Our last day out of summer was to Battle to visit the Abbey and the battlefield which was the scene of the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The site is run by English Heritage and we had free entry due to our membership.
The Abbey’s magnificent gatehouse hosts an exhibition about life at the site over the last 1000 years. This included information about the Abbey once it has been dissolved during Henry VIII’s Reformation.
There was a one way system in place which made the spiral staircases much easier to negotiate than at our earlier trip to Rochester Castle. Some exhibits had been removed due to covid precautions.
Moving onto the battlefield and there are numerous wooden soldiers set to fight. Cue some poses!
Despite the brutality of battle, the field itself is tranquil. Sheep graze, birds sing. Very different to the blood soaked ground and war cries of nearly 1000 years ago.
Our two favourite figures were the horseman and archer.
On completion of the circuit of the battlefield, there are more ruins to explore as weel as beautiful gardens.
We spent a lovely couple of hours exploring Battle and I would love to go back without the children to enjoy the audio tour and have a look around the town.
