A491 road
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| Route information | |
| Length: | 12 mi (19 km) |
| Major junctions | |
| South end: |
Lydiate Ash 52°22′44″N 2°02′50″W / 52.3788°N 2.0473°W |
     ![]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ed/Motorway_Right.svg/5px-Motorway_Right.svg.png "]"){kind=small} M5 motorway J4 A38 road A456 road A4036 road A458 road A451 road A461 road A449 road
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| North end: |
Wall Heath 52°30′30″N 2°10′20″W / 52.5083°N 2.1721°W |
| Location | |
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Primary destinations: |
Stourbridge |
| Road network | |
The A491 is an A road in Zone 4 of the Great Britain numbering scheme.
The road north of Oldswinford forms part of an ancient road, probably of Anglo-Saxon origin, joining the burhs of Worcester and Stafford. The crossing of the River Stour was probably the swine-ford that gave rise to the placenames Kingswinford and Oldswinford, and later to the name Stourbridge.
The road from Wordsley Green to the Market House in Stourbidge and so to Bromsgrove was turnpiked in 1753. The same act also dealt with several other roads from that Market House, as well as the road from Birmingham through Halesowen and Hagley to Blakedown Pool, but that was managed by separate trustees from 1773. Its continuation north of Wordsley Green, through Wolverhampton, and Stafford to Stone, much of it now part of A449 road was turnpiked by the Wolverhampton Turnpike Act of 1760.
In the original 1922 road numberings, A491 was assigned to the Shrewsbury, Welshpool, Mallwyd and Cemmaes Road route, now part of the A458 and A470. The route between Wall Heath and Bromsgrove was assigned the A449 number.
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Wikipedia