Hello, welcome to History here at Oak National Academy.

My name's Mr. Newton, and I will be your teacher for today, guiding you through the entirety of the lesson.

Right, let's get started.

In these lessons, we will focus on the specific historical environment, the Battle of Hastings.

What can the Battle of Hastings tell us about the wider context of this period? What can it tell us about the background story, the people or events at the time? Whats happened at the Battle of Hastings and how do we know about it? What was the composition of both armies? What planning and strategy were deployed by the respective leaders? What influenced the outcome of the battle? And how did this impact the resulting conquest and rule of England? By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to describe the battlefield at the Battle of Hastings.

Before we begin, there are a few keywords we need to understand.

An abbey is a building for monks or nuns to live and work in.

A manoeuvre is to move troops into specific positions.

An area of land that is nearly an island surrounded by the sea on three sides is known as an isthmus.

A muster point is an agreed place for troops to meet up before a battle.

Today's lesson is split up into three parts.

We'll first look at the features of the battlefield before moving on to the location of the battlefield.

And finally, ending the lesson, we'll look at disputes about the battlefield.

Okay, let's start the lesson with the features of the battlefield.

Have a look at the image on the right.

This image shows part of Battle Abbey in East Sussex, near the town of Battle.

The abbey was founded by William of Normandy on the site of the Battle of Hastings.

Here we see Battle Abbey in its landscape.

It is located at the top of a hill, on a feature called a ridge.

This view may show part of the battlefield.

William ordered an abbey to be built on the site of the battle to atone or make up for so many men being killed, and to thank God for his victory.

The story is that because the ridge was not a very good location for an abbey, plans were made to move it to a better place.

But William insisted that it be built where it stands today.

It is also said that the altar of the abbey marked the spot where Harold's mutilated body was discovered.

Okay, let's have a check for understanding.

On what feature of the battlefield was Battle Abbey built? A, a crossroad, B, a flat area of land, C, a marshy area that's had to be drained, D, a ridge.

Pause the video, have a think, and come right back.

Okay, welcome back and well done if you knew that it was a ridge.

So the ridge was an important feature of the battlefield because this is where Harold positioned his forces.

And if you have a look at the map on the left, we can see Harold's forces in red at the top of Senlac Hill on a ridge.

The ridge made Harold's defences stronger because it meant that the Normans had to attack uphill.

And again, if we have a look at the map on the left, we can see William's forces in blue at the bottom of the hill, meaning that they now have to attack uphill.

The location of Battle Abbey is said to be where Harold fell.

That tells us that William won the battle on the ridge, having finally broken through the shield wall.

And if we have a look at the map on the left, we can imagine how that might have happened.

William's forces have attacked uphill, and so eventually, after a faint retreat, the shield wall was broken.

Below the ridge, the battlefield was probably covered in grass, shrubs, and trees.

It was not farmland.

William organised his forces at the bottom of the hill, called Senlac Hill by Norman chroniclers.

This area at the base of the hill was marshy in places.

This marshy land may have made it more challenging for William's troops to manoeuvre.

William chose the battlefield, so this could suggest that he made a poor leadership decision.

Okay, let's have a look at this scene from the Bayeux Tapestry.

If you look closely, at the bits highlighted in purple, it shows the point where Norman forces surrounded a section of the fyrd that had chased downhill after them.

Furthermore, if you look to the left, this could be showing where the horses were struggling in the marshy ground.

We can also see there was another small ridge where the cut-off English made a last stand.

Okay, let's check your understanding.

I want you to discuss the key features of the battlefield with a partner.

So have a quick discussion about some of the points that we've raised so far about the battlefield.

Pause the video, have a quick discussion, and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back.

Hopefully you had some great discussions there.

So you may have discussed English forces on a ridge at the top of Senlac Hill.

You may have also brought up the fact that Norman forces at the bottom of the hill, where conditions were marshy.

Furthermore, you may have talked about land covered in grass, trees, and shrubs, and that there was another ridge lower down the hillside.

Okay, great.

Let's move on to task A.

What I want you to do here is select two features of the battlefield at the Battle of Hastings, and explain their significance to the outcome of the battle.

So, identify your two features or the two aspects of the battlefield, and then explain why those features are important or significant in some way to how the battle then unfolded.

Pause the video, have a go at the task, and then come right back.

Okay, great.

Welcome back.

Now your answer might be slightly different from what I have here, but compare what you have with my example answer.

The battlefield featured a ridge at the top of Senlac Hill.

This ridge was significant because it was where Harold positioned his forces and it made their defences stronger because it meant the Normans had to attack uphill.

So you can see there the feature that was identified was the ridge at the top of Senlac Hill, and that was significant because Normans had to attack uphill.

Another feature was marshy land at the bottom of the hill.

This may have made it harder for William's forces to manoeuvre, especially the cavalry.

This could be seen as poor leadership by William since he chose the location of the battlefield.

Okay, great.

Let's move on to the second part of the lesson, the location of the battlefield.

So the battlefield is located about seven miles from Hastings.

William's fleet landed at Pevensey on the 28th of September.

