New book follows the route of Harold to Battle

1066 Harold’s Way is a new 100 mile long distance walk from Westminster Abbey to Battle Abbey, East Sussex tracing the probable route of King Harold’s journey to the Battle of Hastings.

This route is based on the Roman road network that was still in use in King Harold’s time, east out of London to Rochester, Watling Street, and south from Rochester through Maidstone and across the Weald through Staplehurst, Sissinghurst, Sandhurst and Bodiam before the climb to Battle.

The landscape was very different in 1066, with heavily wooded hillsides and the tidal estuary extending into the valleys around Bodiam and Sedlescombe. The Roman road passed through Benenden to Sandhurst on the ridge and finally Bodiam. This Roman road is different, green lanes and forgotten sunken tracks, marked by lines of trees, you can look down on the overgrown road and imagine it full of Saxon men, women, horses and wagons, straining, pulling to make headway. Walk the Roman road from Sandhurst to Sandhurst Cross before the descent into the upper reaches of the Rother Valley joining the Sussex Border Path to Bodiam Castle, perhaps the most beautiful castle in all of England.

Kevin Boorman Hastings Borough Council’s Head of Communications and Marketing said “I really like the idea of 1066 Harold’s Way, it complements our 1066 Country Walk, and promotes sustainable tourism in the area as well as promoting 1066 Country.”

Author David Clarke researched, devised, created and wrote 1066 Harold’s Way.