Hastings Battlefield Tour
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- Опубліковано 28 лис 2022
- Join Little Wars TV for a guided walking tour of Hastings, the most iconic battlefield in England! We're rolling the clock back to October 1066 as we explore the battlefield park, now operated by English Heritage. We'll be joined by a licensed Blue Badge guide and you're invited to come along for the tour!
The battlefield is only a half-mile walk from the train station in Battle, which makes this a very accessible historical site from London. Our club spent about 3 hours on location, but in this video we'll summarize the highlights and key stops in less than 15 minutes. Where did Harold Godwinson die? What did the terrain look like in 1066? And what's the most important battlefield site you need to see that is NOT located inside the park boundaries? We'll cover all of this and more on today's guided walk! We also referenced a great guide book in today's video written by professors Kelly DeVries and Michael Livingston, "1066: A Guide to the Battles and the Campaigns." Link to the book appears below...it is not an affiliate link. Just a genuine recommendation if you're travelling to the UK to see these sites!
www.amazon.com/1066-Battles-C...
Next week, we're back on LWTV with our miniature tabletop Hastings wargame. If you missed the first two great battles of 1066, we refought Fulford Gate and Stamford Bridge last week. Watch those now! And if you enjoy exploring battlefields around the world and want to drop in on another walking tour, we have guided walk videos of Antietam, the Alamo, Princeton, and many more. - Розваги
My favourite thing about Battle is the local building contractor called William the Concreter
My abiding memory of the battlefield is looking up at the hill from between points 4 and 5, and going 'up there, in armour? Stuff that!'
Also side note - if you can afford it, and/or are planning on spending any amount of time at multiple English Heritage properties, then please consider joining. First off, you get into EH properties for free, and second, you support their excellent work in maintaining historical properties and making them available to the public.
After reading "Secrets of the Norman Invasion" I'm in the Crowhurst camp for the battles location.
I live in Hastings and must say Crowhurst location make total sense .
Same as me! Makes more sense to be in Crowhurst
Me too
I'm sorry to burst your bubble lads but .... the monks of Battle Abbey knew the difference between Herste and Crowhurst and more fundamentally puts the main battlefield north of Caldbec Hill. My reasoning lies on the (mis)translation of one word in the Chronicle of Battle Abbey. E Searle translates " siluestre" as heavily wooded but the word could easily have meant "forested". The Andresweald ( The Forest of Andres) lies to the North of the opening skirmish. BTW, please explain to me the logic on the part of William of leaving a location 140 metres above sea level to fight a battle uphill from a location that is now at 20 metres above sea level?
It's utterly bizarre to think that the Battle of Hastings was nearly 1,000 years ago, and we can still see the remnants of it.
I hope you enjoyed your trip to England!
The idea of the Norman yoke, the usurping of the English throne and consequent oppression, was a major influence in the English civil wars 600 years later. The legitimacy of the Crown based on the legacy of the Norman invasion was still being discussed in parliament in the 19th Century. Thomas Jefferson was very interested in the Norman yoke and the ideas were influential in America as well as England.
There's one way to settle the battlefield's site.
Ask the last surviving eye-witness: Keith Richards.
At the time, a bard at Godwinson's court.
He attended, the battle, raising spirits with his music, but was forbidden from fighting.
"Too old to be a fyrdman" they said.
I’ve worked there. Every year there is a re-enactment involving a few hundred guys (including cavalry). Well worth checking out in October.
As an American of mostly English decent, I find this brief study of the Battle of Hastings very interesting, even though the exact location of the battle seems to be in dispute.
Great video as always and definitely looks like a hell of a battle to fight
Our wargame is coming up next! It was one of the best we've played
You should do this for Towton! Great field and intriguing battle. York is a great central location for several great battles.
As a matter of fact...we DID visit Towton and get a guided tour! And may have even filmed a bit of it....
I love all your tours but find it even more impressing that you visited Europe for that campaign. I'm waiting for you visiting the battlefields of Marengo or Cannae in Italy with some fine wine...
Excellent video! Very informative! Another great book regarding this campaign is '1066 : The story of a year' by Denis Butler. I am very much looking forward to the tabletop battle. Thanks again, Little Wars TV!
Great video, really informative and a good overview of the site, regardless of the debate on the location of the battlefield, the Abbey is a significant feature if Norman control. I was there a couple of months ago and always take the time to visit when I'm in the area as its close to one of my other favourite historical sites in the south Bodiam Castle. Looking forward to the battle report 👍
That’s a good tip Martin. Never heard of Bodiam Castle! Next time…
Superb video! I did my undergrad thesis on this battle, and this video reminded me of my 'fun' days of research and writing for it. Love it - can't wait to see the wargame!
