diff --git a/byoc/__init__.py b/byoc/__init__.py
index efe7f2e..65e6e78 100644
--- a/byoc/__init__.py
+++ b/byoc/__init__.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 from .configs.on_load import on_load
 from .getters import Key, Method, Func, Value
 from .pick import first
-from .cast import Context, arithmetic_eval, float_eval, int_eval
+from .cast import Context, relpath, arithmetic_eval, float_eval, int_eval
 from .key import jmes
 from .meta import meta_view
 from .errors import NoValueFound
diff --git a/byoc/cast.py b/byoc/cast.py
index 3ad392e..d6033a0 100644
--- a/byoc/cast.py
+++ b/byoc/cast.py
@@ -5,9 +5,29 @@
 
 from .errors import Error
 from more_itertools import first
-from typing import Union
+from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Union, Callable, Any
 
 class Context:
+    """
+    Extra information that can be made available to *cast* functions.
+
+    The *cast* argument to `param` is must be a function that takes one 
+    argument and returns one value.  Normally, this argument is simply the 
+    value to cast.  However, BYOC will instead provide a `Context` object if 
+    the type annotation of that argument is `Context`::
+
+        >>> import byoc
+        >>> def f(context: byoc.Context):
+        ...     return context.value
+
+    Context objects have the following attributes:
+
+    - :attr:`value`: The value to convert.  This is the same value that would 
+      normally be passed directly to the *cast* function.
+    - :attr:`meta`: The metadata object associated with the parameter.
+    - :attr:`obj`: The object that owns the parameter, i.e. *self*.
+    """
 
     def __init__(self, value, meta, obj):
         self.value = value
@@ -29,6 +49,36 @@ def call_with_context(f, context):
     return f(context.value)
 
 
+def relpath(
+        context: Context,
+        root_from_meta: Callable[[Any], Path]=\
+                lambda meta: Path(meta.location).parent,
+) -> Path:
+    """
+    Resolve paths loaded from a file.  Relative paths are interpreted as being 
+    relative to the parent directory of the file they were loaded from.
+
+    Arguments:
+        context: The context object provided by BYOC to cast functions.
+        root_from_meta: A callable that returns the parent directory for 
+            relative paths, given a metadata object describing how the value in 
+            question was loaded. The default implementation assumes that the 
+            metadata object has a :attr:`location` attribute that specifies the 
+            path to the relevant file.  This will work if (i) the value was 
+            actually loaded from a file and (ii) the default pick function was 
+            used (i.e. `first`).  For other pick functions, you may need to 
+            modify this argument accordingly.
+
+    Returns:
+        An absolute path.
+    """
+    path = Path(context.value)
+    if path.is_absolute():
+        return path
+
+    root = root_from_meta(context.meta)
+    return root.resolve() / path
+
 def arithmetic_eval(expr: str) -> Union[int, float]:
     """\
     Evaluate the given arithmetic expression.
diff --git a/docs/api_reference.rst b/docs/api_reference.rst
index b513b5b..13a0559 100644
--- a/docs/api_reference.rst
+++ b/docs/api_reference.rst
@@ -72,9 +72,11 @@ Key/Pick/Cast functions
 
    byoc.first
    byoc.jmes
+   byoc.relpath
    byoc.int_eval
    byoc.float_eval
    byoc.arithmetic_eval
+   byoc.Context
 
 Metadata
 ========
diff --git a/tests/param_helpers.py b/tests/param_helpers.py
index a8c4df0..4e909e1 100644
--- a/tests/param_helpers.py
+++ b/tests/param_helpers.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 from voluptuous import Schema, And, Or, Optional, Invalid, Coerce
 from unittest.mock import Mock
 from re_assert import Matches
+from pathlib import Path
 
