Anglo Saxon History Home Background Landscape Changing Landscape and Language Sea Levels in AD400(Pevensey) Sea Levels in AD400(The Wash) Sea level changes last 2000 years Andredsweald and Anderida Where are the Roman Roads History of the Romney Marsh The Great Storm 1287AD List of Landscape Documents Local The Haestingas The Cinque Ports 914AD Alfred the Great's fort in Hastings Battle Museum Battle History Society Villagenet Local Gazeteer World War 2 Tank database Simon the Piman(Raspberry Pi) Romans First Invasion 55BC Second Invasion 43AD Roman roads in Britannia Ptolemy Geographica Tribes MAP-Margary Roman Roads MAP-Roman Roads South East MAP-Roman Roads South West MAP-Roman Roads Wales MAP-Roman Roads South Midlands MAP-Roman Roads South Yorkshire MAP-Roman Locations Norfolk MAP-Roman Locations Essex MAP-Wealden Roads/Bloomeries Wealden Bloomeries 1st Century Wealden Bloomeries 2nd Century Wealden Bloomeries 3rd Century Wealden Bloomeries 4th Century MAP-Antonine Itinery I Roman Industry in the Brede Valley Decline in Roman Wealden Ironworking The Gallic Empire 260AD - 274AD Types of Roman Fortification List of Roman Documents Saxon Chronicles 449AD Hengest & Horsa arrive 455AD Hengest & Horsa defeat Wurtgern 457AD Hengest & Horsa take over Kent 460AD Hæstinga Saxons arrive 477AD Cymensora 485AD Suth Saxons Mercredesburnan 491AD Suth Saxons Pevensey 914AD Burghal Hideage Locations - 449AD Ebbsfleet Locations - 455AD Agelesþrep Locations - 485AD Mearcredesburnan Stede Locations - 914AD Eorpeburnan 1066 Battle Documentary Evidence Available Documents 1 Anglo Saxon Chronicles 2 Battle Abbey Chronicles 3 Bayeux Tapestry 4 Carmen Guy d'Amiens 5 Florence of Worcester 6 Henry of Huntingdon 7 Master Wace 8 Orderic Vitalis(Gesta) 9 William of Jumièges(Gesta) 10 William of Malmesbury 11 Quedam Exceptiones Reference to Locations Phases of the Events Phases 1066AD 1 Background 1066AD 2 In Normandy 1066AD 3 Channel Crossing 1066AD 4 The Landing 1066AD 5 Feast after Landing 1066AD 6 Building the Forts 1066AD 7 Raiding the Area 1066AD 8 Warning to Harold 1066AD 9 Stamford Bridge 1066AD 10 Harold returns to London 1066AD 11 William is Alerted 1066AD 12 Exchange of Messages 1066AD 13 Defenses 1066AD 14 Harold Reconnoitres 1066AD 15 Preparations 1066AD 16 The Night Before 1066AD 17 The Battle 1066AD 18 Harold is Killed 1066AD 19 The English Rout 1066AD 20 After the Battle 1066AD 21 The Malfosse Warriors, Weapons & Snippets Saxon - Huscarl Saxon - Fyrd(Fyrð) Senlac Hill The Malfosse The Hoar Apple Tree The Shield Wall Salt Production near Hastings The Battle of Jengland 851AD William's Ship List Norman/Viking Ships and stuff Norman bows and crossbows Harold was NOT killed by an arrow The Time Team view of the Battle 1066AD Landscape Details 1066AD Sailing from Normandy 1066AD Norman Landing 1066AD Possible Fort 1066AD to Pevensey and Hastings 1066AD Manors Wasted 1066AD Manors All 1066AD Warning to Harold 1066AD Harold to Hastings List of 1066AD Documents List of 1066AD Weapons 1086AD Domesday Boundary of Anderida Domesday Hursts Post Domesday Hursts Domesday Manors Wasted UK Norfolk Salt Production Salt Production near Hastings The Wash at 1086 The Humber estuary at 1086 Domesday County details B Bedfordshire Domesday Population Berkshire Domesday Population Buckinghamshire Domesday Population Domesday County details C Cambridgeshire Domesday Population Cheshire Domesday Population Cornwall Domesday Population Domesday County details D Derbyshire Domesday Population Devon Domesday Population Dorset Domesday Population Domesday County details E Essex Domesday Population Domesday County details G Gloucestershire Domesday Population Domesday County details H Hampshire Domesday Population Herefordshire Domesday Population Hertfordshire Domesday Population Huntingdonshire Domesday Population Domesday County details K Kent Domesday Population Domesday County details L Leicestershire Domesday Population Lincolnshire Domesday Population Domesday County details M Middlesex Domesday Population Domesday County details N Norfolk Domesday Population Northamptonshire Domesday Population Nottinghamshire Domesday Population Domesday County details O Oxfordshire Domesday Population Domesday County details R Rutland Domesday Population Domesday County details S Shropshire Domesday Population Somerset Domesday Population Staffordshire Domesday Population Suffolk Domesday Population Surrey Domesday Population Sussex Domesday Population Domesday County details W Warwickshire Domesday Population Wiltshire Domesday Population Worcestershire Domesday Population Domesday County details Y Yorkshire Domesday Population Place names Translate my Location Celtic name snippets Jutish name snippets Roman name snippets Saxon name snippets Viking name snippets Norman name snippets Modern name snippets Villages containing EY/EYE/SEA Villages containing HAM Villages containing TON Villages containing CASTLE Sussex Locations with ING Domesday Sussex with ING Kent Locations with ING Sussex Locations with HURST Loads of Village Translations Res Battle of Hastings 1066AD - The Hoar Apple tree Table of Contents Table of Contents Current understanding Documentary Evidence Translation issues An Old Orchard Conclusion The landscape at 1066AD Another Interesting Article Current understanding ▲ The current understanding is that King Harold sent messages to the various Saxon regions to muster the forces at the hoar(old) apple tree which was on Senlac Hill in the town of Battle. Please take look at the details below and see if the above sentence makes sense and what conclusions you come to, my comments are at the bottom. Documentary Evidence ▲ The only document mentioning the tree is the Anglo Saxon Chronicles. There are currently 6 different versions of the Anglo Saxon Chronicles, so lets see what each one says for AD1066. 