Walk of the week: Battle – remembering 1066
Comments (0) This week for our route of the week we’re going to Battle in East Sussex. That is we’re not going to start or join a battle but instead go to the small town of Battle that is the famed location of the Battle of Hastings back in 1066. Tomorrow actually marks the 945th anniversary of that battle.
Battle - where the Battle of Hastings took place on 14 October 1066
So what did happen back in 1066 to cause the battle? In a nutshell … back in September 1066 (the 28th to be precise) the Norman conquest of England began. It was a pivotal time in English history as it signified the end of the native ruling class and replaced them with a foreign, french speaking monarchy and aristocracy. It was on the 14 October 1066 that the battle of Hastings took place. The battle was between the Norman-French army led by Duke William II of Normandy and the English Army led by King Harold II. During the battle Harold was killed – the legend being that he was shot by an arrow through the eye – and in doing so was the last English monarch to be killed in battle until Richard III was in the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. The battle of Hastings was the last battle on English soil where the foreign invading party were successful – leading to Duke William to become King William I, or William the Conqueror as he as often been referred to.
The image above shows the site of that famous battle and in the background you can see Battle Abbey that was built in 1095 to commemorate the battle. The abbey and the battle site are now run by English Heritage and are near the end of the walk. The town was built up around the Abbey and developed a reputation for producing high quality gun powder. The first gunpowder mill was built in 1676 and it was Daniel Defoe who said in 1722 that “remarkable for little now, but for making the finest gun-powder, and the best perhaps in Europe“.
Our walk today starts at a car park in the centre of Battle, is 9.95miles (16.02km) and should take around 3 hours 40minutes (not allowing for time spent at the battle ground). The route has been plotted for you on OS getamap and the area we’re walking is covered on OS Explorer Map 124 – Hastings & Bexhill.
Have you been to Battle? Have you been on walks around other historic battlegrounds?
Photograph: Graham Horn via Geograph
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