Herepath

A herepath or hereweg[1] is a military road (literally, an army path) in England, typically dating from the ninth century AD.

The English military preparations, conducted under the leadership of King Alfred of Wessex, included fortified burhs or places of refuge and connecting herepaths using existing routes or new works.

As superior or safer roads, sometimes following ridgeway routes, herepaths were intensely used by ordinary travellers and hauliers.

Where these roads exist today, local legend often imputes them with magical, romantic or mystical origins in prehistoric time and the name is rather wantonly applied to any old trackway, especially in the region of Wessex.

In all three languages, a herepath in later times simply denotes a road that was a via publica, maintained at central government expense.