The A308 is a road in England in two parts. The first part runs from

Central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning the City of London and several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local gove ...

to Putney Bridge. The second part runs from just beyond

Putney Heath Wimbledon Common is a large open space in Wimbledon, southwest London. There are three named areas: Wimbledon Common, Putney Heath, and Putney Lower Common, which together are managed under the name Wimbledon and Putney Commons totalling 46 ...

to Bisham, Berkshire. It traces four, roughly straight lines, to stay no more than from the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...

. It is a dual carriageway where it is furthest from that river, in Spelthorne,

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

and forms one of the motorway spurs to the large town of

Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England. It lies on the southwestern bank of the River Thames, which at this point forms the border with Buckinghamshire. In the 2021 Census, ...

. Other key settlements served are

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

, Kingston (London), Staines upon Thames, Windsor and a minor approach to Marlow

Central London

Kensington and Chelsea

The

South Kensington South Kensington is a district at the West End of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with the advent of the ra ...

section starts at the A4 road opposite

Brompton Oratory Brompton Oratory, also known as the London Oratory, is a neo-classical late-Victorian Catholic parish church in the Brompton area of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, neighbouring Knightsbridge, London. Its name stems from Oratorian ...

and follows

Fulham Road Fulham Road is a street in London, England, which comprises the A304 and part of the A308. Overview Fulham Road ( the A219) runs from Putney Bridge as "Fulham High Street" and then eastward to Fulham Broadway, in the London Borough of Hamm ...

south-west past Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, where it jumps south a block to takeover the

Kings Road King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents) is a major street stretching through Chelsea and Fulham, both ...

Hammersmith and Fulham

Through broad Fulham which traditionally, as bolstered by its associated London postcode, covers half of the borough, the road becomes New Kings Road, before it ends at the A219 road (

Fulham Palace Fulham Palace lies on the north bank of the River Thames in Fulham, London, previously in the former English county of Middlesex. It is the site of the Manor of Fulham dating back to Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Saxon times and in the c ...

Road), 100m north of Putney Bridge.

Outer London

Kingston upon Thames

The hiatus in the road which is

Putney Putney () is an affluent district in southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ...

and

is a subsumation into the A219 road and then into the A3. The bulk of the road starts, after. It runs from Kingston Vale's Robin Hood Gate roundabout. The entrance to Richmond Park here was closed to motor vehicles in 2003. The road is named Kingston Vale then Kingston Hill until it falls past Kingston Hospital to becomes London Road. Immediately after snaking through central

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames, colloquially known as Kingston, is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, south-west London, England. It is situated on the River Thames, south-west of Charing Cross. It is an ancient market town, notable as ...

as part of the one-way system, the road passes through a tunnel underneath the John Lewis Kingston department store, before crossing the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

at Kingston Bridge where it has another roundabout.

Richmond upon Thames

The A308 in this borough is called Hampton Court Road, briefly Thames Street and then Upper Sunbury Road. It occupies a space carved out of the Royal Estate for it between

Bushy Park Bushy Park in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames is the second largest of London's Royal Parks, at in area, after Richmond Park. The park, most of which is open to the public, is immediately north of Hampton Court Palace and Hampton ...

and Hampton Court Park, and passes

Hampton Court Palace Hampton Court Palace is a Listed building, Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. Opened to the public, the palace is managed by Historic Royal ...

including the roundabout opposite the Palace Gates, before continuing west through broad Hampton, passing its prominent

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

and waterworks to exit

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

Surrey

The largely straight road from Hampton Court was surfaced and tolled in the 1780s by the Hampton and Staines Turnpike Trust. In the west its buildings were set back with gardens and therefore it was widened in Spelthorne in the 1920s. As Staines Road East, the A308 winds past Kempton Park Racecourse,

Sunbury-on-Thames Sunbury-on-Thames, known locally as Sunbury, is a town on the north bank of the River Thames in the Borough of Spelthorne, Surrey, England, southwest of central London. Historically part of the county of Middlesex, in 1965 Sunbury and other su ...

and adopts instead of south-west followed after Kingston by west, the direction WNW, allowing it to meet Junction 1 of the M3/the A316 at the Sunbury Cross area also within Sunbury on Thames. On this line, it passes the Sunbury Common part of that town and the south side of the slightly larger town of Ashford, as Staines Road West and a dual carriageway, passing the Queen Mary Reservoir to form the by-pass to the large town of

Staines-upon-Thames Staines-upon-Thames, also known simply as Staines, is a market town in northwest Surrey, England, around west of central London. It is in the Borough of Spelthorne, at the confluence of the River Thames and River Colne, Hertfordshire, Colne. ...

, after which it goes back to single carriageway to turn briefly south-west to take the high street roads network, rather than a straight continuation, which becomes the A30, then ends this street as Clarence Street, crosses the Thames (for a second time) at Staines Bridge, and resumes its main third-part orientation. It crosses the

M25 motorway The M25 or London Orbital Motorway is a major ring road encircling most of Greater London. The motorway is one of the most important roads in the UK and one of the busiest. Margaret Thatcher opened the final section in 1986, making the M25 th ...

, that has a large cross-river junction at Junction 13, north of

Egham Egham ( ) is a town in the Borough of Runnymede in Surrey, England, approximately west of central London. First settled in the Bronze Age, the town was under the control of Chertsey Abbey for much of the Middle Ages. In 1215, Magna Carta was ...

. The road turns north-west, as Windsor Road, in the middle of

Runnymede Runnymede is a water-meadow alongside the River Thames in the English county of Surrey, bordering Berkshire and just over west of central London. It is notable for its association with the sealing of Magna Carta, and as a consequence is, with ...

's meadows, with its

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

buildings and memorials, before leaving Surrey and entering Berkshire.

Berkshire

In Berkshire, the A308 forms the main road of the town of

Old Windsor Old Windsor is a village and civil parish, in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, in Berkshire, England. It is bounded by the River Thames to the east and the Windsor Great Park to the west. Etymology The name originates from old Eng ...

, where it is called Straight Road. It then goes on past the north end of

Windsor Great Park Windsor Great Park is a Royal Park of to the south of the town of Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor on the border of Berkshire and Surrey in England. It is adjacent to the private Home Park, Windsor, Home Park, which is nearer the castle. The park ...

, where it is called Albert Road, and through the west side of central Windsor. In Windsor, the A308 is called Osborne Road, Goslar Way and Maidenhead Road which finally re-adopts the normal third part-orientation of WNW. Finally, after sweeping round to its fourth major direction, NNW through Bray under the M4 (the original location of Junction 8), where the road is called Windsor Road and Braywick Road, and wending through

, passing its Victorian

clock tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure that house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another building ...

, the A308 continues under the names of Gringer Hill, Furze Platt Road and Marlow Road, before terminating at the

A404 road The A404 is a road in the United Kingdom that starts at Paddington in London and terminates near Maidenhead in Berkshire. It is long. Route The road initially follows a course through north-west London via Harlesden, Wembley, Harrow, Nor ...

in the sports-focussed

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Bisham which has its riverside and

Abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...

ruins 200m north-west. Facing this on the river is the larger, equally well-preserved and green town of Marlow.

References

External links

SABRE Roads Digest – A308
{{DEFAULTSORT:3-0308 Roads in Berkshire Streets in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Streets in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Transport in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames Roads in London Streets in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Roads in Surrey