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00:00:07,350 --> 00:00:12,930
944 years ago, some local Saxons
might have come to this very spot,

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00:00:12,930 --> 00:00:14,990
the top of Beachy Head,

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00:00:14,990 --> 00:00:18,460
and looked out there,
across the English Channel.

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00:00:22,770 --> 00:00:26,610
And if they'd have been standing
up here on the 28th September,

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00:00:26,610 --> 00:00:30,970
they'd have seen a mighty
invasion fleet, out there,

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00:00:30,970 --> 00:00:37,860
ships crammed with thousands of
warriors and horses, and among them,
Duke William of Normandy,

7
00:00:37,860 --> 00:00:41,940
a man who within weeks would lead
that army into battle at Hastings,

8
00:00:41,940 --> 00:00:45,228
and whose destiny it was
to become king of England.

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00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:52,020
1066, the most famous date
in British history.

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00:00:52,020 --> 00:00:55,680
What actually happened between
the Norman fleet appearing out there

11
00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:59,800
and the Battle of Hastings
fought 16 miles that way?

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00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:05,011
Well, that's what I'll be
finding out today as I walk
in the footsteps of the Normans.

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00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:44,620
In this series, I'll be looking at
very specific moments
of the Norman story,

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00:01:44,620 --> 00:01:48,370
trying to find out what the great
British landscape can tell us

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00:01:48,370 --> 00:01:51,940
about what we know for sure,
and what's just speculation.

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00:01:51,940 --> 00:01:54,890
And the first story
I'll be looking at

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00:01:54,890 --> 00:01:57,984
was played out along this stretch
of the south coast.

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00:01:58,970 --> 00:02:03,890
Today, I'll be armed with the most
famous Norman evidence of all,

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00:02:03,890 --> 00:02:06,230
the Bayeux Tapestry,

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00:02:06,230 --> 00:02:10,640
a detailed illustration of events
that took place along my walk.

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00:02:10,640 --> 00:02:14,670
It stands alongside a handful
of Saxon and Norman chronicles

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00:02:14,670 --> 00:02:17,670
as valuable accounts
from soon after the invasion,

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00:02:17,670 --> 00:02:20,910
and they mean we can be fairly
certain of a few key events.

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00:02:20,910 --> 00:02:26,440
William and his Norman army
hit the English coastline
on the 28th September.

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00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:29,720
But it was mid-October
before they squared up

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00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:33,280
against the might
of King Harold and the Saxons.

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00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:36,090
My walk is going to lead me
to the battlefield itself.

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00:02:36,090 --> 00:02:37,970
But why did the armies clash here?

29
00:02:37,970 --> 00:02:40,920
And why not earlier?

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00:02:40,920 --> 00:02:44,480
On my way to Battle, I want to
explore the town of Hastings,

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and understand the role
of the Saxon manors

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00:02:47,250 --> 00:02:49,970
that once littered
the local countryside.

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00:02:49,970 --> 00:02:52,740
But before that,
there's the coastline itself,

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00:02:52,740 --> 00:02:56,494
because first of all, the Normans
needed somewhere to land.

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00:03:01,310 --> 00:03:04,450
The Bayeux Tapestry
gives a beautiful depiction

36
00:03:04,450 --> 00:03:07,600
of what William's fleet
must have looked like.

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00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:10,450
Absolutely vast numbers
of men and horses.

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00:03:10,450 --> 00:03:14,390
And you can see the decoration
on the prow of the ships here.

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00:03:14,390 --> 00:03:19,080
It also leaves us in no doubt
as to where William actually landed
on the coast.

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00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:22,360
It says they arrived in Pevensey.

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00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:26,960
And that's why I've come here to
Pevensey Castle to begin my journey.

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00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:32,350
But the first thing you notice
about this ancient coastal
defensive site

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00:03:32,350 --> 00:03:35,440
is that it lies
a good mile from the coast.

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00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:40,830
The Romans had established a fort
at Pevensey some eight centuries
before the Norman invasion.

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00:03:40,830 --> 00:03:44,350
At that time, the castle stood on
a finger of firm ground,

46
00:03:44,350 --> 00:03:47,670
a projection between
the marshy inlet of Pevensey Bay

47
00:03:47,670 --> 00:03:51,280
and the long beach that once ran
beneath the castle walls.

48
00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:55,600
But what role did this spot play
for Duke William?

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00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:59,770
I've arranged to meet
David Carpenter,
professor of medieval history,

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00:03:59,770 --> 00:04:02,770
and someone who can answer
a very obvious question.

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00:04:02,770 --> 00:04:05,960
Why Pevensey? You could argue
that it was just an accident,

52
00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:08,860
the wind blowing there,
but I'm actually sure that wasn't it.

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00:04:08,860 --> 00:04:11,770
I think it was very, very
carefully calculated.

54
00:04:11,770 --> 00:04:13,830
And Pevensey's got
two great advantages.

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00:04:13,830 --> 00:04:18,470
The first is this Roman fort.
Also, if you look out there,

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00:04:18,470 --> 00:04:22,460
at the marshland around,
it's very difficult to approach.
So it's completely safe.

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00:04:22,460 --> 00:04:24,710
But I don't think
that was the main reason.

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00:04:24,710 --> 00:04:27,890
I think it's not so much Pevensey
as Pevensey Bay,

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00:04:27,890 --> 00:04:33,240
because what you've got here is that
great mass of shingle beach where you
can bring large numbers of ships up.

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00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:36,940
He probably had well over
1,000 ships, so you can't use a port.

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00:04:36,940 --> 00:04:41,770
You've got to - like 1944, D-Day -
you've got to run them up
onto the beach.

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00:04:41,770 --> 00:04:46,360
That's just what the Bayeux tapestry
shows - all the boats being drawn up
onto the beach,

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00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:50,160
then the horses being unloaded. And
that's what you could do at Pevensey.

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00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:53,250
What about the Bayeux tapestry?
It's such an important source

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00:04:53,250 --> 00:04:56,490
yet historians like you are
questioning some of its veracity.

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00:04:56,490 --> 00:04:58,410
There's a terrific debate about it.

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00:04:58,410 --> 00:05:03,100
Everyone would agree
that its early, that it's probably
very soon after 1066.

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00:05:03,100 --> 00:05:05,210
But beyond that,
there's a great debate.

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00:05:05,210 --> 00:05:09,660
On one hand, there's the view
that it's simply the Norman story,
Norman triumphalism.

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00:05:09,660 --> 00:05:12,850
On the other hand, there's the view
that it's got an English subtext

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00:05:12,850 --> 00:05:15,100
because it was certainly woven
in England.

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00:05:15,100 --> 00:05:18,660
There's an idea that the English
weavers, many of them women perhaps,

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00:05:18,660 --> 00:05:21,050
were trying to sort of
make the English case.

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00:05:21,050 --> 00:05:24,990
They were trying to make Harold
a great heroic figure.

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00:05:24,990 --> 00:05:27,430
I personally think
that's a load of nonsense... OK.

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00:05:27,430 --> 00:05:31,880
.. and that the whole tapestry
can be explained in terms
of Norman triumphalism.

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00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:33,290
So why is Harold like that?

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00:05:33,290 --> 00:05:35,770
Because it makes the victory
all the greater.

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00:05:35,770 --> 00:05:41,630
And yeah, you do have to take some
of it with care, because it's
very much giving the Norman version.

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00:05:41,630 --> 00:05:45,710
I mean, you've got a classic example
of it there, which is Harold's oath.

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00:05:45,710 --> 00:05:47,770
Here he is, taking this oath
to Duke William.

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00:05:47,770 --> 00:05:53,490
And it's basically the oath,
I mean, the tapestry begins with
whole story of Edward the Confessor

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00:05:53,490 --> 00:05:58,790
sending Harold to Normandy
in order to take this oath
to give the throne to William.

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00:05:58,790 --> 00:06:01,090
Now, that's in
all the Norman sources.

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00:06:01,090 --> 00:06:03,380
It's not in any English sources
at all.

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00:06:03,380 --> 00:06:08,260
It's not in the Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle, which is the main
English source about events.

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00:06:08,260 --> 00:06:12,050
And so, you know, historians have
debated, did this happen or not?

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00:06:12,050 --> 00:06:16,930
I've always been fascinated
by the relationship
William had with England.

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00:06:16,930 --> 00:06:20,450
He's not going to
an unknown foreign land
when he arrives here, is he?

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00:06:20,450 --> 00:06:23,400
The extraordinary thing about that,
little commented on,

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00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:26,770
is that Fecamp Abbey, the great
ducal abbey in Normandy,

92
00:06:26,770 --> 00:06:29,120
where the Dukes of Normandy
are buried,

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00:06:29,120 --> 00:06:33,290
it has properties here, because
Edward the Confessor had given Fecamp

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00:06:33,290 --> 00:06:36,520
Winchelsea and Rye
further up the coast.

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00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:40,790
That must mean there was
great connections all the time
between Fecamp and this area,

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00:06:40,790 --> 00:06:45,290
people going backwards and forwards,
bailiffs, money going
backwards and forward.

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00:06:45,290 --> 00:06:48,710
So the Conqueror could have been,
through Fecamp, very genned up.

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00:06:48,710 --> 00:06:55,930
Not merely could, he WAS,
because he spent the Easter
of 1066 at Fecamp.

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00:06:55,930 --> 00:06:59,820
And I'm absolutely sure that that's
where he found out about the area.

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00:06:59,820 --> 00:07:02,920
So he's got a protected site here,
he's surrounded by marshy land,

101
00:07:02,920 --> 00:07:06,710
he's secured the beachhead,
which is what you've got to do.
What does he do next?

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00:07:06,710 --> 00:07:11,450
That's another extraordinary thing,
because having got to Pevensey,
he leaves it immediately.

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I think if you look out here,
look at all the marshland around,
you can see why.

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00:07:16,180 --> 00:07:20,260
Because Pevensey is
a jolly good place to land
and a jolly bad place to stay.

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It's just bog, basically,
bog all around Pevensey.

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And the tapestry shows this.

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00:07:24,950 --> 00:07:28,560
It shows the knights going
immediately from Pevensey.

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00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:32,490
What's the actual title there?
They're going to "seize food".

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So that's one thing,
but they're also going to ravage.

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So, just like William and his men,
I'm moving swiftly on

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00:07:41,260 --> 00:07:46,180
from the isolation of Pevensey
and heading east to start my walk.

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00:07:46,180 --> 00:07:51,340
10 miles along the coast
is one of the ancient ports
of south-east England,

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00:07:51,340 --> 00:07:55,750
a commanding settlement with
a history going back 2,000 years.

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00:07:55,750 --> 00:08:02,269
In 1066, William chose to settle
at the well-connected Saxon burgh,
or town, called Hastings.

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00:08:05,210 --> 00:08:08,260
Hastings is the town that's given
its name to the battle

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00:08:08,260 --> 00:08:12,340
that marked one of
the most important turning points
in British history.

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00:08:12,340 --> 00:08:16,610
That's slightly strange because
the battle took place
a few miles inland.

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00:08:16,610 --> 00:08:20,540
But Hastings does have an important
part to play in this story,

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00:08:20,540 --> 00:08:25,890
because it MAY have been the site
of William the Conqueror's
first castle in England.

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00:08:25,890 --> 00:08:29,508
But all that's left of that now
is that mound over there.

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00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:36,760
Hastings was to be
the Normans' headquarters
in the run-up to battle.

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00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:43,930
And looking at the tapestry again,
we can see a wooden fort being
erected atop a patch of high ground.

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00:08:43,930 --> 00:08:48,480
But the tapestry isn't precise about
where this fort might have been.

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00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:52,143
Today, we can only look for clues.

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00:08:54,010 --> 00:08:56,260
This is the motte
of Hastings Castle,

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00:08:56,260 --> 00:09:00,010
a man-made defensive earth mound
that the Normans liked to put

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00:09:00,010 --> 00:09:03,390
at the heart of all their castles
and fortifications.

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00:09:03,390 --> 00:09:05,690
In the 1960s, it was
partially excavated

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00:09:05,690 --> 00:09:09,110
and what the archaeologists
discovered really surprised them

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00:09:09,110 --> 00:09:12,858
because the Normans have a great
reputation as castle builders

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00:09:12,860 --> 00:09:15,580
but this motte is unstable
and far too sandy.

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00:09:15,580 --> 00:09:20,130
It suggests that it was thrown
together in quite a hurry.

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00:09:20,130 --> 00:09:24,350
So it's likely, if not certain,
that this humble mound was

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00:09:24,350 --> 00:09:27,910
the focal point of events
in early October 1066.

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00:09:27,910 --> 00:09:32,040
The cliff overlooking Hastings
would seem a sensible spot

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00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:35,650
for William to first make his mark
on English soil.

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00:09:35,650 --> 00:09:39,580
And from here, he unleashed
a two-week reign of terror,

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00:09:39,580 --> 00:09:43,010
designed to feed his troops,
devastate the area

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00:09:43,010 --> 00:09:45,638
and incite his Saxon foe
into battle.

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00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:50,410
So if we assume that William's army
did come here to Hastings,

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00:09:50,410 --> 00:09:54,490
how did he get to the battlefield,
which is actually some way inland?

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00:09:54,490 --> 00:09:58,430
Well, armies need good firm ground
and there's a ridge that runs

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00:09:58,430 --> 00:10:01,620
right along here
towards the battlefield itself,

144
00:10:01,620 --> 00:10:03,400
so we can assume he went up there.

145
00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:05,550
However, nowadays
that's all main road.

146
00:10:05,550 --> 00:10:11,600
They don't make for very interesting
walking, so I'm going to go slightly
along the coast and then in here

147
00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:14,180
to find out
what this landscape can tell us

148
00:10:14,180 --> 00:10:18,025
about these few days that had such
a vast impact on English history.

149
00:10:19,620 --> 00:10:22,380
To get from Hastings
to the battlefield,

150
00:10:22,380 --> 00:10:28,853
I'll walk west along the coast
to find out why this town worked
so well as William's headquarters.

151
00:10:30,590 --> 00:10:35,980
Turning inland, the extent to which
this coastline has changed
becomes clear,

152
00:10:35,980 --> 00:10:40,053
as I traverse the one-time
tidal inlet known as Combe Haven.

153
00:10:44,700 --> 00:10:49,660
All around here were
the Saxon manors and settlements
of the rolling Sussex countryside.

154
00:10:49,660 --> 00:10:53,560
In particular, I'll pass through
Crowhurst, King Harold's own manor,

155
00:10:53,560 --> 00:10:57,450
deliberately targeted
for destruction by the Normans.

