A30 road

The A30 is a major road running west-south-west from London to Land’s End. In Surrey it begins at Henly’s Roundabout, where it leaves the A4 near Hounslow. It crosses the A312 and passes south of Heathrow Airport before reaching the M25 motorway. From there it runs beside the Thames on Lutyens’s Runnymede Bridge. The road then runs parallel to the M3 through heathland and towns like Egham, Bagshot and Camberley. The A30 once carried the fastest land route from London to the South West. It served as a coaching road and post road from the 17th century into the early 19th century. The route was formalised by Elizabeth I’s Master of Posts in 1579 with twelve Royal postmasters stationed along its length. John Ogilby’s 1675 map called it the road from London to Land’s End and noted good lodgings through Surrey and Hampshire. Highwayman William Davies, known as the Golden Farmer, robbed coaches on Bagshot Heath in the late 17th century. Today the A30 is mostly single carriageway between the M25 and Honiton. It passes through towns such as Stockbridge, Salisbury, Shaftesbury and Sherborne. West of Exeter it becomes dual carriageway again, bypassing Okehampton and Launceston before reaching Cornwall. The road continues through Redruth and Camborne, briefly regaining dual carriageway near Penzance before ending at Land’s End.