Saxon Seaxe Anglo Saxon History
saxonhistory.co.uk
Map Position
This map shows the position of locations centered on Bertreville-Saint-Ouen in Seine-Maritime.
Map Logic
This map shows the area around Battle and Hastings in 1066.

Roman roads are shown as black lines, red lines show old Roman Ridge trackways and purple lines show theoretical Roman roads implied by village and road names.

The thickness of the road implies the width of the Roman metalled surface.

The sea is shown raised by 5 metres to accomodate the high tide level changes since 1066 see our Sea Level page.

The green shaded area shows what we believe is the area of the impassible Forest of Andredsweald.
 

Battle of Hastings AD1066 - Phase 3 - Crossing the English Channel

Crossing the English Channel by the fleet led by William the Conqueror.

 



References to locations:-

Bayeux Tapestry- 'to(towards) Pevensey'

William Sails from Normandy in 1066AD


The big ships are loaded with fighting troops and the smaller ones carry provisions, horses etc


The armada sails towards modern Pevensey(Pevenesæ)

please click here to visit Reading Museum for further details of Britains Bayeux Tapestry.


The Carmen de Triumpho Normannico – Bishop Guy d’Amiens

And the sun shone forth brighter than usual
When Michaelmas was celebrated around the world(27th Sept 1066)
While sailors take up their oars and knights their arms
Hitherto confined, the ships spread along the coast evenly
And form themselves into a tidy fleet
The day is already short the setting sun now inclines(after midday)
When your flagship sets the course(sunrise 05:56 ->sunset 17:51 in Oct 1066)
When the dark night’s gloomy shadows overspread the sky(no moon)
On the open sea you moor offshore
You caution to take in the sails awaiting the morning to come
The third hour of the day overspread the earth(9-10am)
Since leaving the sea behind when you seize a sheltered strand


Master Wace - Roman de Rou

When the ships were ready, they were moored in the Somme at St. Valeri, and there delivered to the barons. Many were the ships and boats in the river there, which is called the Somme, and separates Ponthieu and Vimou. Vimou extends as far as On, which separates Normandy from Vimou, a country under different government. Ou is a river, and Ou is also a fair castle situated upon that river.
I remember it well, although I was but a lad—that there were seven hundred ships, less four , when they sailed from St. Valeri; and that there were besides these ships, boats and skiffs for the purpose of carrying the arms and harness.
I have found it written (but I know not whether it be true) that there were in all three thousand vessels bearing sails and masts. Any one will know that there must have been a great many men to have furnished out so many vessels.
They waited long at St. Valeri for a fair wind, and the barons were greatly wearied. Then they prayed the convent to bring out the shrine of St.Valeri, and set it on a carpet in the plain; and all came praying the holy reliques, that they might be allowed to pass over sea. They offered so much money, that the reliques were buried beneath it ; and from that day forth, they had good weather and a fair wind.
The duke placed a lantern on the mast of his ship, that the other ships might see it, and hold their course after it. The ships steered to one port; all arrived and reached the shore together ; together cast anchor, and ran on dry land ; and together they discharged themselves. They arrived near Hastings, and there each ship ranged by the other's side.

After the Battle
The duke placed a guard in Hastings, from the best of his knights, so as to garrison the castle well, and went thence to Romenel(New Romney), to destroy it utterly, because some of his people had arrived there, I know not by what accident, and the false and traitorous had killed them by felony. On that account he was very wroth against them, and grievously punished them for it.

Gesta Normannorum Ducum c1070 - William of Jumièges

William crossed the sea and landed at Pevensey, where at one he built a strongly entrenched fortification. He entrusted it to his warriors and speedily went to Hastings, where he quickly raised another one. Harold, hastening to take him by surprise, gathered innumerable English forces and, riding through the night, arrived at the battlefield at dawn.

William of Malmesbury's Chronicle

Nothing mentioned of the crossing.

Anglo Saxon Chronicles – A,B,C,D,E and H

A.D. 1066.(Version D)
Meantime Earl William came up from Normandy into Pevensey on the eve of St. Michael's mass; and soon after his landing was effected, they constructed a castle at the port of Hastings.

Chronicles of Battle Abbey

The duke, therefore, with a prodigious army, and attended by the divine favour, arrived safely near the castle called Pevensey. The soldiers leaped joyfully upon English ground at intervals along the shore.



As you can see from the documents, the Carmen seems to give the most detail of the journey, so lets see if this makes sense.

The calculations we have made are based on a Norman longship travelling at an average of 7 mph with the wind, but including adjustments made for tides in the Channel.

So the important information from the documents is that they:-
  • left St Valerie after midday
  • sailed until the light has gone(sunset at 17:51)
  • anchor offshore
  • before sunrise(at 05:56) they set sail again
  • arrive at Pevensey/Hastings at the third hour of the day (between 09:00 and 10:00)


To see how they could sail across channel we need firstly to look at the tides that flow through the Channel, these maps have been extracted from pages provided by VisitMyHarbour.com. The red dot shows the invasion starting point at St Valerie sur Sommme, the blue dot shows the approximate landing point at Hastings.
 