 if sys.version_info[:2] >= (3, 10):
     from functools import partial
@@ -218,3 +219,28 @@ def get(ns):
 get_config = get_obj_or_cls('config')
 get_meta = get_obj_or_cls('meta')
 no_templates = '^[^{}]*$'
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def files(request, tmp_path):
+
+    # We want to return a `pathlib.Path` instance with an extra `manifest` 
+    # attribute that records the specific file names/contents the were 
+    # provided.  Unfortunately, `pathlib.Path` uses slots, so the only way to 
+    # do this is to make our own subclass.  This is complicated further by the 
+    # fact that `pathlib.Path` is just a factory, and instantiates different 
+    # classes of objects depending on the operating system.
+
+    class TestPath(type(tmp_path)):
+        __slots__ = ('manifest',)
+
+    tmp_path = TestPath._from_parts([tmp_path])
+    tmp_path.manifest = request.param
+
+    for name, contents in request.param.items():
+        p = tmp_path / name
+        p.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+        p.write_text(contents)
+
+    return tmp_path
+
+files.schema = empty_ok({str: str})
diff --git a/tests/test_cast.nt b/tests/test_cast.nt
index a45900f..d08ffab 100644
--- a/tests/test_cast.nt
+++ b/tests/test_cast.nt
@@ -59,6 +59,41 @@ test_call_with_context:
       type: ValueError
       message: value: 1
 
+test_relpath:
+  -
+    id: relative
+    files:
+      conf.nt:
+        > x: a
+    obj:
+      > class DummyObj:
+      >     __config__ = [NtConfig.setup('conf.nt')]
+      >     x = byoc.param(cast=byoc.relpath)
+    expected:
+      x: a
+  -
+    id: relative
+    files:
+      a/conf.nt:
+        > x: b
+    obj:
+      > class DummyObj:
+      >     __config__ = [NtConfig.setup('a/conf.nt')]
+      >     x = byoc.param(cast=byoc.relpath)
+    expected:
+      x: a/b
+  -
+    id: absolute
+    files:
+      a/conf.nt:
+        > x: /b
+    obj:
+      > class DummyObj:
+      >     __config__ = [NtConfig.setup('a/conf.nt')]
+      >     x = byoc.param(cast=byoc.relpath)
+    expected:
+      x: /b
+
 test_arithmetic_eval:
   # Literals
   -
diff --git a/tests/test_cast.py b/tests/test_cast.py
index 05cbf47..7999a6e 100644
--- a/tests/test_cast.py
+++ b/tests/test_cast.py
@@ -23,6 +23,22 @@ def test_call_with_context(func, value, meta, obj, expected, error):
     with error:
         assert call_with_context(func, context) == expected
 
+
+@parametrize_from_file(
+        schema=Schema({
+            'obj': with_byoc.exec(get=get_obj, defer=True),
+            'expected': {str: str},
+            'files': files.schema
+        }),
+        indirect=['files'],
+)
+def test_relpath(obj, expected, files, monkeypatch):
+    monkeypatch.chdir(files)
+
+    obj = obj.exec()
+    for param, relpath in expected.items():
+        assert getattr(obj, param) == files / relpath
+
 @parametrize_from_file(
         schema=Schema({
             'expr': str,
diff --git a/tests/test_config.py b/tests/test_config.py
index a270cec..19354e4 100644
--- a/tests/test_config.py
+++ b/tests/test_config.py
@@ -105,9 +105,10 @@ class DummyObj:
             'slug': with_py.eval,
             'author': with_py.eval,
             'version': with_py.eval,
-            'files': {str: str},
+            'files': files.schema,
             'layers': eval_config_layers,
-        })
+        }),
+        indirect=['files'],
 )
 def test_appdirs_config(tmp_chdir, monkeypatch, obj, slug, author, version, files, layers):
     import appdirs
@@ -124,15 +125,13 @@ def __init__(self, slug, author, version):
 
     monkeypatch.setattr(appdirs, 'AppDirs', AppDirs)
 
-    for name, content in files.items():
-        path = tmp_chdir / name
-        path.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
-        path.write_text(content)
-
     assert obj.dirs.slug == slug
     assert obj.dirs.author == author
     assert obj.dirs.version == version
-    assert list(obj.config_paths) == unordered([Path(x) for x in files.keys()])
+    assert list(obj.config_paths) == unordered([
+        Path(x)
+        for x in files.manifest.keys()
+    ])
 
     byoc.init(obj)
     assert collect_layers(obj)[0] == layers
@@ -160,14 +159,10 @@ def test_appdirs_config_get_name_and_config_cls(config, name, config_cls, error)
             'files': empty_ok({str: str}),
             'layers': eval_config_layers,
             Optional('load_status', default=[]): [str],
-        })
+        }),
+        indirect=['files'],
 )
 def test_file_config(tmp_chdir, obj, files, layers, load_status):
-    for name, content in files.items():
-        path = tmp_chdir / name
-        path.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
-        path.write_text(content)
-
     byoc.init(obj)
     assert collect_layers(obj)[0] == layers