I love history and most of my regular followers will know this but it has only been recently that I have been discovering more historical places on my home island of Great Britain. One of those places was on the outskirts of the town of Battle in East Sussex to see the battlefield where ‘the Battle of Hastings’ took place. I am still getting my head around how the Royal Families of England and France intertwined with each other, which sometimes came into a heated argument and before you know it, they were sending armies out to each other’s country for a good old fight. Well, only once in the Kingdom of England (since the Roman Empire) have they been conquered in their own backyard and that's when William the Conqueror (also known as William the Bastard) from Normandy came over and defeated ‘le anglais’.
The background - why was there a Battle of Hastings?
The battle took place on a pleasant day, known as 14th October 1066 and is still the famous battle to take place on the islands until this very day. It's not even in Hastings but several miles north of the south coast seaside resort. However the background to this started earlier in the year when King Edward the Confessor of England died and he had no children to pass on the royal crown. There were several claimants to the throne but Harold Godwinson (known as Harold II) got his hands on the role. However in his short time he had to fight off invasions by William the Conqueror, King Harald Hardraga (who was known as Harold III and was the King of Norway) and even his own brother Tostig. Well, Tostig and Harald Hardraga joined forces and gave Harold a good battle at the Battle of Fulford (near York) on the 20th September 1066. They were defeated and Harold had no time to celebrate as the Tostig and Harald Hardraga quickly got another army together and had another battle with Harold at the Battle of Stamford Bridge five days later. Well, it didn’t bode too well for Tostig and Harald as they were killed. Harold celebrated (whilst recovering) but then got word that William the Conqueror was sailing up from France with an army to take over England and claim the throne.
Quickly Harold walked his army all the way from Yorkshire to the south coast. He needed to give William a good ass-licking as he was the last serious opponent left who could take the throne from him. William arrived with his forces at Pevensey (not too far away from Hastings) on the 28th September 1066. Harold arrived soon afterwards, tired, but managed to gain some more people for his army and ready to fight.
I also visited the site of William’s army embarking on their voyage across La Manche in Barfleur, Normandy, France back in 2023 and saw the Bayeux tapestry, check out my findings here. Below are some photos from Normandy.
The Battle
Olga and I stood in the field. To the northern side of the field is a steep slope (known as Senlac Hill). This is where Harold’s forces came to do battle and you would think the English would have full advantage as they could see where the Normans were coming from all directions. There were arrows being fired from the Normans but the English returned by throwing spears and axes at them (as they didn’t have many archers). It got messy, a big fight involved. During this there were rumours that the Duke of Normandy had been killed, so the English got wind of this, started to retreat thinking that they had won the battle. But the Duke came running up the hill with his army, yelling, ‘I am alive’ and the battle kicked off again. It got messy and then alors! King Harold is dead! Accounts show different variations of his death, however most of them involve his eye being missing. Some said he had an arrow shot into his eye socket, another said he got attacked by a knight and somehow got his sword in his eye socket, or maybe a horse licked it out. Who knows. But with King Harold dying, there was only one thing for it, a French celebration on English soil.
After the battle
So, William the Conqueror was crowned King of England on Christmas Day, which also meant he was the first Norman king to rule the land of England.. He also remained the Duke of Normandy till his death in 1087. He struggled to rule England and keep hold of his lands together but that's another story. For now, this was the only time the French had defeated the English on the island.
However, battles always have an aftermath. King Harold. Where did his body go? Nobody knows. Maybe his body was taken to Waltham Abbey (just north of London) which was found by Harold and was secretly buried there. Then there is the story of Harold's mother, Gytha, offering William the Conqueror lots of gold so she could take the body to be buried. He refused. Another one is that William ordered the body to be thrown in La Manche but again, not sure if that took place. Last of all, there is a rumour he survived the battle and ran up to Chester and became a hermit (basically locked himself away and didn’t speak to anyone until his death).
There is an abbey which was built and founded on the grounds. This is because William the Conqueror really wound up the English by celebrating his victory like crazy. He ordered an abbey to be built in penance for the blood shed during the battle and to commemorate a massive victory for the French. Where the abbey is built (or near enough) is where King Harold was defeated.