156
00:10:57,450 --> 00:11:00,400
From here, I'll head
towards the battlefield,

157
00:11:00,400 --> 00:11:03,820
joining the route taken
by the Normans out of Hastings

158
00:11:03,820 --> 00:11:06,820
and through the spot
where the opposing armies

159
00:11:06,820 --> 00:11:09,027
would have first spied each other.

160
00:11:11,460 --> 00:11:15,630
The final stretch of my walk follows
events in the run-up to battle,

161
00:11:15,630 --> 00:11:20,130
Leading me right onto
the battlefield at Senlac Hill,
beneath the great abbey

162
00:11:20,130 --> 00:11:26,239
and the town that marked the place
where a new era of history
was forced upon our island nation.

163
00:11:29,090 --> 00:11:31,200
But back at Hastings, I already know

164
00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:34,850
that the ancient Saxon port
has been long since eradicated,

165
00:11:34,850 --> 00:11:38,468
Lost to the sea in the area
around the Hastings pier.

166
00:11:39,540 --> 00:11:44,140
But is it possible to imagine
how Hastings might have worked
for William?

167
00:11:44,140 --> 00:11:47,280
A question I put
to the Sussex County Archaeologist.

168
00:11:47,280 --> 00:11:49,240
Thanks for talking to us. Pleasure.

169
00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:52,150
The coastline here
is completely different now,

170
00:11:52,150 --> 00:11:56,560
mainly because of erosion
along this part of the coast.

171
00:11:56,560 --> 00:12:00,730
Effectively, because of the geology,
you've got hard rock...

172
00:12:00,730 --> 00:12:06,170
pieces coming out here at White Rock,
at West Hill, where the castle is,
and at East Hill.

173
00:12:06,170 --> 00:12:08,460
Between them are a series of valleys.

174
00:12:08,460 --> 00:12:12,450
And the valleys have silted up
and the headlands have eroded,

175
00:12:12,450 --> 00:12:16,530
so 1,000 years ago,
the coastline would have been
more complex than it is now.

176
00:12:16,530 --> 00:12:21,640
So why choose this stretch of the
south coast of England to invade?

177
00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:25,200
Well, between the white cliffs
of Dover to the east

178
00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:28,530
and the white cliffs at Beachy Head
to the west,

179
00:12:28,530 --> 00:12:33,590
you've got two big areas
of marshland - Pevensey Levels
and the Romney Marsh -

180
00:12:33,590 --> 00:12:36,310
and in between,
one significant area of high ground

181
00:12:36,310 --> 00:12:39,780
where the High Weald
comes to the coast.

182
00:12:39,780 --> 00:12:45,540
And is Hastings better placed then
for a move inland towards
the heart of Saxon England?

183
00:12:45,540 --> 00:12:48,780
The High Weald is particularly good
for its iron content,

184
00:12:48,780 --> 00:12:52,430
and the iron industry was established
in the prehistoric period

185
00:12:52,430 --> 00:12:56,700
but it was during the Roman period
that it became very,
very significant.

186
00:12:56,700 --> 00:12:59,560
The Romans used a lot of the slag
to create superb roads.

187
00:12:59,560 --> 00:13:02,890
You know, they've got slag metalling
this thick.

188
00:13:02,890 --> 00:13:05,840
And they would have produced roads
which would have lasted

189
00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:08,560
right through the Saxon period
into the 11th century.

190
00:13:08,560 --> 00:13:11,610
So you've got this fantastic
infrastructure of Roman roads,

191
00:13:11,610 --> 00:13:17,420
many of which come down to the coast
around this Hastings peninsula.

192
00:13:17,420 --> 00:13:20,790
It's amazing, we talk about
William's greats generalship,

193
00:13:20,790 --> 00:13:25,625
but so much of it actually
does comes down to logistics,
communications and geography.

194
00:13:30,080 --> 00:13:33,690
The changing face of this coastline
is absolutely key

195
00:13:33,690 --> 00:13:37,250
to understanding why
the Normans behaved as they did.

196
00:13:37,250 --> 00:13:39,170
What we now see as this...

197
00:13:39,170 --> 00:13:42,080
would have once looked
more like this.

198
00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:44,890
And when you remember
the ridge of high ground

199
00:13:44,890 --> 00:13:47,140
and the Roman road
stretching north,

200
00:13:47,140 --> 00:13:50,140
Hastings starts to look
like a very logical place

201
00:13:50,140 --> 00:13:52,449
from which to organise
an operation.

202
00:13:58,950 --> 00:14:02,840
Today this feels like
such a straight, stable
piece of seafront,

203
00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:08,940
but in fact, that's only been
achieved at the expense of thousands
of hours of busy human activity,

204
00:14:08,940 --> 00:14:11,190
building these groynes out here

205
00:14:11,190 --> 00:14:14,330
and desperately trying to hold
the beach in place

206
00:14:14,330 --> 00:14:19,060
and stop the Channel
eroding the coast
as it would have done for millennia.

207
00:14:19,060 --> 00:14:23,281
Just west of Hastings' high ridge,
this is Bulverhythe.

