The Doomsday Book

The carman tells us that as soon as he was ready to ride qt, william destroyed everything by force that had not already been burnt. The doomsday book shows that much of the land around canterbury had been thoroughly ravaged. And so when we look at the wealth of towns and villages before the invasion, and then compare them with the wealth they had mediately after the invasion, what is revealed is a trail of devastation along the pilgrim's way. It wasn't as direct a route, nor was it as well suited to a marching army as watling street would have been but that seems to be where he marched.