2003/05 Prague and Sussex trip - Battle and Hurstmonceaux |
|||
On Saturday we left early for a trip to Battle, north of Hastings. The town square was full of Morris 
dancers, all visitors from other counties. They were something to watch while we had some lunch.
The entrance to Battle Abbey is right in the same square. The abbey was built by William the Conqueror to celebrate his victory over Harold Godwinson. The altar was built on the spot where Harold fell with the arrow in his eye, but the abbey’s church was destroyed by
Henry VIII’s men during the Dissolution, so there’s just a modern plaque to show where it was. The rest of Senlac Hill looks much as it probably did in 1066 before the battle. I never did understand why it was called the Battle of Hastings, though I suppose the Battle of Battle sounds a bit silly.
On the way back we stopped off at Hurstmonceaux Castle. This was really a family home built in the style of a castle as they had cannon by the 1500s and castles weren’t defensible by then. All the same, it’s a ver
y pretty building with an ornamental moat in front.
We couldn’t go into the building as it was being used for weddings that day, but we had a good walk through the grounds, a nature trail through the woods, ancient chestnut trees, rhododendrons, and bluebells. The formal gardens were less interesting but they looked good against the backdrop of the castle.