{"id":5141,"date":"2014-10-05T07:00:39","date_gmt":"2014-10-05T06:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/janetgover.com\/?p=5141"},"modified":"2014-10-05T07:00:39","modified_gmt":"2014-10-05T06:00:39","slug":"the-battle-at-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/johnhocking.net\/jg2025demo1\/history\/the-battle-at-battle\/","title":{"rendered":"The battle at Battle"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>
The misty morning created a moody atmosphere around the great gatehouse.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s not the most imaginative name really \u2013 Battle. The town built on the site of the Battle of Hastings \u2013 which of course didn\u2019t happen at Hastings at all \u2013 it happened at Battle.<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s an abbey there too \u2013 called Battle Abbey. Or rather, the remains of an abbey.<\/p>\n

And a school in the middle of it all \u2013 called \u2026 you guessed it, Battle Abbey School.<\/p>\n

However, it matters not one whit about the lack of imagination in the name \u2013 the landscape more than made up for it as\u00a0I\u00a0visited the place that changed England forever.<\/p>\n

The site of the actual battle is just a field. A sloping field dotted with trees and ponds and rabbit droppings.<\/p>\n

\"Such<\/a>
Such an ordinary looking field – it could be anywhere.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There\u2019s a path around the site \u2013 from the hill where Harold stood defending to the valley where William launched his attack. It\u2019s not a long walk \u2013 and English heritage has signposted it with stories of that day, which helped put everything into perspective.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a beautiful and peaceful place, which seems strange given that a lot of men died\u2026 and no doubt died horribly \u2026 there.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The abbey is spectacular – rising from the top of the ridge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Whatever the reason, William ordered the abbey built with the high altar on the spot where King Harold fell \u2013 possibly with an arrow through his eye although that\u2019s not really certain.<\/p>\n

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\u2026 for any time really.<\/p>\n

\"No-one<\/a>
No-one is absolutely sure if this is the exact spot where Harold fell – but it was quite something to stand there anyway.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Abbey that developed there grew in size and power and wealth, until another king \u2013 Henry this time, had a disagreement with the pope and began reducing the\u00a0church estates\u00a0to rubble. I\u2019m pretty sure the wealth he thus gained was as much an incentive as his desire to marry Anne Boleyn.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The spectacular undercroft below the monk’s dormitory.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>
This catalogue for the 1901 sale of the site described it as ‘founded by William The Conqueror 1067’. It doesn’t seem right that such a place should be sold to the highest bidder.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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 \u2013 but it seems wrong to me for two reasons.<\/p>\n

First of all \u2013 it limits public access to an important historic site. And it also seems disrespectful somehow that teenagers are doing – the things that teenagers do \u2013 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.<\/p>\n

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!<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The school is housed in what was once the abbot’s house and the guest quarters. What a place to study! It must be inspiring.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s not the most imaginative name really \u2013 Battle. The town built on the site of the Battle of Hastings \u2013 which of course didn\u2019t happen at Hastings at all \u2013 it…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history","category-my-travels"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnhocking.net\/jg2025demo1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnhocking.net\/jg2025demo1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnhocking.net\/jg2025demo1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnhocking.net\/jg2025demo1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnhocking.net\/jg2025demo1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/johnhocking.net\/jg2025demo1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5141\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnhocking.net\/jg2025demo1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnhocking.net\/jg2025demo1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnhocking.net\/jg2025demo1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}