208
00:14:24,830 --> 00:14:27,780
The name is Saxon,
meaning Harbour of the Borough.

209
00:14:27,780 --> 00:14:32,230
Over a thousand years ago,
it was a narrow gateway to an inlet

210
00:14:32,230 --> 00:14:36,410
that filled the boggy marsh
now known as Combe Haven.

211
00:14:36,410 --> 00:14:41,757
The question is, what state would
Combe Haven have been in, in 1066?

212
00:14:47,890 --> 00:14:51,920
This is very telling, there's been
two weeks of fine, dry weather,

213
00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:57,310
but even at the moment, the ground
here at Combe Haven is soaking wet.

214
00:14:57,310 --> 00:14:58,868
Completely waterlogged.

215
00:15:01,490 --> 00:15:09,170
Speculation has run to the idea
that the Norman fleet itself could
have sailed as far inland as here.

216
00:15:09,170 --> 00:15:12,500
But, perhaps more reliably,
archaeological reports suggest

217
00:15:12,500 --> 00:15:16,860
humans have been digging drainage
channels here since the Roman age.

218
00:15:16,860 --> 00:15:21,365
By the time the Normans got here,
mankind was already
trying to assume control.

219
00:15:25,250 --> 00:15:29,800
Even after all the drainage
that's gone on here,
all the land reclamation,

220
00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:33,220
it's amazing just how waterlogged
Combe Haven still is.

221
00:15:33,220 --> 00:15:36,460
I've never been here before
and it's fascinating,

222
00:15:36,460 --> 00:15:39,410
because it allows you
to say with certainty

223
00:15:39,410 --> 00:15:43,440
that no medieval army could have
passed through this marsh.

224
00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:46,210
There's Hastings over there
on that high ground.

225
00:15:46,210 --> 00:15:49,490
William is protected on both sides
by these marshy areas.

226
00:15:49,490 --> 00:15:53,430
But it also means
he has to stick to that high ground
when he moves inland.

227
00:15:53,430 --> 00:15:57,460
And that's why I've come down here
cos you get a great view

228
00:15:57,460 --> 00:16:01,965
of William's route from the sea
inland towards the battlefield.

229
00:16:04,020 --> 00:16:05,940
For two weeks in October 1066,

230
00:16:05,940 --> 00:16:12,320
the area between Hastings
and the battlefield bore the brunt
of the Norman army's occupation.

231
00:16:12,320 --> 00:16:15,180
These were productive,
fertile lands,

232
00:16:15,180 --> 00:16:18,740
and all around Combe Haven
would have been Saxon settlements,

233
00:16:18,740 --> 00:16:22,301
ideally placed
for feeding William's troops.

234
00:16:23,380 --> 00:16:27,970
Well, I've emerged from the marshes
and what greets me but the sight
of a cricket square.

235
00:16:27,970 --> 00:16:32,612
That's very Sussex. I'm sure
there's a vicar on a bicycle
round here somewhere.

236
00:16:34,160 --> 00:16:40,020
But to quote from the Domesday Book,
this same area was "laid waste"
by the Normans.

237
00:16:40,020 --> 00:16:45,740
20 years after the invasion,
Domesday records
that 2% of Sussex lands were still

238
00:16:45,740 --> 00:16:50,803
entirely unproductive, all of them
lying in this area around Hastings.

239
00:16:52,210 --> 00:16:55,160
This is the rather picturesque
village of Crowhurst.

240
00:16:55,160 --> 00:16:57,460
We know it's been here
since the Saxon period.

241
00:16:57,460 --> 00:17:01,350
One of the reasons is because
"hurst" is a classic Saxon suffix,

242
00:17:01,350 --> 00:17:03,460
meaning "clearing in the woods".

243
00:17:03,460 --> 00:17:05,710
But so are some other
villages round here

244
00:17:05,710 --> 00:17:10,070
because they all have "ham" at
the end, another Anglo-Saxon suffix.

245
00:17:10,070 --> 00:17:12,690
You've got Little Worsham Farm,
Pebsham Wood,

246
00:17:12,690 --> 00:17:14,520
up here you've got Monkham Wood.

247
00:17:14,520 --> 00:17:18,130
So this area is absolutely dripping
in Anglo-Saxon heritage.

248
00:17:18,130 --> 00:17:22,400
And it's not just any old village
because this was actually

249
00:17:22,400 --> 00:17:25,733
part of the personal estates
of King Harold.

250
00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:29,940
Even before he seized the throne
in early 1066,

251
00:17:29,940 --> 00:17:34,160
Harold was the most powerful
landowner in this part of England.

252
00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:36,270
And William knew that.

253
00:17:36,270 --> 00:17:40,820
The would-be Conqueror made a
beeline for the manor of Crowhurst,

254
00:17:40,820 --> 00:17:44,802
inciting Harold with a direct
assault on his local people.

255
00:17:46,870 --> 00:17:50,430
Right here next to the church is
this incredible yew tree

256
00:17:50,430 --> 00:17:52,540
which is at least 1,000 years old,

257
00:17:52,540 --> 00:17:55,120
and quite possibly
much older than that.

