Road in southern England
The
A272
is a road in southeast
England
. It follows an approximate east?west route from near
Heathfield
,
East Sussex
to the city of
Winchester
,
Hampshire
.
Route
[
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]
The eastern end of the A272 starts at a junction with the
A267
, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north-west of the village of
Cross-in-Hand
,
East Sussex
. It heads west, crossing the
A26
and
A22
north of
Uckfield
, and continues through
Newick
before going over the border into
West Sussex
at a point east of
Scaynes Hill
. It then bypasses the town of
Haywards Heath
and continues west, crossing the main
London
-
Brighton
A23 road
at
Bolney
.
The route continues, crossing the
A24
and passing through a number of villages and small towns in
West Sussex
, such as
Billingshurst
,
Petworth
and
Midhurst
. It then crosses the county boundary into
Hampshire
and reaches
Petersfield
, where it crosses the
A3
to the west of the town. The final section passes the
National Trust
property of
Hinton Ampner
and rises high on to the
Hampshire
downs
, passing
Cheesefoot Head
, before descending to merge with the
A31
at Chilcomb to the east of
Winchester
.
In former years, the A272 continued north-west from
Winchester
to
Stockbridge
, but this section has now been redesignated as the
B3049
. Today, after 1.3 miles (2.1 km) it re-emerges from the A31 to run north to the Winnall Roundabout, Junction 9 of the
M3
. Here it merges with the
A34
, passing east and north of
Winchester
(with limited access to the
A33
northbound), before re-emerging near Littleton. It then runs NW along the Andover Road (formerly
B3420
), terminating at the
A30
in the
parish
of
Barton Stacey
, an overall length of 85 miles (137 km).
[1]
To the north the B3420 continues across the
River Test
to
Wherwell
and
Andover
.
Features
[
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]
The A272's route is predominantly
rural
, despite being only 40 miles (64 km) from the centre of
London
at its nearest point. Most of it passes through countryside, villages and small towns, and the only built-up area of any size that it traverses is
Haywards Heath
and its surrounding villages. There is very little
dual carriageway
?just three very short sections between
Petworth
and
Midhurst
?and it therefore gives the driver an experience which is reminiscent of English country roads as they were in the middle of the 20th Century.
It has been said that the A272 follows part of the route that was taken by
pilgrims
travelling between the
cathedral
cities of
Winchester
and
Canterbury
. However, this is unlikely because, for most of its length, it passes through the low
weald
of
Sussex
. Prior to the development of modern roads, this was difficult for travellers, because of the extensive forest and tracts of low-lying marshy ground. The more likely route was the
Pilgrims' Way
, which followed the
chalk
escarpment
of the
North Downs
.
In popular culture
[
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]
The road is the subject of a book by the
Dutch
author
Pieter Boogaart
:
A272 - An Ode to a Road
(Pallas Athene, 2000).
[2]
The A272 is the subject of a chapter in W H Charnock's book "Mind over Motor" describing in detail a car journey from Winchester to Petersfield.
The A272 is mentioned as part of the route Pablo Picasso will take as part of his bicycle ride in the first episode of Monty Python.
See also
[
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]
References
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]
External links
[
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]
50°59′17″N
0°37′56″W
/
50.9881°N 0.6321°W
/
50.9881; -0.6321
(
A272 road
)