Day two, and we are off to Battle in East Sussex - the site of possibly the most famous battle in English history - and for tea and cake, naturally. Having been suitably refreshed at the Pilgrims Rest, a building that dates back to 1420, we set out to find the site where King Harold mixed it with the French invaders, 948 years ago. Unfortunately, despite the significance of such an event we found it somewhat poorly - and confusingly - signposted, and managed to wander well away from the site where legend says it all took place.
Having doubled-back - and finding the entrance to the abbey that was built on the spot where the fighting happened - we are dismayed to discover that it is closed for the week due to some school event taking place within. Our fault, really, as I suppose we should have checked their web site before setting out (it did say it was closed), but disappointing all the same.
However, all was far from lost (unlike events on that fateful October day, so long ago), and I set out to find a place that has recently been suggested as the real location of the battle (above). Nothing has ever been found on the official battlefield; weapons; armour or bones, that indicates anything of significance taking place there at all, but a recent archaeological study by Channel 4's Time Team (UK TV), suggests that the area where the small roundabout is positioned in the photograph may well have been the true whereabouts of hostilities between the English and Norman armies, due to its strategic location at the time. Of course, it is too involved to go into it all in this post, but should it have piqued your interest, you can watch the programme on YouTube here.
12-24mm f/4G AF-S Nikkor. 1/320 second at f/11. ISO 400
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