About The A361
Information from Wikipedia
The A361 is an A class road in England and at 195 miles (314 km) is the longest 3 digit A road in the UK. It runs south from Ilfracombe on the north Devon coast to Barnstaple, turning south-east to Tiverton then, after a break (the M5 connects the two sections), north east from Taunton in Somerset through Street and Glastonbury, along the bottom of the Mendip Hills through Shepton Mallet, past Frome and then into Wiltshire through Trowbridge, Devizes, Avebury and Swindon. It then runs through the eastern Cotswolds, via Lechlade, Burford and Chipping Norton and on through Banbury and Daventry before terminating at its junction with the A5 road at the village of Kilsby on the Northamptonshire and Warwickshire border near Rugby. Despite its length, most of the road is non-primary and relatively unimportant.
The History
When first designated in 1922 the A361 ran only from Taunton to Banbury. It was later extended west through Bampton to South Molton, on the route of the former A398, and from South Molton to Barnstaple and Ilfracombe, previously part of the route of the A373. In 1988, when the North Devon Link Road was opened, the A361 was switched to its present route. The old route from Taunton through Bampton to South Molton was downgraded to become the B3227. In the 1970s the route was extended north from Banbury to Daventry, providing a link to the M1 motorway near Crick.