A120 road

Road in the east of England

The A120 is an A road in England, which runs between Puckeridge in Hertfordshire and Harwich in Essex. Along its route, the A120 bypasses the towns of Bishop's Stortford, Great Dunmow, Braintree, Coggeshall, Colchester and Dovercourt. The route meets the A10, A131, A12 and A133 primary routes and the M11 motorway. London Stansted Airport sits directly north of the route on the Essex and Hertfordshire border. Harwich International Port, a North Sea seaport at the mouth of the River Stour, lies north of the A120 near Harwich. Part of the route constitutes Euroroute E32, between the A12 (E30) at Colchester and Harwich International Port.

At its western terminus, the A120 meets the A10 at a roundabout south west of Puckeridge. The A10 runs southbound towards Hertford and London, and northbound towards Royston and Cambridge. Carried by Standon Hill, the A120 passes along the southern perimeter of Puckeridge and into the village of Standon. The route then continues towards Little Hadham, which it bypasses to the north, before reaching a roundabout with the A1184 and A1250 to the west of Bishop's Stortford. The town is bypassed to the north by the A120, crossing the River Stort and entering the county of Essex. The route is managed by Hertfordshire County Council.

According to the Society for All British and Irish Road Enthusiasts (SABRE), the Ministry of Transport's 1922 List of Class I and Class II Roads and Numbers listed the A120 as being the route Puckeridge – Bishop's Stortford – Great Dunmow – Braintree – Marks Tey.

The A120 roughly follows the path of the Stane Street Roman Road. At its western end, Stane Street met Ermine Street, which ran north–south between Londinium (London), Lindum Colonia (Lincoln) and Eboracum (York). In the east, Stane Street's terminus was at Camulodunum (Colchester). Archaeologists have uncovered Roman artefacts at several A120 towns. In 2022, archaeologists unearthed Roman graves and evidence of a Roman settlement at Bishop's Stortford. Oxford Archaeologists, leading the project, described as a "once in a lifetime discovery" and said evidence suggests the site was a major transport and trading post in the East of England. Of Great Dunmow, a Heritage Gateway report notes:"Excavations between 1968 and 1972 uncovered the remains of a minor Roman linear settlement located along Stane Street, extending over 2 to 3 acres occupied from the 1st century AD to the 4th century AD; a Roman cremation cemetery and possible shrine were discovered along with timber buildings. The settlement is considered to be a vicus. "Of Braintree, a similar report reads:"The site of a Roman settlement at Braintree. Material found here suggests an extensive pre Roman settlement, which continued as a small Roman urban centre at the intersection of Roman roads through the 1st century and perhaps diminishing in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th centuries."

The A120 passes UK "international gateways" at London Stansted Airport and Harwich International Port. Connecting roads link the A120 with other UK gateways, such as the A12 towards Felixstowe and the M11 towards London. Since 2010, organisations including National Highways, A120 Driving Economic Growth and Transport East have identified the "A120 corridor" as one which supports UK government's economic ambitions such as growth and "levelling up".