And at that time, in 1066, Pevensey was a large harbour.

Have a look at the map on the right.

It shows the modern coastline and the 1066 coastline.

And we can see that the coastline was much further inland in 1066, and this had created a harbour at Pevensey, making it more accessible to ships.

After landing, the army then travelled along the coast to Hastings on the 29th of September.

William then heard about the Battle of Stamford Bridge.

He ordered his troops to harry the area of Sussex around Hastings.

He hoped this would provoke Harold to rush his exhausted troops down to Hastings.

This was William's best option and Harold's worst.

On the right is a scene from a Bayeux Tapestry showing William, on the left-hand side of the image, hearing news of Harold's victory in the north and ordering his troops to harry the area around Hastings.

Crucially, Harold did rush the 50 miles south, probably taking three days to do this.

He arrived near Hastings in the evening of the 13th of October 1066.

But William's scouts warned him of Harold's arrival.

William had kept his army ready in case of a night attack.

He marched them out of Hastings before 9:00 AM on the 14th of October.

If you have a look at the right, the Bayeux Tapestry shows the gates of Hastings being opened and William, armed for battle, being brought his war horse to lead his troops out to meet the English army.

Okay, let's have a check for understanding.

What I want you to do here is match these events to the location where they occurred.

And you can see, I've given you a list of events on the left-hand side, and in the right-hand side column we can see the locations.

So we need to match the correct events to their locations.

Pause the video, have a go, and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back.

So, the first event is, William hears the news here about the battle of Stamford Bridge, and the location for that was Hastings.

The second event is that the Norman fleet lands here after crossing the channel, and of course that was Pevensey.

And then William orders his soldiers to harry this area, and that was Sussex.

And finally, Harold sets off from here arriving at the battlefield three days later.

Correct location was of course London.

Okay, let's continue.

As you can see from the map, the coastline around Hastings has changed over time.

In 1066, Hastings was on an isthmus, a block of land surrounded by the sea on three sides.

Possibly, Harold aimed to block William's route off the isthmus.

If the English fleet attacked William ships from the sea, the Normans would be cut off and could be starved into surrender.

However, William was ready for this strategy.

By 9:00 AM, his army was already seven miles out of Hastings, having marched along the London road.

If you have a look at the battle map on the left, we can see the London road stretching diagonally across the map, starting at the bottom right-hand corner of the map, which leads towards Hastings.

And if we follow the road up to the top left-hand corner, the road will eventually take us to London.

And this was the route that William would've marched before stopping at the location of the battlefield.

William May have positioned his army at the base of Senlac Hill in the hope that Harold would lead his troops down to flatter ground where it would have been easier to fight them.

And again, on the battle map, we can see the Norman troops in the black squares and the English troops in white.

But Harold was an experienced military leader and organised the shield wall along the ridge.

So, clearly, Harold knew not to lead his troops down to the flatter ground.

Possibly, he planned to hold position at the top of Senlac Hill until reinforcements arrived.

His orders were for his troops to gather at the grey apple tree.

This was probably a muster point for the Sussex fyrd.

Okay, let's check your understanding.

True or false.

The location of the battlefield was just where the two armies happened to meet.

Is that true or false? Pause the video, have a think, and come right back.

Okay, welcome back and well done if you knew that was false.

But why is that false? I want you to justify your answer.

Is it false because A, it was on the London road at the point where William could break out of the Hastings isthmus, or B, it was close to Hastings as Harold had managed to surprise William with a fast march from London.

Pause the video, have a think, and come right back.

Okay, welcome back and well done if you knew the correct answer was A.

Okay, great.

Let's move on to task B.

What I want you to do here is explain the significance of the location of the Battle of Hastings.

And help you to do that, you should consider Harold's likely tactics and William's likely tactics.

So pause the video, have a go at the task, and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back.

So there's many ways you could have answered this.

So compare your answer with the answer I have here.

So this first paragraph, we will look at Harold's likely tactics.

The battlefield was located along the road from Hastings to London.

In 1066, Hastings were surrounded by the sea on three sides.

Harold's tactics may have been to block Williams route out of this area.

His muster point at the grey apple tree would've been near the best place to block William's escape route, very near the location of the battlefield.

Harold probably intended to defend this location until the rest of his troops arrived.

Okay, let's look at William's likely tactics.

William's tactics were to break out of the Hastings isthmus.

He did this by leading his troops out of Hastings early in the morning.

They had marked seven miles already by the time they saw the English army getting ready for action.

It is significant that the battlefield was along the London road, William's routes out of the area.

He also organised his troops at the base of the hill, hoping to draw Harold down to fight on flatter ground where his knights could fight most effectively.

Okay, great.

Let's move on to the final part of the lesson, disputes about the battlefield.

No archaeological remains from the battle have been found.

No remains of swords, or spears, or even a link of chainmail.

Nor have burials from the battle been found.

This had made some historians question whether the location of the battlefield has been correctly identified.

For example, have a look at the photo on the right.

It's a photo of the remains of an Anglo-Saxon helmet from the 7th century.

However, no such remains have been found for the Battle of Hastings which took place in the 11th century.

