History Early history By the 17th century, the historic Portsmouth Road bore great strategic significance as the road link between the capital city and what became the settled main port of the Royal Navy, as well as a non-military port like nearby Chichester — a petition was passed by The Queen for the expansion of the bench of justices of the town of Guildford along its route, in consideration of the importance of the Portsmouth Road, in 1603.'The borough of Guildford: Borough, manors, churches and charities' in A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 3, ed. H E Malden (London, 1911), pp. 560-570. British History Online, University of Portsmouth, the History of Parliament Trust and others accessed 20 November 2016.] Many of the other towns and villages that the road passed through gained income and, in the case of towns, a market advantage as a result — principally in the history of Kingston upon Thames, Godalming and Petersfield. The modern A3 follows the general route of the Portsmouth Road, but it bypasses many of the towns and villages along the way, leaving the various stretches of the old route for local traffic — for instance, the A307, its original course through Kingston-upon-Thames and Esher, retains its name, Portsmouth Road.
History Early history By the 17th century, the historic Portsmouth Road bore great strategic significance as the road link between the capital city and what became the settled main port of the Royal Navy, as well as a non-military port like nearby Chichester — a petition was passed by The Queen for the expansion of the bench of justices of the town of Guildford along its route, in consideration of the importance of the Portsmouth Road, in 1603.'The borough of Guildford: Borough, manors, churches and charities' in A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 3, ed. H E Malden (London, 1911), pp. 560-570. British History Online, University of Portsmouth, the History of Parliament Trust and others accessed 20 November 2016.] Many of the other towns and villages that the road passed through gained income and, in the case of towns, a market advantage as a result — principally in the history of Kingston upon Thames, Godalming and Petersfield. The modern A3 follows the general route of the Portsmouth Road b,ut it bypasses many of the towns and villages along the way, leaving the various stretches of the old route for local traffic — for instance, the A307, its original course through Kingston-upon-Thames and Esher, retains its name, Portsmouth Road.