My thoughts on 1066 events

 Pevensey to Hastings I acknowledge the work done by John Grehan and Nick Austin  in doing some of the background work that has made my life and research easier.  John Grehan/ Martin Mace  - Use of Ships to get from Pevensey to Hastings Nick Austin - State of Selected Manors post October 1066 Use of Boat on Roman Fort In my previous post we had got Wiliam to Pevensey and in this post I will take my narrative up to the the establishment of Hastings as a centre of operations. Today Pevensey is some miles inland but back in 1066 the island of Pevensey was on the edge of "Pevensey Bay" and the island itself was just big enough for the Roman fort that was built there in the 400's plus a little bit. More historic information can be obtained on  https://www.westsussex.gov.uk/media/1740/pevensey_eus_report_maps.pdf I'm not going to get into whether or not William stumbled when he waded ashore at Pevensey as the incident is immaterial in my view to the narrative.  M...

King and Conqueror - The continuing story of William and Harold   Hi,  This blog will be about the content of the television programme " King and Conqueror" not its participants. I'll let you decide whose acting is best/worst/indifferent, you don't need me for that.  Let me introduce myself. I'm Kevin and I've been researching the Battle of Hastings for about 10 years. I'm a electronics engineer by training and education having walked the route from avionic repair technician to licensing of Satellite Ground Stations and other such duties in the Radiocommunications Agency. My interest in the battle of Hastings started when Nick Austin and John Grehan published books on alternative sites for the battle. Mix in my favourite Sunday night programme, Time Team and you've piqued my interest. So, starting with D.M Wilson's excellent book on the Bayeux Tapestry I started my own research. I have since acquired authoritative translations of the other three 11...

The Crossing of the Channel   In my previous post entitled " the Departure form Dives", we left William and his army in St Valery sur Somme.  William of Poitiers gives no details of the crossing other than three stops, one in the evening before dark, one after dark and one in the morning.  William of Jumièges is even briefer, limiting himself  to saying that there was a favourable wind.  The Bayeux Tapestry devotes just one scene ( Scene 38) to the crossing of the Channel However, the Carmen devotes 25 lines to the Crossing ( lines 100 to 124). It can be interpreted as saying that there were two stops but with a bit more detail. The first stop is to form up into a fleet after leaving St Valery. In line 115 the Carmen records that an order was given to regroup entailing some ships to stop and drop anchor. In line 117 records that the stop lasted until daybreak. Finally they reach Pevensey at the third hour.  I'm intrigued that the trip was done at night but ...

    Where did William land at Hastings? In this post I'd like to discuss where William landed at the port of Hastings. This is not about the knights leaving Hastings on the night prior to the battle but rather about where the foot of the Norman invader touched English mainland soil. To start, I'm going to use a page out of Hastings Historic Character Assessment Report April 2010.  https://www.westsussex.gov.uk/media/1728/hastings_eus_report_maps.pdf The above irl refers to a map of the underlying geology of Hastings Town centre. You will notice the extensive deposits of alluvium on what is now dry land ( alluvium is deposited by rivers?). At one point in time there must have been a large river emptying into the sea here thus making a good harbour. Key: Green = land, Orange = water in the time of 1066, Blue = present day sea extent.  Here's what I think the inlet would have looked like back in 1066.  Now, the default wind direction is from the South west so any c...

  Cross Section of the Main Battle Area In my last post I showed where I thought the main battle took place in 3D and what it looks like today courtesy of Google Earth. Today I bring you a cross section of the area to show Harold's battle planning.  At zero on the "x axis"  is Wadhurst Lane where according to Wace the accompanying clergy of the Norman Army decanted to in order to watch the battle and pray. Looking at the slope now I think they might have been a little closer to the battle at the 80 metre mark say in order to see the debacle at the prepared defences. It is interesting to note that English Heritage when questioned about Wace's comment referred me to that Wace is describing a battle that happened in 1105 at Tinchebray but offered no supporting evidence. I would also draw your attention to the fact that the Normans would have charged downhill towards the English line. I don't know if you have tried running downhill with abandon but it usually ends in ...

  My Chosen Battle Site for 14th Oct 1066   This site lies to the north west of Battle and as stated on the picture this represents the area where the main battle and Malfosse took place.  The purple line represents where, according to Wace, the observing clergy stood praying and watching the battle. This also happens to be part of Wadhurst Lane, a restricted byway ( not for use for mechanically driven vehicles), which runs in part from the B2096 and Netherfield Road. It is high ground (109m - 111m) overlooking the the lowest levels of the English line.  The turquoise ring represents where the English formed up to receive the Norman charge. The remaining portion of the English Army was here. Both the Carmen and Henry of Huntingdon indicate that the English were closely packed in their defensive line By my estimation there were 4500 English facing at least a comparable number of of Normans.  Imo, this is what part of Scene 53  and Scene 54 of the Bayeux Tape...

Battle of Hastings - The Departure from Dives   Some Fundamentals 1. The ships that William used were in some way related to the ships of the Vikings. This means that the ships  -           a)  had shallow draft,          b)   had removeable benches for the rowers,          c)  if carrying horses these benches were removed,           d) if carrying horses the only means of propulsion was the wind.           e)  carrying materiel had two means of propulsion ( oar and/or sail) or not.           f) could sail up to 12 points off the wind (so if the wind was a straight northerly, the ships could point at 13 degrees and still make forward progress).  2. Over the years, I believe,  the Normans had lost some of the seafaring ability of their forefathers.  What the sources ...