What a day. Eddie and I drove down to Battle to see the Hastings battlefield.

It was fantastic. Battle Abbey itself is very impressive. The shop is in the main wall, and the museum is over the main gate. The main building is now used as a school. Much of the old Abbey has fallen into ruin, but the buildings that remain are impressive. The Dormitory is a series of beautifully vaulted rooms. The Cistern is fascinating. The remains of the Chapter House, Chapel and Crypt are all neat as well. There’s a plaque where the original altar was built supposedly on the spot that Harold died. Incredible.

Eddie and I did the walk around the battlefield itself. The hill is substantial. Between the hill itself, the thick, high grass, and the Saxons, simply charging up the hill was an impressive feat. In the Bayeux Tapestry, there’s a second hill that Harold put some troops on. As I was standing in the field, I was looking but I couldn’t find it. The only thing that might have worked was on the other side of the battlefield from where I expected it to be. I asked a tour guide and he pointed right to where I had originally thought and said that there used to be a hill there but likely was quarried for stone to make the Abbey. That’s the hill they think is the one referred to on that panel. What was once a hill was moved up as a fortified abbey. Fascinating.

I have lots of pictures and as soon as I can I will be putting them on the web somewhere.

I bought a few things in the gift store, but I resisted the £80 tapestry showing the sailing scene from the Bayeux Tapestry. I thought about it, though 😉

The Abbey walls and trees shut off the field from the mundane world. Once into the field, you can’t see anything that isn’t medieval. However, it’s right next to a road and the front is right in the middle of the town. There are a series of shops and pubs and restaurants out in front. Eddie and I had a pint and he got the steak and ale pie while I went straight to dessert and didn’t pass Go by having the toffee pudding with toffee sauce. Delicious.

Anyway, the plan is to lounge about for a bit and then later hed on to the pub and meet with some of Eddie’s mates. I will not drink Sambuca tonight. I will not drink Sambuca tonight. I will not drink Sambuca tonight. At least I hope not 😉