A Wayside Tavern tells, in a series of dramatic incidents, the story of a Suffolk drinking place from the end of the Roman occupation of Britain, until the present day. The Roman veteran, crippled and left behind, worshipped Mithras, so the place became known as the One Bull and down through the centuries it accommodated itself to changing times and became a clearing house for contraband, a miniature Hell Fire Club, a fashionable hotel, a mere pub.