 Roads in England Roads in Cheshire Transport in Birmingham, West Midlands Roads in Buckinghamshire Roads in Hertfordshire Roads in London Roads in Merseyside Roads in Oxfordshire Roads in Shropshire Roads in the West Midlands (county) Transport in Wolverhampton Transport in Sandwell Transport in Staffordshire Transport in Walsall Newport, Shropshire Transport in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral