Battle Abbey

entrance gate to Battle Abbey

After Rye, Will and I headed to Battle, in East Sussex.  (We did stop off in Hastings to see that town, but quickly left when we realized that it was really all about a slightly rundown, cheesy boardwalk).  Of course this little town is where the Battle of Hastings in 1066 actually took place.  This is where William, Duke of Normandy, defeated Harold II and took on the title William the Conqueror.  This is where the England that we know today was born.

waiting for the intro movie to begin

 Or, at least that last thought is what the movie and audio guide told us.  

To be fair, when you go to Battle Abbey, you are going to look at some ruins and a huge sloping field.  You can only go into the ruins of the common rooms; the refectory is now a school.  Will's school in fact held dances with the girls from Battle Abbey (which he and classmates graciously called "Cattle Abbey"...charming).  England Heritage has done a really good job of making the most out of the battle ground.  The new visitors center with the informative movie (narrated by David Starsky, so I kept waiting for him to go on and on and on about King Henry VIII's wives) put the invasion and battle into context.  The moving figures of the Bayeux Tapestry is quite clever, actually.

the battle field from the Norman perspective

In 1070 Pope Alexander II ordered the Normans to do penance for killing so many people during their conquest of England. So William the Conqueror vowed to build an abbey where the battle had taken place, with the high altar of its church on the supposed spot where King Harold fell in that battle on Saturday, 14 October 1066.  It was remodelled in the late 13th century but virtually destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries under King Henry VIII, in late 1500s.  It became a private home until it became a private school in 1922.

The audio guide leads you around the battle field and explains the various positions of the Normans and the English.  It has stunning views of the landscape and we could really imagine what a cold, rainy day it was in October 1066 since it was pretty wet and chilly the day we visited. 
 

the refectory, which is now houses the upper school.

It must be odd going to school at a major tourist site at a spot that was foundation for modern England.  (Though, you would have access to some fun gifts at the gift shop.)  Once we left the abbey, we wandered back up to Etchingham to enjoy the remainder of our visit.  

common rooms and prayer rooms of the abbey

entrance to the museum, located in the entrance gate