A508 road

The A508 is a 50.961 km,  A-class road for north–south journeys in central and south central England, forming the route from Market Harborough in Leicestershire, via Northampton, to Old Stratford in Northamptonshire, just outside Milton Keynes (and the Buckinghamshire border).

Major settlements
The major settlements along the route are Market Harborough, Great Oxendon, Kelmarsh, Maidwell, Hanging Houghton, Brixworth, Pitsford, Boughton, Northampton, Roade, Grafton Regis, Yardley Gobion, before finishing in Old Stratford.

Background


The road commences in the town of Market Harborough, on the outskirts of Leicestershire, at the junction of the A4304 St. Mary's Road and Clarence Road. This small town has a population of 24,171 as of 2021 Census, and was named one of the best places to live in the country. It is the only area in Leicestershire to be included in the Sunday Times Best Places to Live 2023 guide.

Other routes


By following St Mary's Road to the west, you come to the villages of Lubenham and Theddingworth,  whilst following the road east takes you to Market Harborough railway station, Great Bowden  and an interchange with the A6 and A427.

Kettering Road
Heading south as Kettering Road, we almost immediately cross over the River Welland and just 0.139 km further south from the start of the A508 route, we come to a roundabout, where Waitrose, Aldi and Lidl compete for customers. It is also the place where the A508 changes its name...

Springfield Street


Kettering Road now bears off to the south-east and sets its sights on the A6, whilst the A508 continues to the south-west as Springfield Street. We pass two residential roads; named Britannia Walk and Springfield Court, and before too long we pass another supermarket; this time a Sainsbury's (with an Argos and a petrol station included ) in Springfield Retail Park, alongside a Shoe Zone, Pets at Home and Homebase. At the end of Springfield Street approximately 0.381 km after the road started, we turn right to head south along Northampton Road at a T-junction.

Northampton Road




We turn right onto Northampton Road from Springfield Street, towards Northampton, the A14, Leisure centre, East Farndon and Welland Park Community College. We continue along Northampton Road for approximately 1.088 km, and in that time, we pass junctions with Welland Park Road, Nithsdale Crescent, Nithsdale Avenue, Auriga Street, Patrick Street, Gladstone Street, Granville Street, Bath Street, Caxton Street, Clipston Street, Scotland Road and Lathkill Street. Afterwards, we pass a car retail company and a petrol station on our left, with some allotments and Market Harborough cemetery on our right. Roughly 0.180 km along, the road name changes from Northampton Road to Harborough Road at a roundabout.

Harborough Road
At this roundabout, we meet Moseley Avenue on our left, which guides drivers into a housing estate. On our left, we pass a leisure centre, a football team (Harborough Town) and a rugby team (Market Harborough Rugby Union). We continue along Harborough Road, and 0.410 km later, as soon as the rugby and football pitches end to our right, so does Leicestershire. This the point where the A508 leaves Leicestershire and joins Northamptonshire.

Great Oxendon
We cross into Northamptonshire just outside the town of Market Harborough. The A508 is also known by the name Harborough Road for 21 km, until it becomes Harborough Road North at a roundabout in the village of Boughton. However, there is a small occurrence of Main Street in Kelmarsh, 5.695 km away. We act as a country lane for 1.628 km, and along that section, we pass a metal recycling plant, and a golf course. Then, we enter Great Oxendon, which in the 2011 Census only had a population of 331, and immediately we pass St. Helen's Church. We continue for a further 0.250 km to get to the main section of the village. We pass about 16 houses through the trees to our left, before we meet about five unnamed road and The George Public House. We also meet Main Street and Braybrooke Road slightly further to the south, before leaving Great Oxendon behind us.

Kelmarsh
We continue Northampton-bound along the road, meeting Oxendon Road (after 0.948 km), and Church Lane (after a further 0.628 km). The village of Arthingworth is roughly 1.75 km east of this point, as the crow flies. We encounter a lay-by after another 0.881 km, and after a further 1.235 km we reach Kelmarsh Hall and Gardens, 3.692 km after leaving Great Oxendon. However, it is still another 0.186 km, before we arrive at the centre of Kelmarsh village. We pass about a dozen cottages, pass a crossroads with some unnamed roads, leading towards Harrington and Thorpe Underwood (both adjacent to the A14), to the left, and Clipston and Sibbertoft to the right. We continue for 0.658 km, we arrive at Kelmarsh Junction; the place where the A508 and A14 intersect at A14 Junction 2. We also now have to say goodbye to Kelmarsh, and hello to Maidwell...

Maidwell
After passing Kelmarsh Junction with the A14, we continue on towards the centre of Northampton, and after 1.165 km, we arrive at Maidwell.

Future
, a bypass is being built around Roade as part of enabling works for the rail freight interchange under construction between Roade and the M1.

Length table
Here is a table, showing the lengths between different villages and junctions.

Length table key

 * 1-4: French violet = Market Harborough
 * 5-6: walnut brown = Great Oxendon
 * 7-10: lizard green = Kelmarsh
 * 11-12: mauve = Maidwell
 * 13: aerospace orange = Lamport
 * 14: dark salmon pink = Hanging Houghton
 * 15-17: chocolate brown = Brixworth
 * 18: turquoise/cyan = Pitsford
 * 19: cornflower blue = Boughton
 * 20-31: green = Northampton
 * 32-35: yellow = Roade
 * 36-37: pea green = Grafton Regis
 * 38: purple = Yardley Gobion
 * 39: navy blue = Old Stratford