It’s now hard to imagine that the quiet cul-de-sac at the top of Hospital Street was once part of the main route through Wolverhampton, to and from the west, carrying large amounts of traffic into Shropshire and North Wales via Cleveland Street, Salop Street and Chapel Ash.

It was built on land that had been owned by the Duke of Cleveland, the principal local landowner and so named after him. He was previously Lord Darlington but was given the title the Duke of Cleveland as a reward for his involvement in the Reform Bill in 1832. The road was built in between 1828 and 1830 as part of the Town Commissioners' road improvement scheme.

The new straight road avoided diversions around the existing roads in the town centre and was part of Thomas Telford’s Holyhead Road, known as the A41, where the road went through the West Midlands. The Holyhead Road was the largest road building scheme since Roman occupation.

Cleveland Road became a cul-de-sac in the 1980s when Ring Road St Georges was built.