Every school child in Britain knows the story about 1066. It's one of those date that's etched into the very fabric of our nations identity. We know the story of when Edward the Confessor died leaving a battle for the throne between Harold and William. How it all came down to one of the most famous battles in world history, The Battle of Hastings.
We've all heard of how Harold lost the battle when he got shot in the eye by an arrow, although the old adage that history is written by the winners and a lack of clear evidence to back it up makes this statement hard to prove true. We do know that he died towards the end of the battle and after his death the English forces were routed by the French and hence William became known as William the Conqueror. The battle depicted on the world famous Bayeux Tapestry was at the time one of the most influential moments in history up to that point and it still marks the last time a force overcame our nation.
What I didn't know until I started looking into going to the site was that after the battle William had an abbey built on the site and as an added act of showing who was boss the alter of the chapel was placed upon the place where Harold was killed. The abbey was in use in this form until the dissolution of the monasteries by the equally well known Henry VIII during his breakaway from the Catholic faith. The buildings and land were given away and were kept in private hands until the English Heritage organisation took over the running of the place on behalf of the government who had purchased it.
Nearly 1000 years after the battle and the field on which it took place has had a lot of alterations done to it, for farming purposes and for building of the abbey which of the original there is very little left, but the later buildings are in much better order and I spent a very nice few hours listening to the amazing audio guide, which I have to say was brilliant, engaging and with a human element that spoke volumes to someone like me who likes facts but at the same time the stories associated with those facts. The trek around the battle field is about 2km and it was a beautiful sunny day and was thoroughly enjoyable. The key point of the battle being explained as you went round like how the Normans were on the ropes and Harold had the chance to win but withdrew thinking that he had reinforcements coming and could finish the job off easily, hindsight is a glorious thing and obviously we all know that it didn't go down like that!
The monastery, which I learnt was promised by William to the Pope for killing so many people, was atop the hill where the English had defended, as I said not much is left of the original but there is a stone on the floor marking the spot of the high altar where Harold was slain, according to the legend. Standing there, on a spot that encompassed so much historical value was awe inspiring, knowing that this was where our nation really began to be formed into the one we recognise was epic, there's no other word for it.
Why did I want to go? Well by now if you hadn't guessed by now I love everything to do with British History and it's a safe statement to make this is where it really begins, this is the platform that our modern society is based upon so it seemed only proper that I went and paid the place a visit. I'm fiercely proud of being British and wish to celebrate all aspects of our long and illustrious history, even the loses, which thankfully aren't that many! It makes sense that I wanted to visit it and to be honest I'd never had the opportunity to, it was one of those places always in the back of my mind that I wanted to go to but nothing had ever come of it, now I can say that I've done it and would recomend it to everyone.
As a little side note to the whole day I would like to place on record that the staff at the Abbey were some of the friendliest and helpful custodians I've had the pleasure of dealing with on my adventures. Not only were they informative but you could tell they cared about the place and sharing the amazing story that the place has.
So that's another one crossed off......and the next one isn't far behind!
Add comment
Comments