A413 road
Encyclopedia
The A413 is a major road
Road
A road is a thoroughfare, route, or way on land between two places, which typically has been paved or otherwise improved to allow travel by some conveyance, including a horse, cart, or motor vehicle. Roads consist of one, or sometimes two, roadways each with one or more lanes and also any...

 in England that links Gerrards Cross
Gerrards Cross
Gerrards Cross is a village in Buckinghamshire, England. It is in the south of the county, near the border with Greater London, south of Chalfont St Peter. Gerrards Cross is also a civil parish within South Bucks district, which was known as the Beaconsfield district from 1974 to 1980...

 to Towcester
Towcester
Towcester , the Roman town of Lactodorum, is a small town in south Northamptonshire, England.-Etymology:Towcester comes from the Old English Tófe-ceaster. Tófe refers to the River Tove; Bosworth and Toller compare it to the "Scandinavian proper names" Tófi and Tófa...

. It passes through various towns and villages including Buckingham
Buckingham
Buckingham is a town situated in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire. The town has a population of 11,572 ,...

, Aylesbury
Aylesbury
Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in South East England. However the town also falls into a geographical region known as the South Midlands an area that ecompasses the north of the South East, and the southern extremities of the East Midlands...

, Wendover
Wendover
Wendover is a market town that sits at the foot of the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England. It is also a civil parish within Aylesbury Vale district...

, Winslow
Winslow, Buckinghamshire
Winslow is a small market town and also a civil parish designated as a town council within Aylesbury Vale district in north Buckinghamshire. It has a population of about 4500....

, Great Missenden
Great Missenden
Great Missenden is a large village in the Misbourne Valley in the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England, situated between the towns of Amersham and Wendover. It closely adjoins the villages of Little Missenden and Prestwood. The narrow High Street is bypassed by the main A413 London to...

 and Amersham
Amersham
Amersham is a market town and civil parish within Chiltern district in Buckinghamshire, England, 27 miles north west of London, in the Chiltern Hills. It is part of the London commuter belt....

.

It has been diverted a number of times over the last 50 years. In the 1960s, a by-pass was built around Great Missenden
Great Missenden
Great Missenden is a large village in the Misbourne Valley in the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England, situated between the towns of Amersham and Wendover. It closely adjoins the villages of Little Missenden and Prestwood. The narrow High Street is bypassed by the main A413 London to...

 and re-routing has taken place through Aylesbury
Aylesbury
Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in South East England. However the town also falls into a geographical region known as the South Midlands an area that ecompasses the north of the South East, and the southern extremities of the East Midlands...

 town centre. In the last 20 years , by-passes have been built for Amersham
Amersham
Amersham is a market town and civil parish within Chiltern district in Buckinghamshire, England, 27 miles north west of London, in the Chiltern Hills. It is part of the London commuter belt....

 and Wendover
Wendover
Wendover is a market town that sits at the foot of the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England. It is also a civil parish within Aylesbury Vale district...

. In the early 21st century, the junction near Towcester where the A413 joins the A43
A43 road
The A43 is a primary route in the English Midlands, that runs from the M40 motorway near Ardley in Oxfordshire to Stamford in Lincolnshire. Through Northamptonshire it bypasses the towns of Northampton, Kettering and Corby which are the three principal destinations on the A43 route...

 has also been redeveloped along with much-needed A43 redevelopment around Silverstone Circuit
Silverstone Circuit
Silverstone Circuit is an English motor racing circuit next to the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. The circuit straddles the Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire border, with the current main circuit entry on the Buckinghamshire side...

.

That part of the route which runs along the Misbourne Valley dates back into pre-history. In Medieval times, the Cartulary of Missenden Abbey
Missenden Abbey
Missenden Abbey was an Augustinian monastery founded in 1133 in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom. It was ruined in the Dissolution of the Monasteries and the ruins later incorporated into a Georgian mansion.The abbey has been owned by Buckinghamshire New University since the mid...

 simply recorded the road as "the Kings Highway". Also just north of Aylesbury the road crosses Holman's Bridge
Holman's Bridge
Holman's Bridge is a brick-built bridge on the A413 to the north of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England. It is where the A413 crosses the River Thame...

, the location in 1642 of the Battle of Aylesbury
Battle of Aylesbury
On the 1 November 1642, Royalist forces, under the command of Prince Rupert engaged Aylesbury's Parliamentarian garrison, at Holman's Bridge a few miles to the north of Aylesbury town...

.

Aylesbury
Aylesbury
Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in South East England. However the town also falls into a geographical region known as the South Midlands an area that ecompasses the north of the South East, and the southern extremities of the East Midlands...

 rockstar John Otway
John Otway
John Otway, is an English singer-songwriter, who has built a sizeable cult audience through extensive touring, a surreal sense of humour and a self-deprecating underdog persona.-Biography:...

 wrote a B-Side about the road on his Number 9 hit single "Bunsen Burner." The song was called "A413 Revisited" and is about John returning home no longer as a one hit wonder but as a two hit artist. The chorus is:
"From Amersham, to Missenden,
to Wendover to the Vale of Aylesbury,
that's me heading down the 4-1-3"
and features places located on the road such as The Grange School
The Grange School, Aylesbury
The Grange School is a co-educational secondary school in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.It is a community school, which takes children from the age of 11 through to the age of 18. The school has approximately 1250 pupils....

 in Aylesbury.


The section of the A413 between Aylesbury and Winslow is known locally for its high accident rate. A number of signs have been put up along this stretch of road stating how many casualties have occurred on the road in recent years. The stretch has a high number of blind turnings, sudden speed limits and steep gradients. The worst accident to occur in recent years was in 2003 when a lorry crashed through the side of a bridge just south of the hamlet of Hardwick
Hardwick, Buckinghamshire
Hardwick is both a village and a civil parish within the Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. It is in the Aylesbury Vale, about four miles north of Aylesbury....

. The road was closed completely for two days resulting in all bus services being diverted onto the A418
A418 road
The A418 road is a main trunk road in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, England. It begins at a roundabout with the A4146 just north of Ascott, near Leighton Buzzard. It then runs south as a single carriageway through Wing to Aylesbury. This stretch is proposed for a dual carriageway bypass. After...

 or A41
A41 road
The A41 is a formerly-major trunk road in England that links London and Birkenhead, although it has now largely been superseded by motorways. It passes through or near various towns and cities including Watford, Hemel Hempstead, Aylesbury, Solihull, Birmingham, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton,...

.
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