Old Kent Road Old Kent Road Old Kent Road is a major thoroughfare in South East London, England, passing through the London Borough of Southwark. It was originally part of an ancient trackway that was paved by the Romans and used by the Anglo-Saxons who named it Wæcelinga Stræt (Watling Street). It is now part of the A2, a major road from London to Dover. The road was important in Roman times linking London to the coast at Richborough and Dover via Canterbury. It was a route for pilgrims in the Middle Ages as portrayed in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, when Old Kent Road
A229 road In 2006, the road was set up with the then largest vehicle checkpoint campaign in Kent, in order to catch drug dealers and benefit fraudsters. Twenty-seven vehicles were apprehended, but there were no arrests. The road largely follows the route of Roman Road No. 13, as described by Ivan Margary, which ran from Rochester to Hastings. It was turnpiked between Rochester and Maidstone in 1728, then to Cranbrook in 1760. The A229 number was assigned in 1923, following the turnpike road. The original route through Maidstone ran along Sandling Road and Week Street; the diversion along the riverside opened in