The Romans were a methodical people, not given to acts of folly - so why did they apparently build a road to nowhere? Known as the Peddars Way, it is a typically straight track marching from near Thetford directly through the heart of west Norfolk until it peters out at an isolated coastal spot at Holme, and is now favoured by walkers and cyclists.
But just what its original purpose was when it was built around 2,000 years ago is a question that has long perplexed historians.
Andrew McCloy is the latest to investigate. He devotes a chapter of his new book, Exploring Roman Britain, to the Peddars Way, and has reached a tentative conclusion.
"Usually the routes ended at a fort or garrison, or had another obvious destination," he says.
"Here you come out at Holme, and you think, Why? Where were the Romans going?"
There was a Roman settlement at nearby Brancaster, known as Branodunum, but if that had been the destination they would surely have gone straight there instead of hitting the coastline and then meandering eastwards for a couple of miles.
Instead, Andrew suggests: "I think probably it was a ferry port for a boat across the Wash to the other side. They might have gone across the Wash and up to Boston."
But above all, he suspects, it was a statement of intent - a sign from the occupying forces that they were not to be messed with.
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