MT 121/284

M4 Chiswick-Langley Special Road and Chiswick-North of Harmondsworth Special Road (Improvements) Order No 2

Date range	1960-1976
Location	National Archives (see all files stored here)
Catalogue	See entry
File base	Series MT, subseries MT 121

Context

It's not immediately clear what’s going on in this file. It comprises a box containing a single very full file, which begins with three old file covers inside a newer binding. Two of the covers have the original reference "HS 25/10/01" and are titled "London South Wales Motorway (Severn Bridge and Approaches): North of Almondsbury - South of Haysgate - East of Crick (Monmouthshire) Special Roads (Improvement) Orders", which suggest the contents are not what was promised. However, the third file cover has the reference "HS 25/11/01" and is titled "Chiswick - Langley - Special Road (London - South Wales Motorway): Chiswick - North of Harmondsworth Special Road (Improvements Order No. 2)". What is actually in the file are papers relating to the Chiswick-Langley length of M4, so what became of the two files about the Severn Bridge is unclear, but wherever they are, their covers are now here.

The file deals with the legal orders for the M4 between Chiswick (J1) and Langley (J5), starting in early 1961 on what was then called the Chiswick-Langley Special Road Scheme. Through the course of the file, orders are published and statutory notifications are sent out to concerned parties. There are copies of the various orders here, plus clippings of them appearing in local papers. There are also dozens of "Notifications of Completion of Acquisition" forms from the compulsory purchase process; all of these are rather nice since they are marked as being for the "South Wales Radial Road Trunk Road Scheme".

At the back is a folder containing 34 plans, all of which are the small black-line-on-a-Land-Registry-plan type that accompany legal orders for road schemes.

People with camera copies

Chris Marshall has a partial copy.