258
00:17:55,120 --> 00:17:59,150
And yew trees were always great
meeting points for communities,

259
00:17:59,150 --> 00:18:03,230
so Christians tended to simply
co-opt those pre-existing
spiritual places

260
00:18:03,230 --> 00:18:07,870
and just stick a Christian site
next to it, so that's what seems
to have happened here.

261
00:18:07,870 --> 00:18:14,014
Absolutely amazing to think
that this yew tree was here
when William landed on that shore.

262
00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:21,510
Whether William himself came here
or not, we'll simply never know,

263
00:18:21,510 --> 00:18:25,680
but we can be sure that
Harold certainly wasn't at home.

264
00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:28,730
He was engaged in Yorkshire,
crushing the Viking invasion

265
00:18:28,730 --> 00:18:33,740
at Stamford Bridge,
leaving Crowhurst to meet its fate.

266
00:18:33,740 --> 00:18:39,230
Romantics would have you believe
that the tapestry displays
this very moment,

267
00:18:39,230 --> 00:18:45,650
with the harrowing image of a
fleeing woman being that of Harold's
mistress, Edith "Swan-Neck",

268
00:18:45,650 --> 00:18:50,815
who days later
would have the job of identifying
the king's mutilated body.

269
00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:59,950
This is a fantastic historic novel
published in 1948
called The Golden Warrior.

270
00:18:59,950 --> 00:19:05,570
One of the most dramatic scenes
is when William comes here
to Crowhurst.

271
00:19:05,570 --> 00:19:10,960
And it says that "Harold's reeve had
buried his lord's treasures under
the great Yew in the churchyard,

272
00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:16,070
"And he and his men were taken
and not a sole would tell Duke
William where the spoil was hidden.

273
00:19:16,070 --> 00:19:22,170
"And then the reeve was hanged
from the yew tree, and the rest
barred within the hall and burnt.

274
00:19:22,170 --> 00:19:27,140
"William and his captains watched
the reeve die and harkened to
the cries of those burned.

275
00:19:27,140 --> 00:19:30,230
"Some of the barons mocked,
some of them yawned.

276
00:19:30,230 --> 00:19:33,180
"The Duke kept silence,
his face unchanged. "

277
00:19:33,180 --> 00:19:37,920
That's pretty exciting stuff,
although it has no basis
in fact whatsoever.

278
00:19:37,920 --> 00:19:41,340
But that hasn't stopped people
round here telling visitors

279
00:19:41,340 --> 00:19:47,010
that King Harold's reeve, his
man of business, was actually hanged
from a tree in this churchyard.

280
00:19:47,010 --> 00:19:52,540
For me, that just shows that
even nearly 1,000 years after
the events of this bloody year,

281
00:19:52,540 --> 00:19:57,148
we're still mythologising it
and still retelling the story
in our own way.

282
00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:01,920
But by walking this land,
you can go someway towards

283
00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:07,730
stripping away the myths and legends
from the likely truth of events.

284
00:20:07,730 --> 00:20:10,590
As I head up the gentle slope
of Telham Hill,

285
00:20:10,590 --> 00:20:14,720
I'm joining the route taken by
the Normans as they left their camp

286
00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:18,189
and moved inland,
attempting to grasp the upper hand

287
00:20:18,189 --> 00:20:22,319
as Harold completed
his 250-mile journey from Yorkshire.

288
00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:26,490
Now, technically I have left
the footpath, which runs
along that fence

289
00:20:26,490 --> 00:20:28,460
but I hope the farmer
will forgive me.

290
00:20:28,460 --> 00:20:30,894
I'm looking for this
absolutely classic view.

291
00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:37,970
The one view you don't get
is the one I want - that way
towards the battlefield,

292
00:20:37,970 --> 00:20:40,970
because the stockbroker belt's
in the way.

293
00:20:40,970 --> 00:20:46,600
But if I get onto that road,
try and peer through the hedge,
I might get a better view.

294
00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:49,690
I think this guy here
has got the view that I want,

295
00:20:49,690 --> 00:20:52,930
so let's go down the hill a bit
and cut in front of him.

296
00:20:52,930 --> 00:20:56,070
DOG BARKS
Also get away from
his aggressive dogs.

297
00:21:01,220 --> 00:21:03,570
I think this might be...

298
00:21:03,570 --> 00:21:05,549
just perfect. Wow!

299
00:21:09,149 --> 00:21:11,540
That's a fantastic view.

300
00:21:11,540 --> 00:21:13,600
There's the battlefield there,

301
00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:16,080
where the ruins
of that abbey are now.

302
00:21:16,080 --> 00:21:18,520
As you go up the ridge,
you can see the windmill

303
00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:22,410
which marks the site,
it's said, where Harold
and his army were gathering.

304
00:21:22,410 --> 00:21:27,940
So by the time William gets up here,
he can actually see his enemy,
he can almost smell them.

