The road runs for a total distance of some 50 miles (80 kilometres) and provides access to the North Kent area and its industrial base with the ferry port of Newhaven. Consequently, it has a large Heavy Goods Vehicle usage.
History
The A26 was originally classified in 1922 due to the Ministry of Transport Act 1919, which in section 19 instructed the classification of all major roads.[2] The original route went from Maidstone to Brighton, along part of what is now the A27.[3] The part of the road going from Lewes was later reclassified to the A27 between 1947 and 1951.[4][5] The road was later extended along the B2109 to Newhaven after 1969.[6]
It then turns southwest towards Tonbridge and shares the route of the A228 until the next roundabout with Seven Mile Lane. The A26 passes through Hadlow and the edge of Tonbridge. Since 1970[7] it has formed an eastern bypass of Tonbridge town centre, which terminates at the Vauxhall roundabout where there are slip roads to the A21 dual carriageway. From this roundabout, the A2014 Pembury Road runs into Tonbridge. The A26 route resumes at the west end of Pembury Road and heads south as Quarry Hill, forming a grade-separated junction with the A21.
Again heading south-west, the road meets with the A2029 in Lewes after passing Little Horsted and leaves Lewes heading south via Cuilfail Tunnel until it is interrupted again, this time by the A27.
When entering Lewes from the direction of Uckfield, one is met with a view of the chalk cliffs at the very edge of the South Downs. Continuing, you enter the Cuilfail Tunnel, constructed in 1983, which leaves at the roundabout The Culfail Spiral, a sculpture created by Peter Randall-Page.
