1066 and All That

Jak the mad spaniel, and his human parents, took me to Battle Abbey today. Despite frequently visiting the area as a child with my sister and parents this was my first visit, and what remains after Henry VIII’s dissolution of the abbeys is pretty impressive. Unlike many other places the abbey church here has been totally razed. The abbot’s hall was rebuilt as a home and is now a school, but the dormitory block still remains much as it was when the monks left, albeit without a roof.

The dormitory is a two storey building built on a hill, the same hill which originally prevented William the Conqueror’s army breaking King Harold’s English army line. As we know, despite the uphill battle in 1066 the line was broken, Harold got an arrow in his eye and the Normans conquered England.

In order to create a level dormitory floor the lower floor comprises a series of vaulted halls with different heights. This hall, under discussion by Jak and Co, had the lowest ceiling; the one at the “bottom” of the hill was at least three times taller and all were impressive.

We didn’t manage a walk around the battlefield, but it was a good day out.