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TM0676 : Roadsigns on the A143 Botesdale BypassTM0676 : To London
TM0676 : Roadsigns on the A143 Bury RoadTM0676 : Roadsigns on the A143 Botesdale Bypass

Road names in Botesdale

Since the A143 bypass of Botesdale and Rickinghall was completed in 1995 there has been some confusion about street names in Botesdale and maps may not always show the correct names.

Botesdale and Rickinghall are separate villages but form a continuous built-up area along what was formerly the A143 Haverhill - Bury St Edmunds - (Diss) -Great Yarmouth main road and are demarcated by boundary signs. Originally both the A143 and the B1113 Norwich - Stowmarket road passed through the centre of Botesdale, the B road performing a dog-leg turn to run for a short stretch along the main road known simply as The Street before turning south on Rectory Hill which continues beyond the bypass as Finningham Road.

Since the coming of the bypass the main road skirts both villages to the south and the B road, entering from Redgrave to the north as Hall Lane, has been diverted to turn east along the old main road to meet the bypass. The route then continues westwards along the bypass as far as the junction by Rickinghall Superior church in TM0474 , where it resumes its old course to the south.

The short stretch of B1113 (formerly A143) between Hall Lane and the eastern bypass junction is marked on the Ordnance Survey and some other maps as Bury Road. However, in local usage it has always been known as Diss Road and still is, because it leads towards Diss and away from Bury. The section further west (between Hall Lane and The Street) is still shown on the maps as Diss Road.

Some sections of the current A143 may be known as Bury Road, because it is the main road to Bury from the direction of Diss. However, the postcode database does not recognise the existence of a Bury Road in Botesdale. There is a Bury Road in Rickinghall which is the continuation of the same road towards Bury and thus logically named. As the two villages are joined up and separated only by a boundary sign this may add to the confusion as any visitors passing through may well be uncertain which village they are in.