'The Parker Chronicle' doesn't mention a tree 'Cotton Tiberius A.vi' has no entry for 1066 'Cotton Tiberius C.i' doesn't mention a tree 'Cotton Tiberius B.iv' in Anglo Saxon Þis wearð þa Harolde cynge gecydd, he gaderade þa mycelne here, com him togenes æt þære haran apuldran, Wyllelm him com ongean on unwær, ær þis folc gefylced wære. This is the original translation by the Reverend James Ingram (London, 1823) This was then told to King Harold; and he gathered a large force, and came to meet him at the estuary of Appledore.(this would read apuldre ora in Anglo Saxon) William, however, came against him unawares, ere his army was collected; The common translation of 'com him togenes æt þære haran apuldran' is Harold ‘came to meet him [William] at the hoar (or grey) apple-tree.’ our translation of the same phrase using Bosworth Toller Anglo Saxon Dictionary. came him together at there 'hare or hairy' apple trees so rephrased to 'they met him at the orchard where the hares run' or ' they met him at the hairy orchard' 'Bodleian MS Laud 636' doesn't mention a tree 'Cotton Domitian A.ix' has no entry for 1066 Translation issues ▲ The confusion is around the translation of both haran and apuldran Haran 'hara' in Anglo Saxon means hare as in the long eared rabbit. 'haran' doesn't exist by itself but is used to describe multiples, as in 'haran hige' meaning 'hares foot' the plant and in 'haran-wyrt' meaning 'hare wort' 'hǽren' in Anglo Saxon means 'made of hair' (possibly describing litchen) 'har' in Anglo Saxon means 'Hoar, hoary, grey' There is a Anglo Saxon suffix –en which means people of or subjects of, and is used in Saxon village names. So the various valid options are hare,hairy,hoar,hoary or grey apuldran 'apuldre' meaning apple tree, or possibly fruit tree 'apuldran' possibly meaning multiple trees as in an orchard So the various valid options are apple tree, fruit tree or orchard So this gives us the probably meanings of the 'old orchard', the 'hairy orchard' or the 'orchard where the hares are'. So as you can see there are a number of possible translations An Old Orchard ▲ Conclusion ▲ If the place recorded as the 'Haran alpuldran' actually existed then: The location must have been fairly well known to the Saxons so the Fyrð from all the counties could muster there. It must have been at a point on a major route probably on an old Roman road at a major junction or in a large town or city. It must also have been some way inland as most invasions would have come from the coast and having your troops meet up close to the enemy could be disastrous. So this gives us the probable meanings of the 'the old orchard', the 'hairy orchard' or the one I believe is the most likely translation is the 'orchard where the hares live' or The people of the old orchard. This would imply that the Saxons had a number of pre-set easy to find locations across the country where the individual Fyrð and the Huscarls and the King could join up. This would mean that the local Fyrð would go to their nearest town, then the town would go to the nearest main city, then they would march to a nearby point where they would finally muster. There is only one reference to the 'Hoar Apple tree' and that exists only in one of the six versions of the Anglo Saxon Chronicles so has limited documentary evidence. However the Fyrð would need to have locations to combine with the King's forces so this is likely to be a real place. It is most unlikely that the muster point was at the hoar(old) apple tree on Senlac Hill in the town of Battle, if it even existed. From a strategic perspective Battle is too near Hastings to muster. If the Fyrð arrived there to muster in small units, Williams troops could have easily seen them arrive and destroyed these individual units without needing to fight Harold's combined forces. So the muster point has to be located on a road through the Forest(because of the number of troops) and far enough away from Hastings to prevent the Normans destroying the individual units as they arrive. The landscape at 1066AD ▲ The green shaded area shows The Great Forest of Andredsweald - Anglo Saxon Chronicles, the red lines are known Roman roads and the maroon lines show the old Celtic Ridgeways as defined by Ivan D Margary. The castles symbols show positions of the old Roman fort at Pevensey and the Burghal Hideage fort at Hastings(Alfred the Great's fort in Hastings where was it ??). The Eastern Rother, Brede and Tillingham rivers combine and reach the sea at New Romney on the Romney Marsh(Landscape - The History of the Romney Marsh in maps(Pre-Roman to Modern times)). Another Interesting Article ▲ Regarding the possible location of the hoar apple tree the following link created by a collegue may be of interest Horeappletree and Horeappletree Common which gives an interesting idea for a location near Broad Oak(Heathfield), which I believe would be a logical muster site for Harold's troops. This location would have been inside the Forest of Andredsweald but was most likely heathland so was open and suitable for camping, it was also on the Crowborough to Hastings ancient ridgeway which leads to Battle town, and was far enough away from the coast to allow small local units of Fyrð to meet up and join up to make an army, so a possibility for a muster point. It can also be reached from Gravesend by going down the old Roman Road to Benenden, or from Ashford to Benenden, then down towards Bodiam across to Etchingham and then across the Rother to the ridgeway from Etchingham to Broad Oak. Copyright saxonhistory.co.uk 2013 - 2024Contact SimonAuthor Simon M - Last updated - 2024-07-01 08:17:34All pages on our site (Sitemap)