The A491 is an A road in Zone 4 of the Great Britain numbering scheme.

History

The road north of

Oldswinford Oldswinford or Old Swinford is an area south of the centre of Stourbridge, in the Dudley district, in the county of the West Midlands, England. History Originally, Oldswinford was an extensive ancient parish, covering the whole of the former M ...

forms part of an ancient road, probably of

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

origin, joining the

burh A burh () or burg was an Anglo-Saxon fortification or fortified settlement. In the 9th century, raids and invasions by Vikings prompted Alfred the Great to develop a network of burhs and roads to use against such attackers. Some were new constru ...

s of

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...

and

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, England. It is located about south of Stoke-on-Trent, north of Wolverhampton, and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 71,673 at the 2021–2022 United Kingd ...

. The crossing of the River Stour was probably the

swine Suina (also known as Suiformes) is a suborder of omnivorous, non-ruminant artiodactyl mammals that includes the domestic pig and peccaries. A member of this clade is known as a suine. Suina includes the family Suidae, termed suids, known in ...

-ford that gave rise to the placenames

Kingswinford Kingswinford is a town of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the English West Midlands (county), West Midlands, situated west-southwest of central Dudley. In 2011 the area had a population of 25,191, down from 25,808 at the 2001 Census. T ...

and Oldswinford, and later to the name

Stourbridge Stourbridge () is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Situated on the River Stour, Worcestershire, River Stour, the town lies around west of Birmingham, at the southwester ...

. The road from Wordsley Green to the Market House in Stourbidge and so to Bromsgrove was turnpiked by the

Hagley and Birmingham Road Act 1753 Hagley is a village and civil parish in Worcestershire, England. It is on the boundary of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Worcestershire counties between the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley and Kidderminster. Its estimated populati ...

( 26 Geo. 2. c. 47). The same act also dealt with several other roads from that Market House, as well as the road from Birmingham through

Halesowen Halesowen ( ) is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically an exclave of Shropshire and, from 1844, in Worcestershire, ...

and Hagley to

Blakedown Blakedown is a village in the Wyre Forest District lying along the A456 in the north of the county of Worcestershire, England. Following enclosures and the arrival of the railway, it developed both agriculturally and industrially during the 19th ...

Pool, but that was managed by separate trustees from the Worcester and Warwick Roads (No. 2) Act 1773 ( 13 Geo. 3. c. 107). Its continuation north of Wordsley Green, through

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...

, and Stafford to

Stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

, much of it now part of

A449 road The A449 is a major road in the United Kingdom. It runs north from junction 24 of the A48 road at Newport in South Wales to Stafford in Staffordshire. The southern section of the road, between Ross on Wye and Newport forms part of the trun ...

was turnpiked by the Wolverhampton Turnpike Act 1760 ( 1 Geo. 3. c. 39). In the original 1922 road numberings, A491 was assigned to the

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...

Welshpool Welshpool ( ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community in Powys, Wales, historically in the Historic counties of Wales, county of Montgomeryshire. The town is from the Wales–England border and low-lying on the River Severn. The c ...

Mallwyd Mallwyd () is a small village at the most southern end of Gwynedd, Wales, in the Mawddwy community, in the valley of the River Dyfi. It lies on the A470 approximately halfway between Dolgellau and Machynlleth, and forms the junction of the A ...

and

Cemmaes Road Cemmaes Road (; ) is a village in Powys, Wales. It is in the Community (Wales), community (civil parish) of Glantwymyn. The village was named in English language, English after the now-closed station on the Newtown and Machynlleth Railway, now ...

route, now part of the A458 and A470. The route between Wall Heath and Bromsgrove was assigned the A449 number.

Route

Lydiate Ash – Stourbridge

Starting at junction 4 of the M5, the road heads West on a single carriageway alignment, meeting the B4091 at a roundabout, then becoming a dual carriageway. There are local accesses for the villages of Belbroughton,

Clent Clent is a village and civil parish in the Bromsgrove District of Worcestershire, England, southwest of Birmingham and close to the edge of the West Midlands conurbation. At the 2001 census it had a population of 2,600. Parish history The pa ...

, Romsley and Holy Cross. Following a roundabout in

Hagley Hagley is a village and civil parish in Worcestershire, England. It is on the boundary of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Worcestershire counties between the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley and Kidderminster. Its estimated populati ...

the A491 is concurrent with the A456 for a short period before heading north towards

. At

Pedmore Pedmore is a residential suburb of Stourbridge, in the Dudley district of the West Midlands, England, bordering Lye, Wollescote and Oldswinford. It was originally a village in the Worcestershire countryside until extensive housebuilding during ...

the A4036 leaves at a roundabout towards

Dudley Dudley ( , ) is a market town in the West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically part of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. In the ...

. The former northern section of the A450 (now B4187) from Worcester joins from the left. The A491 then continues to join the Stourbridge ring road. The one-way ring road forms part of the A491 and is concurrent with the A458 and forms the starting point of the A451 to Kidderminster.

Stourbridge – Wall Heath

The original route of the A491 resumes on the northern side of the Stourbridge ring road. This final section is entirely single carriageway, apart from a short distance between the staggered junction with the A461, in an urban environment causing major delays. The road passes through

Amblecote Amblecote is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It lies immediately north of the historic town of Stourbridge on the southwestern edge of the West Midlands conurbation. Histori ...

Wordsley Wordsley is a suburban village near Stourbridge in the West Midlands, England. It is part of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley and is north of the River Stour. Wordsley is part of the Kingswinford and South Staffordshire Parliamentary constitu ...

and

, passing numerous traffic light controlled junctions including those with the A4101 and B4175, before terminating on the

A449 The A449 is a major road in the United Kingdom. It runs north from junction 24 of the A48 road at Newport in South Wales to Stafford in Staffordshire. The southern section of the road, between Ross on Wye and Newport forms part of the trunk ...

at a roundabout just north of

Wall Heath Wall Heath is a suburban village in the Dudley Metropolitan Borough in the West Midlands of England. It is located on the A449 road, approximately 1.5 miles northwest of Kingswinford (of which it is considered a suburb), 5 miles west of Dudle ...

Former routes

Bypasses and realignments

* Holy Cross, Clent (Now bypassed by a dual carriageway to the North). A cutting through Button Hill, in Holy Cross—through which the road used to pass–was finished in 1834. It was built by men from Lye and Stourbridge during a local recession as a form of

poor relief In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...

. * Stourbridge Town Centre (Traffic now uses the ring road)

Downgrading

* Fairfield – Finstall (Part of this route is now B4091, A448 and unclassified)

References

External links

SABRE Roads by 10 – A491
{{DEFAULTSORT:4-0491 Roads in the West Midlands (county) Roads in Worcestershire