This of course is the site of the battle where William the Conqueror defeated King Harold in 1066. The abbey was started by William the Conqueror a few years later as atonement for deaths in the battle. They have a nicely set out display of the abbey and some of the remains, although some of the buildings are still in use as a school.
You can also do a walk around the battlefield with their audio guide to provide information about the battle and the people involved.
The Normans about to start attacking:
This gives you a slightly better idea of the uphill view the Normans faced (although of course the buildings weren't there then, they're roughly where the English were standing):
It's a pity we can't be here for Paul's birthday - on 11 and 12 October this year they're having a re-enactment of the battle.
We got caught out here by the English weather - I took my raincoat out of my handbag and left it in the room because it really didn't look like it was going to rain, and the weather forecast was positive. However, of course, it started raining when we were out in the battlefield. We thought about trying to wait it out but in the end we retreated to the visitor's centre for some lunch, and soon the rain stopped.
Quite interesting and I'm glad we went.
We had a quick look at the town and then went back to Hastings for another walk around the shops before retiring for the night. Tomorrow we have to somehow get our suitcases down the stairs of the B&B, which may be more tricky than getting them up!
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