That was great. Thank you for sharing your tour.
You guys have done it again, bravo!
Thought about doing Bosworth field? Very important battle in English history
Would love to go to Bosworth! At least there we finally seem to have some agreement on where the battlefield might be thanks to new research!
Great tour with a lot of content to this significant battle. Makes you want to travel. 😚
Absolutely super, Chaps - and I'm pleased to not that I've enjoyed this same tour myself! I look forward to seeing the battle report...
- Chris (WSS)
Fascinating. Quite a minor hill, although the top has been shaved.
Awesome!
Fought on that battlefield many times.
You guys should definitely visit Waterloo and do a video tour of that battlefield. It is incredible!
I’m an American and live in the DC area. I participated in the big battle reenactment in 2006. Watching your tour brings me back.
You should watch the Time Team episode on the battle. If I remember right, they shift the center of the battle over a little. Would be cool to see an extended walking tour edition.
They do, and Professor DeVries agrees with that too. Next week in our Hastings episode we show that shift on a map
I've been there a few times. It's a great self-guided tour.
We were very impressed with the battlefield park experience here.
@@LittleWarsTV The best three I've seen are Hastings, Bannockburn and Culloden. Most of the rest are one maybe two plaques near the battlefield. My cousins house was right next to Edgehill and he had to keep chasing the reenactors out of his yard.😆
No map and no picture gives you a clearer understanding of a battle and why certain decisions were made than visiting a battlefield person. I vividly remember standing on the heights a West Point and seeing the bend in the river and feeling the light bulb come on: Oh that is why they built a fort here.
Very cool
Great stuff guys, it is a great day out. Not a believer though it is on that actual site though.
Yes its a perennial argument about the battlefield. Looking forward to the further discussions on this topic next week. As the guide said you have to go off the records...but wheres the physical evidence? Hoping that your Harold knows his history and keeps his troops on a tight leash. 🏴
Great video! If you ever get chance come back in October to see the battle reenacted! I will be one of the Normans marching up the hill!
Wow, very cool! Do they get a big turn out for reenactors?
@@LittleWarsTV Yeah there is a great turn out! Weapon and cavalry demonstrations throughout the day. There is living history campsites dotted around to immerse you in the time period. And the day finishes with the big battle, which around 200+ people take part in, including the Norman cavalry :D
The last genuine king of England Harold Goswinson
Time Team did archaeology on the battlefield. Worth watching.
Thanks for psoting.
Superb....please can you consider doing a tour and wargame of the Battle of Medway AD43...Romans v Ancient Britons...😀☕️🌲
Always remember something I was told on by a historical tour guide in Chester that Harold was injured at the battle of Hastings and was brought up to Chester and that is where he died. This tour was over 25 years ago.
This is such great content. Keep up the awesome work Little Wars TV!
Welcome to the UK
There's been a lot of archaeological research over the last ten years , which points to different place for the battlefield. Having walked around Battle I'm inclined to go with the modern research as the new site makes more sense. Have a look at the videos on utube and decide for yourself. Sadly that could mean a new trip to see.
I assume you mean the Crowhurst site? It has a lot going for it and it absolutely a candidate. We did not visit Crowhurst to walk any of the ground, but I've followed the coverage. The one piece of evidence that's just really hard to get over is, well, the abbey!
@@LittleWarsTV Ah, the Abbey. I understand in England in 1066 there was a lot more water, in particular fish ponds. Used for food. The monks would need food and a convenient site. Therefore a suitable site would be chosen. If the King decides this is the site of the battle, who is going to argue. It wasn't a democracy after all. It's the fish ponds which put me off Battle as the site. William had cavalry he didn't have to fight over fish ponds. Does my argument rely on fish ponds, no but it got me thinking. By the way thanks for the vidoes and game reviews really enjoy them.
Our friends took us to Battle on a Sunday and missed getting to the battlefield in time- it was a Sunday
There's a lot of compelling evidence that the battle took place where the town in now. I mean, that is the top of the ridge, and best route inland.
is the terrain in the images that show train station as 1 and the gate house 2, covered in bomb craters from WWII?
There is a theory that the battle actually occurred in the village Battle. The Abby was placed on Senlac hill as it was more favorable for construction and had a source of water.
You can tell who commented before watching the full video because they accuse you of blindly accepting the location of the battlefield.
Always pays to watch until the end! 😂
You may recall that for generations we (UK) had the location for the Battle of Bosworth (1485) wrong?
