The A4260 is a

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

that leads from the A422 Henneff Way,

Banbury Banbury is an historic market town and civil parish on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. The parish had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding ...

, to Frieze Way near

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, England.

History

Romans

The route followed by the road is that of a prehistoric ridgeway between the valleys of the rivers Cherwell and

Evenlode Evenlode is a village and civil parish (ONS Code 23UC051) in the Cotswold District of eastern Gloucestershire in England. Evenlode is bordered by the Gloucestershire parishes of Moreton-in-Marsh to the northwest, Longborough and Donnington t ...

. The

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

adopted the route and paved it from north of Oxford to

Akeman Street Akeman Street is a Roman road in southern England between the modern counties of Hertfordshire and Gloucestershire. It is approximately long and runs roughly east–west. Akeman Street linked Watling Street just north of Verulamium (near mod ...

at Sturdy's Castle.

Medieval period & turnpiking

The route remained in use through the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

period, as described by

John Ogilby John Ogilby, Ogelby, or Oglivie (17 November 16004 September 1676) was a Scottish translator, impresario, publisher and cartographer. He was probably at least a half-brother to James Ogilvy, 1st Earl of Airlie, though neither overtly acknowl ...

in 1675, as the primary way between Oxford and Banbury. In the 18th century, the route was turnpiked.

Post-1922 road lists

Until 1990, the road was part of the A423 and the major route from Banbury to Oxford. It was renumbered to encourage the traffic that formerly used this route to use the M40.

References

External links

Highlighted Route of the A4260 on Google Maps
Roads in England Roads in Oxfordshire {{England-road-stub