One reason for this could be that most of the battlefield is now under the town of Battle.

If you have a look at the right, it's a modern day photo of the town.

The land at Battle Abbey would've been the extreme western flank or edge of the battlefield.

At least two thirds of the battlefield would've been where the town is now.

Okay, let's check your understanding.

Read Aisha's statements about the location of the battlefield.

Counter her arguments with a statement of your own.

Okay, so let's read what Aisha's argument is.

"If the site of Battle Abbey was the site of the Battle of Hastings, then we would expect some archaeological evidence.

Between 10,000 and 14,000 men fought at the battle, and thousands of horses.

We have Anglo-Saxon helmets from hundreds of years before 1066, so surely some metal items should have survived if this really was the battlefield." So what I want you to do is to come up with your own points which can argue against Aisha's argument, which can counter her arguments.

Pause the video, have a think, and come right back.

Okay, welcome back.

So your answers could have included, "Most of the battlefield is under the town of Battle, so the archaeological evidence could be buried under there." That would definitely be a point which could counter Aisha's argument.

Furthermore, "1066 was a long time ago, so maybe all the evidence has rusted away." And finally, "We haven't found archaeological evidence for the Battle of Hastings in any other locations either." So all of those are points which could counter Aisha's argument.

So, a further question we might ask then is, what about Battle Abbey? Are historians sure that it was built on the location where the battle was won and where Harold's body was discovered? Have a look at the photo on the right.

It's a photo of an engraved stone at Battle Abbey.

This stone is placed where the high altar used to be.

The inscription says this marked "the spot where King Harold died." Some historians dispute this and say the monks of Battle Abbey made up this story to help them win a court case in the 12th century.

However, the story about Battle Abbey appears in the 11th century sources too.

Also, the ridge is an inconvenient place to build an abbey, suggesting that William ordered it to be built there.

Okay, let's have another check.

Aisha has another argument for your discussion about the battlefield's location.

Consider it and then come up with a counter argument.

Okay, let's see what Aisha's argument is now.

"There are strong reasons to doubt the story that Battle Abbey was built on the site of the battlefield.

In the 12th century, the monks of Battle Abbey forged two legal documents they said were written by William I, to help them in the court case.

So, it is likely they also came up with the story about William building the Abbey on the site of the battlefield too, since that also helps them in court." Okay, so once again, see if you can cover some points to counter Aisha's arguments.

Pause the video, have a think, and come right back.

Okay, welcome back.

So some of the points you may have raised was that earlier sources also say that William ordered the Abbey to be built on the site of the battlefield.

So the monks could not have made it up just for a court case.

Furthermore, if the Abbey could have been built anywhere, why was it built up on an inconvenient ridge? It's more likely that this was because the ridge was where the battle was won.

Okay, excellent.

Let's move on to the final task, task C.

Using what you know about the Battle of Hastings, explain why the site at Battle Abbey is considered by most historians to be the location of the battlefield.

Okay, so hopefully by now you've been armed with plenty of knowledge from the lesson, which can help you in answering this question.

So try to write two or three paragraphs which explain why the sites at Battle Abbey is considered by most historians to be the location of the battlefield.

Pause the video, have a go at the task, and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back, and well done for having a go at that task.

So you could have written that answer in many ways, but compare your answer with what I have here.

Historians know that the battlefield featured a hill and a ridge.

The hill made it difficult for William to break through the shield wall, which was arranged along a ridge.

Battle Abbey is located on a ridge at the top of the hill called Senlac Hill.

So those features match.

Historians also know that there was marshy ground at the base of the hill, which may have made it harder for William to manoeuvre his troops.

This is also a feature of the Battle Abbey site today.

So that is a matching feature also.

Historians know that William marched his army out of Hastings early in the morning of the 14th of October.

He would've led his troops along the road for speed.

The Battle Abbey site is located on the Hastings-London road.

Historians also suspect that Harold's plan was to block Williams route off the isthmus that Hastings was then located on.

The Battle Abbey site is located where the isthmus joins the mainland.

The best point for Harold to have set up his blocking force at the muster point of the grey apple tree.

Finally, there is evidence that William ordered an abbey to be built at the point to where the Battle of Hastings was one.

The Abbey was located on the ridge with the altar on the spot where Harold's body was discovered.

This was an inconvenient place to build an abbey if other sites were available.

Stories suggest that the monks originally wanted the abbey built in an easier location, but William insisted it should be on the very spot of his victory.

That makes it more likely than not that battle abbey is built on the battlefield.

Okay, excellent.

Let's summarise today's lesson.

Battle Abbey was founded by William on the site of the Battle of Hastings.

The battlefield has key features that were significant in the battle, including hill, a ridge, and marshy ground.

The battle took place seven miles from Hastings, which back then was then located on an isthmus.

Some historians have questioned the evidence for Battle Abbey marking the location of the battlefield.

Well done on a brilliant lesson, and thank you for joining me as we delve deeper into the historical environment of the Battle of Hastings, specifically its location.

I really hope this has sparked your curiosity in the drama of military history.

See you in the next lesson.