The ancient network that links Britain

A fantasy land

Tucked amid the UK’s glorious Welsh Marches region, the English county of Herefordshire glows a rich golden green. Talk to any local and he or she will likely refer to it as “God’s own country”. And rightly so – much of the earth here is made up of red sandstone clay that makes the area blossom into a Garden-of-Eden-like land of plenty every summer.

Crumbling abbey and castle ruins, historical market towns and churches all lie along the banks of the county’s idyllic River Wye, which breaks up into picturesque springs and streams that run into unspoiled valleys and ancient woodland.

It is hardly surprising, then, that famed authors have conceived of some of the world’s most famous fantasy literature here. JRR Tolkien imagined the White Mountains between Rohan and Gondor from The Lord of the Rings while walking in the bordering Malvern Hills, and CS Lewis saw Herefordshire as a real life Narnia.

But beyond its links to famed fiction writers, the county and its surroundings also inspired a much more mysterious and controversial piece of British literature.