In parts of southern England, ancient pathways lie buried deep beneath the surrounding countryside. Known as “holloways”, these sunken lanes were worn into the earth by generations of travellers, farmers, and livestock. The name holloway comes from “hola weg,” meaning sunken road in Old English. Some have become extraordinary tunnels of earth, roots and foliage, hidden from the landscape above. I stumbled into one during a visit to Dorset, on the southern coast, in circumstances that made the discovery extra memorable.

Early last summer I was in the U.K. and paid a visit to a friend living in the area. The two of us went on a day-hike through the rolling green hills and pastures surrounding his town. At one point we entered a forest enclosure and found ourselves in a deep gully running through the foliage. My friend, at that point, pointed out that we were walking through a Holloway. There was something haunting beautiful about walking through an environment that was both shaped by, and emanated, the activity of countless generations of people in the deep past.

What made that moment doubly surreal was that the year before, while teaching a travel writing course, my students and I had read a newspaper article in the Toronto Star about that exact same holloway in Dorset. I’d never heard of the hidden trenches prior to reading about them in class. Nor did I imagine afterwards that I’d ever set foot in one – let alone that same one.

Holloways are found all over rural U.K. and can date as far back as the Iron Age. Each has a different appearance depending on their size and shape, and the region in which they are found. Most originated as ordinary tracks and pathways, gradually deepened by human activity over time, and assisted by the erosive effects of rainfall. In some places, as in the photos here, the resulting lanes have sunk several metres below the surrounding fields. Their steep, enclosing walls are often covered in exposed tree roots and vegetation, giving them the atmosphere of tunnels carved by time itself.

They are especially common in parts of southern England, where softer sandstone and other easily eroded geological formations have allowed some pathways to become particularly deep. Many once connected villages, serving as everyday arteries of movement and trade. Their exact ages are often difficult to establish, though some may follow routes dating back to medieval or even prehistoric times.

The famed British nature writer Robert Macfarlane explored these same holloways of Dorset and later collaborated with Dan Richards and artist Stanley Donwood on Holloway, an illustrated book devoted to these half-hidden corridors through the landscape.

You can see a variety of U.K. holloways in this Atlas Obscura article.