VIDEO: Nothing new in Battle of Hastings Time Team broadcast, say English Heritage

Roy Porter, Properties Curator, English Heritage.
Pictured with the battle field in the background.
2/11/13 — Roy Porter, Properties Curator, English Heritage. Pictured with the battle field in the background. 2/11/13

During a special 1066 edition of Time Team, which screened on Channel 4 on Sunday evening, the experts claimed the bloody clash took place at a roundabout on the A2100 - just 200m away from the recognised battlefield.

Since the nineteenth century, it has been understood that the battle took place across a large area including the area identified by Time Team as well as the site of Battle Abbey and the land within the care of English Heritage.

Earlier in the year, Time Team approached English Heritage with the proposal to make a special programme about the Battle of Hastings and to explore both the history and the archaeology of the battle, which was welcomed by English Heritage.

As well as an archaeological dig on the field south of the Abbey and at Caldbec Hill, Time Team undertook a LIDAR survey and landscape analysis of the Battle area in late summer 2013. This pinpointed the roundabout at the junction of Upper and Lower Lake in Battle as being ‘the battlefield’.

Roy Porter, English Heritage Property Curator for Battle Abbey, spoke to Justin Lycett from the Observer about the programme and its findings.