The magical history tour continues

Well, if you're tired of reading about my travels, you'd better go somewhere else for a week or so! This serves as a journal for me. I love to go back and read old posts and relive our adventures, so I will selfishly recount everything I recall. 

Saturday found us in Hastings, on the south coast. We stayed in a grand old house in St. Leonard's-on-Sea, about thirty minutes walk along the seafront from Hastings itself. The house is Georgian and was built in the 1850's. It is in a state of benevolent neglect and, while the hosts were affable and attentive and engagingly befuddled, the room and bathing facilities were not quite up to the standard of our other stays.

No matter. The weather was becoming sunnier each day and it was a beautiful day for a walk. 

As we got to the main part of Hastings, this was the view as far as the eyes could see.

I could just imagine the crowds of holiday-goers walking the promenade a hundred years ago.

 Hastings was already a settlement when the Romans arrived in Britain for the first time in 55BC. The remains you see at the top of the hill are Hastings Castle, built by William the Conqueror in the 11th Century.

We walked all the way to Old Town and took the tram to the top of the opposing hill.

We walked around the "nature preserve" at the top, although the only evidence we saw of nature was millions of rabbit droppings. The expanse of grass must be a sight to see when all the rabbits come out to play.

The view, however, was phenomenal.

Then we went down again.

All the way back to St. Leonard's. 

Jeff decided he likes the south coast beaches, which are composed of shingle. He hates sand! At the end of our trip, we saw a photo in the newspaper of a beach like this, packed with people who were making the most of the Indian summer. And when I say "packed", I mean literally that there was hardly room to walk between the sun-worshippers. 

Personally, sitting on rocks is not my idea of a good time!

The Battle of Hastings was not fought in Hastings, but 8 miles to the north at a place called Senlac Hill. There is a nearby town called Battle. Funny, that.

It was fascinating to learn about the Battle of Hastings. I've always remembered the date 1066 from elementary school. Most Americans probably haven't encountered this particular period of history, especially younger generations, but it was a definitive time in English history. It marked the end of the Anglo-Saxon rule and ushered in the Norman rule. The Norman invasion transformed the ruling class, language, church life and culture of the country.

William the conqueror came from a group of Vikings who had settled in Northern France. He took exception to Harold Godwinson's ascent to the British throne in early 1066, claiming that it had been promised to him. Poor Harold spent most of 1066 defending his throne against various invaders, so his forces were already weakened and tired from a forced march down from Yorkshire. 

Harold's troops spent the better part of a day holding off William's army, but the Conqueror proved to be the better strategist in the end and his army rushed up this very hill to finally defeat and kill Harold.

There is a great rendition of the battle here if you have a few minutes to spare.

Behold, the abbey spoken of in this quote from the aforementioned website.

No later than 1070, King William 'the Conqueror', as he now was, marked his victory by establishing a great Benedictine abbey at Battle. On the one hand, this important religious foundation would serve as a memorial to the dead, and could be seen as a public act of atonement by the king for the bloodshed caused. Even the abbey's own chronicler was to later write that the fields had been 'covered in corpses, and all around the only colour to meet the gaze was blood-red'. But there was another purpose to the foundation, one reflecting the more calculating side of William's nature: it would stand as a symbol of the Norman triumph. Indeed, the abbey chronicler reports the king's insistence that the high altar in the abbey church was to stand on the very spot that Harold fell.

That William was a wiley one!

Our bed for the night was on Hayling Island, just out of Portsmouth. We arrived just before dark, having gotten lost several times on the way. Those darn roundabouts get me every time! Our hosts were new to the B&B scene, as were those on the previous night. We were their very first guests. The house was immaculate and our room was lovely.

This tray was supplied with snacks and hot drink makings. 

Our hosts' son just moved to New Zealand and they are visiting him in January so we had lots to talk about. I think this was our favourite of all the airbnb stays. 

We slept like babies.