My experience of the Battle of Hastings site
I have to admit that before I came here, I knew very little about the battle, why it took place and the background. I came away with a fountain of knowledge. It was weird that I stood in the middle of the battlefield, looking up the hill, picturing the English army at the top waiting for the Normans. Then standing at the top of the slope where the English arrived, looking down the slope and picturing the Normans ready to come up and give the hosts a good thrashing. I took my time here, thinking about the battle and the fact that around 7,000 people died in this field in one day.
I recommend that after taking in the field and the abbey to walk out of the grounds to the high street of the town of Battle (only a couple of minutes walk) and take in the beautiful buildings and have lunch here. It is such a quaint and beautiful town to have a stroll around. Also check out the side streets away from the high street and there are beautiful timbered buildings with pretty gardens to check out. You won’t regret it.
Since visiting the site: I won’t go into too much detail but I also research my family history tree with my mother. Since I visited the site, I have discovered that William the Conqueror is my 30th x Great Grandfather on one branch and King Harold Godwinson who died at the Battle is the husband of my 27th x Great Grandmother Ealdgyth Ferch Alfgar on another branch line. This for me is one family dispute. But I am serious, they are on my family tree after years of research.
Information about tickets and facilities can be found here as the site is managed by English Heritage.
Essential information on the Battle of Hastings site
How to get to: The site of the Battle of Hastings is pretty easy to reach, especially driving from London. Take the A21 heading south from the M25 Junction 5 until you reach John’s Cross. Then follow signs for A2100 BATTLE, and follow this road for several miles, going through the town itself. The site is signposted by brown tourist information signs and lies south of the centre of the town of Battle. The nearest train station is Battle on the London Victoria to Hastings line and is about a ten minute walk to the site.
Flying into the area? The nearest airport is London Gatwick but there are other London airports at City, Heathrow, Luton, Stansted and Southend. All the airports have good public transport connections into London where you can connect for trains to Battle. The first place I would go to find airline tickets to the city is using (I would recommend) Skyscanner to find flights as that is my first point of call. Then if necessary use the airlines directly to find a good deal. I sometimes use Momondo as well to compare prices before booking.
Car Rentals - as I do a lot of road trips around the world, I use Rentalcars.com which is very reliable for booking car hire in advance. I also use Turo (the airbnb of car rentals) and never had a problem with them. The cars are insured, owners vetted and never had an issue.
Accommodation: There are a lot of accommodation options and a lot of websites which can do some great deals. My first point of call is always Booking.com and can offer a range of hostels, hotels, campsites, apartments, guesthouses and bed and breakfasts.. After that I always have a look through AirBnb and Vrbo for great deals on apartments and other lodgings especially when traveling as a family.
Currency: England uses the British Pound. Currency can be exchanged at the airports and train stations (for a huge fee) so I would recommend either going to a currency exchange place downtown, to a bank (if they have good rates) or if you got a good bank account with fantastic exchange rates, then use an ATM machine (may incur a small fee but I always do this option as I got good bank accounts). A great website I use to compare currency exchange rates is XE, which gives people up to date information.
Language: England uses the English language and is used all over the country. Just to point out there are many dialects and other languages like Cornish-Gaelic used in the country but everyone who speaks English will understand other dialects from other regions.
Watch out for: As far as I am aware, there are no major scams to look out for. As always in Europe, watch out for the usual pickpockets or any pretty crimes but I felt very safe in Battle.
Travel insurance: This is essential to anywhere you go in the world. I always carry travel insurance. Having travel insurance will cover you from theft, illness and those annoying cancellations which can happen on the road. Safety Wing offers coverage for a lot of adventure activities as well as emergency medical, lost luggage, trip cancellation and so forth.
Need a visa for the UK? Always check if you need a visa when coming to the United Kingdom. Since leaving the European Union because of BrExit in January 2020, visa rules apply for those coming from the European Union.
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Please note that while I was not working with English Heritage, my review and experiences written about in this post are 100% genuine. I value my readers too much to lie to you. My blog would be nothing without you and your continued support! There maybe some links above which are affiliate and are at no additional cost to you. If my readers use them, I earn a commission to buy their products and remember, I only mentioned products and companies I use. The income from this keeps this website going. Thank you.
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