It’s not the most imaginative name really – Battle. The town built on the site of the Battle of Hastings – which of course didn’t happen at Hastings at all – it happened at Battle.
And there’s an abbey there too – called Battle Abbey. Or rather, the remains of an abbey.
And a school in the middle of it all – called … you guessed it, Battle Abbey School.
However, it matters not one whit about the lack of imagination in the name – the landscape more than made up for it as I visited the place that changed England forever.
The site of the actual battle is just a field. A sloping field dotted with trees and ponds and rabbit droppings.
There’s a path around the site – from the hill where Harold stood defending to the valley where William launched his attack. It’s not a long walk – and English heritage has signposted it with stories of that day, which helped put everything into perspective.
It’s a beautiful and peaceful place, which seems strange given that a lot of men died… and no doubt died horribly … there.
On top of the ridge are the fabulous remains of the Abbey built by William after his victory. Some claim he promised God he would do so if he won the day. More likely, he was ordered to do so by the Pope as penance for the deaths he caused.
Whatever the reason, William ordered the abbey built with the high altar on the spot where King Harold fell – possibly with an arrow through his eye although that’s not really certain.
The land around the site was too steep to easily build a church, so apparently the monks started building it a short distance away where the ground was flatter. When William found out, he made them tear that down move it back to the proper site, which involved excavations on a considerable scale for that time… for any time really.
The Abbey that developed there grew in size and power and wealth, until another king – Henry this time, had a disagreement with the pope and began reducing the church estates to rubble. I’m pretty sure the wealth he thus gained was as much an incentive as his desire to marry Anne Boleyn.
For me, the depth and wealth of British history is a source of never ending fascination. That might be because in Australia we have no buildings that are even 250 years old far less a thousand years. So, growing up, my interest in history was directed towards the UK.
I this find it really strange that part of the ancient Abbey is now used as a private school. It is no doubt a very good and very expensive school – but it seems wrong to me for two reasons.
First of all – it limits public access to an important historic site. And it also seems disrespectful somehow that teenagers are doing – the things that teenagers do – in what should be a venerated national monument. Nothing against teenagers, you understand, but I think that remembering our history is important. Surely the school could just as easily be sited somewhere else.
But then, one part of me wistfully thinks what fun it would have been for me, as a teenager, to have lived in such a place. Surrounded by both history and adventure. Lucky kids!
