It branches from the
A456 west of
Bewdley, at a place called
Fingerpost. Only the first of the route is in
Worcestershire, as immediately after passing through the small village of
Far Forest it passes over the Lem Brook and into Shropshire. Heading in a roughly westerly direction, it passes through
Cleobury Mortimer,
Hopton Wafers and
Clee Hill Village. The road's destination is the town of
Ludlow, where (since 1979) it ends at the Rocks Green roundabout on the
A49 bypass. The route is long. The road passes through
common land between
Doddington and Clee Hill Village, and as such has
cattle grids across the road to keep the openly grazing sheep within the common. There is a public car park by the A4117 in Clee Hill Village, which affords a considerable view over the
Teme valley below and further into the counties of
Herefordshire and Worcestershire. At the car park is a
toposcope and close by are
public conveniences. The road also passes right through the centre of the small
market town of
Cleobury Mortimer, which is a
linear settlement along the road. This stretch is often congested. Due to the hilly terrain and passing through the constrained streets through Cleobury Mortimer and Clee Hill Village, it is sometimes quicker (and more fuel efficient, especially for heavy goods vehicles) to take the A456 and A49 (i.e. via
Woofferton) instead, if travelling between Bewdley and Ludlow; these two A roads are designated primary routes, whilst the A4117 is not.
Bus service The 292 bus service (Ludlow-Bewdley-
Kidderminster) operated by
Diamond Bus, runs along the entire length of the road, providing regular public buses Monday to Saturday.
Garages The modern route as of 2018 has three
filling stations, at Mawley Oak (the B4202 junction), in Cleobury Mortimer, and at Foxwood near Doddington. Another opened in 2017 at the original junction with the former route of the A49 in Ludlow. A
Sainsbury's supermarket was constructed at the junction with the A49 in 2021 and originally an adjacent filling station was planned, but due to no interest from potential operators, as of 2024 there is a plan for a Costa Drive-thru instead. ==History==