1 / 24
2 hours before high tide at Dover
2 / 24
1 hour before high tide at Dover
3 / 24
high tide at Dover
4 / 24
1 hour after high tide at Dover
5 / 24
2 hours after high tide at Dover
6 / 24
3 hours after high tide at Dover
7 / 24
4 hours after high tide at Dover
8 / 24
5 hours after high tide at Dover
9 / 24
6 hours after high tide at Dover
10 / 24
5 hours before high tide at Dover
11 / 24
4 hours before high tide at Dover
12 / 24
3 hours before high tide at Dover
13 / 24
2 hours before high tide at Dover
14 / 24
1 hour before high tide at Dover
15 / 24
high tide at Dover
16 / 24
1 hour after high tide at Dover
17 / 24
2 hours after high tide at Dover
18 / 24
3 hours after high tide at Dover
19 / 24
4 hours after high tide at Dover
20 / 24
5 hours after high tide at Dover
21 / 24
6 hours after high tide at Dover
22 / 24
5 hours before high tide at Dover
23 / 24
4 hours before high tide at Dover
24 / 24
3 hours before high tide at Dover

2 hours before high tide at Dover
1 hour before high tide at Dover
high tide at Dover
1 hour after high tide at Dover
2 hours after high tide at Dover
3 hours after high tide at Dover
4 hours after high tide at Dover
5 hours after high tide at Dover
6 hours after high tide at Dover
5 hours before high tide at Dover
4 hours before high tide at Dover
3 hours before high tide at Dover
2 hours before high tide at Dover
1 hour before high tide at Dover
high tide at Dover
1 hour after high tide at Dover
2 hours after high tide at Dover
3 hours after high tide at Dover
4 hours after high tide at Dover
5 hours after high tide at Dover
6 hours after high tide at Dover
5 hours before high tide at Dover
4 hours before high tide at Dover
3 hours before high tide at Dover
The slideshow to the left shows the tides as they rotate from 2 hours before high tide at Dover for 24 hours.

The map slides show deep water in blue, which is at least 50 metres deep so unsuitable for anchoring a fleet.

As you go through the slides which are 1 hourly intervals based arough the high tide at Dover you will see the plots extending as the fleet moves. the distances shown are based on a viking ship sailing at 7mph + or - the tidal flows. The numbers against each segment of the plot show the time in hours using a 24 hour clock.

There are four plots to show potential differing routes from St Valerie to Hastings, the red dot is St Valerie, the blue dot Hastings and the green dot shows where the fleet would need to anchor overnight, they are all set to leave St Valerie at 13.00, sail until 18.00 then anchor, these are numbered on the slides.

  • Blue plot showing the most likely route as this matches with the Carmen time description.
  • Orange plot showing a second route which stays nearer to land, which makes it more likely the ships will be blown onto the French Cliffs between St Valerie and Boulogne.
  • The red plot is a theoretical route across the Channel, but the vessels arrive too early for the Carmen Description and anchoring in the open sea would be dangerous.
  • The purple plot is based on an article by Christine and Gerald Grainge in which they describes a direct route across the Channel to Beachy Head(our thanks to Johnathan Starkey who brought this to our attention), this does however show the fleet arriving about 7am which appears too soon according to the Carmen.


Please Note tide tables for 1066 are unknown, but the flows imply the only likely routes.

We need to look at the bottom of the English Channel to see where it was possible for the fleet to anchor, a very nice map from ResearchGate.net is displayed below, please click on the image to go to a pop up window of their page.

A further map of the bedrock of the English Channel from the University of Sussex is displayed below, please click on the image to go to a pop up window of their page.

As you can see based on the depth of water the fleet would have to sail from St Valery northwards along the coast if they were to 'moor offshore'.



External References in no particular order :-
Anglo Saxon Chronicles
Online Anglo Saxon dictionary
Online Etymology dictionary
Open Domesday Book - The first free online copy of the Domesday Book
The Ermine Street Guard Roman re-enactment and research Society
The "Kent A" cadastre - page 5 - Peterson 2002
Archaeologia Cantiana Online
Romney Marsh Research Trust
Romney Marsh the Fifth Continent
VillageNet the reference guide to villages in Kent & Sussex
Global warming Flood Maps
The Anglo Saxon Chronicles
Google Maps - the core of the system
GeoPlaner - Useful site for plotting map data
Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars 55BC(Books 4 & 5)
Wikipedia - Caesar's invasions of Britain
Wikipedia - Portus Istus
The Geography of Claudius Ptolemy (Bill Thayers)
Roman Britain.org
Runetree Beowulf
Bayeux Tapestry Online
The Secrets of the Norman Invasion
Chronicles of John of Worcester
Battle Historic Society
Binsted village website(Mearcredesburnan Steðe)
The Spears of Andred
Find British Archaelogical Sites
Wealden Iron Research Group
Topographic Map of the UK

 

Copyright saxonhistory.co.uk 2013 - 2024
Contact me
Author: Simon M - Last Updated: 13/03/2024 13:12
All pages on our site (Sitemap)
Data is derived from a number or sources including the Ordnance Survey Gazetter data overlayed onto Google Maps