The Old Road, also sometimes called Pilgrims Road, was an ancient route through the south of England, its origins long preceding the arrival of the Romans. In the Middle Ages it acquired special significance as a primary thoroughfare for pilgrims seeking the tomb of St. Thomas Becket. When devotion to St. Thomas waned in recent centuries, the Old Road fell into disuse and portions of it were forgotten. Belloc’s purpose in this book was to reconstruct the full length of the road by walking the land himself.