1066 COUNTRY

England’s sunny south coast has a rich heritage, harbouring ancient castles and evocative landscapes that tell the story of the Battle of Hastings and beyond

- EDWARD AVES

There’s a potent sense of the past in 1066 Country, an idyllic swathe of the Sussex countryside in England’s far southeastern corner. It was here on Senlac Ridge one autumn day in 1066 that William of Normandy’s invading army put King Harold’s footsore soldiers to the sword, bringing Saxon England to a brutal end and setting his new domain on a path towards nationhood.

Birdsong rather than battle cries may greet you as you tread the soil of the most famous battlefield in English history, but the landscape – which unfurls beneath the town of Battle – remains so remarkably intact that it is still a powerfully evocative place.

To stamp his authority, William ordered the construction of an abbey over the site of his victory, setting the high altar of the abbey church on the spot where Harold was slain. The abbey’s extensive cloisters and chambers now lie in an atmospheric state of ruin, but you can vividly picture the scene from the battlements of its fourteenth-century gatehouse, which looms imposingly over Battle’s postcard-pretty High Street.

It’s a scene replayed – thankfully without the bloodshed – every year around October 14, when thousands of costumed warriors gather from all over the world to reprise the conflict with high-octane enthusiasm.

Yet in 1066 Country, the Battle of Hastings is only the beginning of the story. Scattered across this landscape of wooded hills and ancient heaths, there are mighty castles, fine country mansions and glorious gardens to be explored. Down by the coast, where towering cliffs give way to shingle shores, you’ll find medieval port towns rich in salty tales of shipwrecks and smuggling.