Battle of Hastings 1066AD - T - Places named in the Chronicles

Senlac, where the English forces took their position; Hecheland, the hill where William's army assembled; and Herste, where the monks of Battle Abbey originally wanted to build, before William overruled them. Each has been debated, mistranslated, and in one case turned into a Victorian romantic legend.

This page introduces all three, traces their appearances in the chronicles and Abbey land records, and flags the critical problem that runs through all of them: Senlac comes from a single source, and Hecheland and Herste both come from monks who had a direct institutional interest in placing the battlefield exactly where their Abbey stood. That doesn't make the evidence useless — but it does mean these names cannot simply be treated as independent confirmation of each other. The detailed analysis of each name, its derivation, and its most likely location is set out on the pages linked below.

Three place names recorded in the chronicles and land grants of the decades following the Battle of Hastings are directly relevant to understanding where the battle was fought and how William's forces approached it. None of them survives clearly in the modern landscape, and all three have been the subject of debate. This page summarises what is known about each and links to the detailed analysis.

The names are Senlac, the place where the English forces took post according to Orderic Vitalis; Hecheland, the hill where William's forces assembled according to the Battle Abbey Chronicles; and Herste, the location the monks of Battle Abbey initially preferred for the siting of the Abbey before William overruled them.

The name Senlac appears in only one chronicle — Orderic Vitalis — who describes the English forces taking post at a place anciently called Senlac. He does not mention a hill. The name was later popularised by the Victorian historian E.A. Freeman, who identified it with the ridge on which Battle Abbey stands and suggested it meant sand lake in Old English, with the Normans rendering it as Sanguelac — blood lake — after the battle.

However the Saxon name Santlache — the form used in the Abbey Chronicles — appears in the leuga land records simply as ordinary farmland of 31 acres near the Abbey infirmary, with no special significance attached to it by the monks who were writing within living memory of the battle. Several alternative Saxon derivations are possible, including isen lacu (iron pond), æscen lacu (ash tree lake) and sand lacu (sandy lake), each of which points to a different location. If isen lacu is correct, the battlefield may be considerably further from the present Abbey than tradition holds — most likely near Netherfield, where the main ancient ridgeways from Hastings and Rye converged on the edge of the Forest of Andredsweald.

For the full analysis of the documentary evidence, the Victorian identification, and the alternative Saxon derivations and locations, see Senlac Hill — where is it and what does Senlac mean?

Hecheland is mentioned in the Battle Abbey Chronicles as the hill where William's forces assembled before the battle, described as situated in the direction of Hastings. It appears in three variant spellings — Hecilande, Hecheland and Hechilande — across different passages of the Chronicles, and is also recorded as one of the three woods within the Abbey leuga alongside Bodeherste and Petlee, with two wists of agricultural land.

Its position in the leuga boundary description — between Bodeherste (modern Bathurst, now Battle Great Wood) to the west and Telham to the east — places it on the Hastings road ridge near modern Telham Hill. Scholars have generally translated the name as hedge land, from the Saxon hecge. An alternative reading — heáge land, meaning high land — fits both the landscape and the military context more naturally. The highest point on the ridge above the Hastings road, commanding a clear view toward Hastings, would be the obvious assembly point for an invading force and a natural candidate for the name high land among the local Saxon population.

For the full documentary evidence, name derivations, and location analysis, see Hecheland — where is it and what does it mean?

Herste is mentioned in the Battle Abbey Chronicles as the location the monks of Marmoutier initially chose for the Abbey building, before William instructed them to build on the spot where Harold fell. It appears to have been near the quarry to the south east of the present Abbey, a short distance from Powdermills. The name derives from the Saxon hyrst — a clearing in the forest — and suggests an existing woodland clearing that the monks considered a more practical building site than the exposed ridge William insisted upon.

The significance of Herste is that it confirms the monks had a clear alternative in mind — one that was practical for building but not on the battlefield — and that William specifically overruled them to place the high altar on the spot where Harold died. If the Abbey's traditional location is correct, this exchange is straightforward. If the battlefield was elsewhere, it raises the question of why William was so insistent about a ridge that may not have been the actual site of the fighting.

Herste is discussed further in the context of the Senlac analysis — see Senlac Hill — where is it and what does Senlac mean?

It is worth noting that all three names come from a limited and potentially partial set of sources. Senlac appears in only one chronicle — Orderic Vitalis, writing decades after the battle. Hecheland and Herste both come from the Battle Abbey Chronicles, written by monks whose institution had a direct interest in placing the battlefield at its current location. This does not make the evidence worthless, but it does mean these names cannot be treated as independent corroboration of each other. They may reflect genuine local Saxon place names accurately recorded, or they may reflect a narrative shaped to support the Abbey's claim to be standing on the actual battlefield. The detailed analysis on each page linked above attempts to weigh that evidence as carefully as possible.

For the Abbey lands and leuga boundary in full, including all place names and their Saxon derivations, see The Lands of Battle Abbey in the 11th Century.