305
00:21:27,940 --> 00:21:33,380
They're so close now, they're
like two juggernauts heading towards
each other, two nations in arms

306
00:21:33,380 --> 00:21:36,292
that are bent on the destruction
on the other.

307
00:21:37,740 --> 00:21:41,580
Chroniclers of the Norman era
paint a picture of William

308
00:21:41,580 --> 00:21:46,980
giving a Shakespearean speech
as his army eyed the opposition.

309
00:21:46,980 --> 00:21:52,509
The pro-Norman William of Poitiers
even has William offering Harold
the chance of a noble solo combat

310
00:21:52,509 --> 00:21:55,080
to settle the issue
of the English throne,

311
00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:56,960
saving the bloodshed of thousands.

312
00:21:56,960 --> 00:22:01,229
Harold apparently
rejected the offer, saying,

313
00:22:01,229 --> 00:22:05,211
"Our advance continues.
We march to victory! "

314
00:22:06,290 --> 00:22:12,660
For modern visitors, the area
around the battlefield now plays
host to a sizeable Sussex town.

315
00:22:12,660 --> 00:22:18,200
After all that lovely tranquillity,
I've finally arrived at the bright
lights of the town of Battle,

316
00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:21,149
but before I look at the battlefield
itself, just there,

317
00:22:21,149 --> 00:22:24,801
I'm going to look at how the Saxons
were doing at their camp over here.

318
00:22:26,210 --> 00:22:31,370
If the Vikings hadn't threatened
in Yorkshire, Harold would have been
ready and waiting in Sussex.

319
00:22:31,370 --> 00:22:34,789
The outcome of 1066
could have been very different,

320
00:22:34,789 --> 00:22:38,737
for good as William was,
Harold too was a renowned commander.

321
00:22:40,370 --> 00:22:46,180
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states
that Harold mustered his troops
at the hoar apple tree,

322
00:22:46,180 --> 00:22:50,450
believed to have stood up here
by the windmill on Caldbeck Hill.

323
00:22:50,450 --> 00:22:52,789
And that's where I'm meeting
a town resident

324
00:22:52,789 --> 00:22:58,040
who's written about the local
landscape and how it influenced
events around the battle.

325
00:22:58,040 --> 00:23:01,420
What a fantastic view from up here.
Gorgeous, isn't it? Yeah.

326
00:23:01,420 --> 00:23:05,680
Very commanding position.
It's the first time I've been able
see a long way north.

327
00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:08,400
What are the key features
of that geography up there?

328
00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:10,980
Well, basically, trees.

329
00:23:10,980 --> 00:23:16,130
It's the vastness
of the great Wealden Forest

330
00:23:16,130 --> 00:23:20,210
which covered most of Kent,
Sussex and into Hampshire.

331
00:23:20,210 --> 00:23:26,680
It stretched north to south
from here, almost to the Thames.

332
00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:29,170
And so,
an impenetrable barrier, really,

333
00:23:29,170 --> 00:23:34,700
and certainly not one that William
would have relished marching through

334
00:23:34,700 --> 00:23:36,620
until he was certain of victory.

335
00:23:36,620 --> 00:23:39,669
How do we know Harold chose
this spot as a rendezvous?

336
00:23:39,669 --> 00:23:45,240
Where we are now on Caldbeck Hill was
the focal point of three hundreds,

337
00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:49,180
a hundred being
the local administrative unit.

338
00:23:49,180 --> 00:23:53,210
And there are several examples
of that, some 14 at least,

339
00:23:53,210 --> 00:23:56,680
where apple trees were planted
at those points.

340
00:23:56,680 --> 00:24:02,309
So really, this was the first piece
of open country that he could
assemble troops on.

341
00:24:02,309 --> 00:24:06,709
So we can be pretty sure that this is
the site of the hoar apple tree

342
00:24:06,709 --> 00:24:10,280
of the rendezvous which the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle tells us of.

343
00:24:10,280 --> 00:24:13,090
So Harold's blocking William
in here, trying to stop him

344
00:24:13,090 --> 00:24:15,620
getting further inland
and causing more damage?

345
00:24:15,620 --> 00:24:20,780
That's right. Harold acts with
great speed, doesn't he? He comes
down here from London. Why rush?

346
00:24:20,780 --> 00:24:23,780
Why not wait to gather more men,
garner all the resources

347
00:24:23,780 --> 00:24:27,200
that his kingdom had on offer
to go and really crush this invader?

348
00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:32,260
He enjoyed very much the element
of surprising his enemies.

349
00:24:32,260 --> 00:24:38,069
He'd used it only a few weeks
previously most successfully
up at Stamford Bridge.

350
00:24:38,069 --> 00:24:40,650
So take the battle to the enemy,

351
00:24:40,650 --> 00:24:43,789
don't wait for the enemy
to come to you.

352
00:24:43,789 --> 00:24:46,749
So Harold was supremely confident,

353
00:24:46,749 --> 00:24:51,436
and William didn't want to
let his troops get stuck
in a British winter.

