Battle

We decided to go and visit the site of the Battle of Hastings on our (hopefully) last day here in Gatwick. This involved a train trip, changing at Redhill, to get to the town of Battle. Yes, the site of the Battle of Hastings is called Battle. The trip is about one and a half hours.

Battle Abbey is in the centre of town. We walked down there and found that a guided tour had just started, so we hurried to catch it up. The guide, dressed in Anglo-Saxon clothing (in 25°C weather!) told us all about the history, the build-up to the battle including the events in Yorkshire earlier in the year, and how the battle was fought and won. He debunked the arrow in the eye theory, and told us what probably actually happened - there are no eye-witness accounts from the English side, as they were all dead. Afterwards we had lunch in the café, then toured the gatehouse, including getting to the top to see the views all around. 

There’s not much else in Battle so we headed back to the station and back to our room. We were fortunate at the changeover in Redhill as an earlier train had been delayed and was waiting for us at the next platform, so we made a seamless transition. After a hot day walking around I headed for the bar for a well-deserved beer.