Well there's an interesting suggestion that the Hastings battlefield site is incorrect too!
SOTNI UK here on UA-cam make some excellent & convincing points, including the Norman landing at Pevensey was fake news!!
Well worth looking at their playlists.
Imagine the carnage and chaos when everyone stops in the middle of that roundabout
There's never been any artefacts found on the English Heritage site. They're charging people to look around a site of no historical importance. Looking at historical accounts of the battle and the lie of the land at the time it seems the fighting took place at Crowhurst. Much land has been drained in the last 1000 years and the coastline was very different to that seen today.
True--no artifacts and no burial pits. There's plenty of debate about whether this is or is not the site. Battle Abbey is a tough piece of evidence to ignore, though. That has to be taken into account.
The monks at battle abbey wanted to get tax exemption from the monarchy years later, so they invented the story the battle happened there and William freed them from taxes.
There is also a suggestion that the battlefield is situated around the current roundabout outside the grounds of the abbey following a Time Team investigation in 2013.
There's a smaller Abbey that's derelict at Crowhurst plus a mal fosse as mentioned in the battle descriptions that the Norman cavalry fell into. Given the marshy terrain at the time there was only really one way off from the landing sites and Harold knew how to block it. It is suggested there were not one but three shield lines the invaders had to get through which is why the battle lasted all day. Harold was stalling for time and trying to keep William penned in until his supplies ran out.
@@CapnPatchweb Yes I saw that. Time Team had to be, shall we say, very diplomatic with English Heritage and the version of the battle they want to depict.
I believe the battle was fought at Crowhurst not Hastings.
Could be! The debate continues!
NOT THE BATTLEFIELD!
Thought you guys would have done a little research before being taken in by "English Heritage". Take a look at Tony Robinson and the Time Team episode on the battle for a more informative view of where the Battle was
We did a good amount of research, and as the guide in the video said, the location remains in doubt. For now, the abbey itself is the most significant contemporary piece of evidence.
@@LittleWarsTV Please view the Time Team/ Tony Robinson video, available on UA-cam and searchable by those terms, and follow up the fields of research this points to, as it appears that you have not done extensive research
It's a shame that this most likely isn't the site at all, read 1066: The Lost Hastings Battlefield by David John Barnby
with all this travelling, how expensive are your club dues??!
The biggest mystery in all this is the Normans landed while Harold was fighting vikings 286 miles north at Stamford Bridge (not Chelsea) but outside York. a rider was sent to inform Harold. how on earth would a rider manage 286 miles with no sat nav or maps find where Harold was? and how long did it take him? then the army was marched 286 miles south and guess what?..the Normans were still there! think about it. if i sent someone on a horse from New York to Washington D.C. to find someone but we don't know where he is and tell him to come back here by horse and foot and we'll stay here and wait? curious
Poor weather?!
You obviously haven't spent too much time in Britain.
That weather doesn't look too bad at all!
It didn't happen there. You have to go to St helens nature reserve & the red lake area in ore village ( senlac means blood lake/ river of blood) . To this day the stream behind ore Community Centre runs an orange/red colour because hastings is built on ironstone.
Second
I know Battle is reluctant to admit it but the argument that it is more likely the battle actually took place further west, nearer Pevensey is very convincing and it would explain the lack of artificers on the “battlefield”. Still the place wouldn’t be the same if it had to change it’s name to The Town About 10 Miles From Where The Battle Took Place. And sorry but Battle isn’t part of Hastings, which is about 3.5 miles still the south east. The real truth is that all that story is conjecture. Good story though.
First
The battle wasn't here!
It's called battle
The actual battle wasn't at Battle. Not a single arrow head or piece of mail or bones, nothing , nada! The early accounts place it several miles east of Battle where there is an actual hill but the land wasn't firm enough for an Abbey so they built it where it could be built. English Heretige obviously would not agree but the evidence is that it was fought elsewhere.
Battle (Not Hastings)
They built over it for "affordable migrant housing" because genociding the indigenous peoples who call that island home is more important than preserving it's history.
First mistake . Here in Hasting , when you are standing in the town of Battle 😂.
The battlefield of Hastings, located in what is now called the town of Battle. Confusing for sure, but we do encourage you to watch the whole video!
BAH THE CARS ARE ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD!
We know!!! It's madness over there!
We all know the left side is the right side and has been for centuries 😊
If you want to carry your sword preparing to fight on horseback, the left side is best (unless you left handed of course).
Actually 14:21min and not 15min. #TeamEd
Shame that there is not a shred of evidence that this is where the battle was fought.