354
00:24:52,930 --> 00:24:54,669
Battle was inevitable.

355
00:24:54,669 --> 00:25:00,389
On the morning of 14th October, it
was the Saxons who would have filed

356
00:25:00,389 --> 00:25:05,920
along what is now Battle High St,
a town that owes its very existence

357
00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:07,706
to the victory of the Normans.

358
00:25:09,669 --> 00:25:12,580
The Saxons headed south
to this point

359
00:25:12,580 --> 00:25:17,120
to assume a defensive position
along the top of Senlac Hill,

360
00:25:17,120 --> 00:25:20,783
which for me
marks the end of my walk.

361
00:25:26,220 --> 00:25:30,900
You'd be forgiven
for thinking all the fighting
at the battle of Hastings took place

362
00:25:30,900 --> 00:25:34,610
in this one little field,
but that's not the case at all.

363
00:25:34,610 --> 00:25:36,759
It spread a long way that way,
inland,

364
00:25:36,759 --> 00:25:38,647
and down there to that boggy area.

365
00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:43,749
Up there, on that ridge,
is where the English army were,

366
00:25:43,749 --> 00:25:46,330
rooted to the spot
in a thick shield wall,

367
00:25:46,330 --> 00:25:50,970
beating their swords
on the back of their shields,
shouting, "Out, out, out! "

368
00:25:50,970 --> 00:25:53,170
while down there in the valley,

369
00:25:53,170 --> 00:25:56,589
having made the march
from the coast at Hastings,

370
00:25:56,589 --> 00:26:00,719
was the Norman army -
archers, infantrymen and cavalry.

371
00:26:02,269 --> 00:26:08,029
Accounts from the time tell us
the Battle of Hastings raged
for an entire day,

372
00:26:08,029 --> 00:26:12,204
a remarkable duration
for a set-piece medieval clash.

373
00:26:14,829 --> 00:26:18,109
The sides must have been
fairly evenly matched,

374
00:26:18,109 --> 00:26:22,148
but we have little idea about
how many would have fought here.

375
00:26:22,980 --> 00:26:25,700
Perhaps it was 5,000 per side.

376
00:26:25,700 --> 00:26:29,227
But it could just as easily
have been 10,000 or more.

377
00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:35,879
There have never been any
archaeological finds in this field

378
00:26:35,879 --> 00:26:39,340
that prove that the battle
was definitely fought here.

379
00:26:39,340 --> 00:26:43,520
The acidic soil has done away with
what the scavengers left behind.

380
00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:47,549
But there is one piece of evidence
which is fairly conclusive -

381
00:26:47,550 --> 00:26:49,190
the ruins of this abbey.

382
00:26:49,190 --> 00:26:54,350
Built by William to commemorate
his victory and to do penance for
the blood that was shed here

383
00:26:54,350 --> 00:26:57,390
and his savagery in the weeks
leading up to the battle.

384
00:26:57,390 --> 00:27:02,550
Here at the centre of the abbey
is where the high altar
would have been,

385
00:27:02,550 --> 00:27:06,816
erected on the very spot
on which King Harold was killed.

386
00:27:08,830 --> 00:27:12,300
Amongst the eulogising of the
Norman chroniclers,

387
00:27:12,300 --> 00:27:15,349
the expressive licence
of the Bayeux Tapestry,

388
00:27:15,350 --> 00:27:17,310
and a sorry lack of archaeology,

389
00:27:17,310 --> 00:27:22,891
the abbey stands as a rare monument
in the landscape.

390
00:27:22,890 --> 00:27:27,065
A surviving marker for the events
of the Norman invasion.

391
00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:37,331
Even though I've learnt a huge
amount about the 1066 campaign
by walking the ground,

392
00:27:37,330 --> 00:27:40,189
there's still a huge amount
that feels very obscure,

393
00:27:40,190 --> 00:27:43,891
like the shape of the coastline
or the numbers of people involved.

394
00:27:43,890 --> 00:27:47,549
That's because virtually before
the fighting had even stopped,

395
00:27:47,550 --> 00:27:51,211
people were retelling the stories
and mythologising these events.

396
00:27:51,210 --> 00:27:54,960
And every generation since
has been following suit.

397
00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:58,989
But one thing we can say for certain
is that in 1066,

398
00:27:58,990 --> 00:28:03,581
in this area of the country,
a decisive battle took place.

399
00:28:03,580 --> 00:28:10,989
One that saw Duke William
of Normandy become William I,
King of England, the Conqueror.

400
00:28:10,990 --> 00:28:14,050
And it was the beginning
of the Norman Age.

401
00:28:15,820 --> 00:28:18,629
Join me for my next walk
on the Welsh borders,

402
00:28:18,630 --> 00:28:21,861
where I'll be finding out
what the Normans did next.

403
00:28:21,860 --> 00:28:27,162
They'd won a battle,
but could they consolidate
their rule across a whole island?

404
00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:47,931
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

405
00:28:47,930 --> 00:28:50,694
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