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 List of Saxon Chronicles Documents 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 Norman route across the Channel Duke Williams route across the Channel Duke Williams route across the Channel Documentary Evidence Not a lot to go on - The Carmen Overall Journey Time Map showing the Shoals and Sandbanks in the English Channel Routes to cross the Channel Final Map Conclusion Footnote Documentary Evidence ▲ The documents that give us any information for the journey from St Valerie to Hastings/Pevensey are as follows. 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 (usually known as the Carmen - this extract comes from Kathleen Tyson's translation) You give the order and they strike for the greater depths of the sea, Hitherto confined, the ships spread along the coast evenly, And form themselves into a tidy fleet, The days already short, the setting sun now inclines, When your flagship sets the course, When the dark night's gloomy shadows overspread the sky, And the veiled moon refuses you service, You fill the waves otherwise with torches reddish glow, Just as the stars fill the sky in place of the fallen sun. As many are the ships, so many lights you disperse. The sails rule a straight course through the sea. But cautious lest dark imposes losses, And contrary wind and current disturb the sea, You order the fleet to halt course, form up and drop anchor. On the open sea you moor offshore. And as the sun casts its rays over the horizon, You order the sails set to the wind to make way While the ships raise anchor. The third hour of the day overspreads the earth Since leaving the sea behind when you seize a sheltered strand. The land belonging to you had been stripped of terrified tenants. You rejoice as you and yours seize a peaceful arc of strand. The Ecclesiastical History of Orderic Vitalis (this extract comes from Marjorie Chibnall's translation) When at last by Gods grace the favorable wind sprang up in answer to so many prayers, the duke, impatient to set out, called all his men forthwith to the ships and commanded them to set sail with courage. So the Norman army crossed the sea on 29th September, the night when the universal church celebrates the feast of St Michael the archangel, and reaching the coast of England where they met no opposition, gladly came ashore. They took possession of Pevensey and Hastings and gave them into the charge of chosen soldiers as a base for the army and shelter to the fleet. Roman de Rou - Master Wace (this extract comes from Edgar taylor's translation) 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 sailed to one port; all arrived and reached the shore together; together cast anchor, and ran on dry land; and together discharged themselves. They arrived near Hastings, and their each ship ranged by the other's side. Chronicle of Florence of Worcester and he had moored his fleet at a place called Pevensey. Chronicle of Henry of Huntingdon William Duke of Normandy, had landed on the south coast, and had built a fort at Hastings. 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. Not a lot to go on - The Carmen ▲ It looks like the Carmen gives the only detailed report, so lets use that The days already short, the setting sun now inclines, (So they are starting to sail after 12:00) When the dark night's gloomy shadows overspread the sky, (and they sail until the sun sets - sunrise 05:56 ->sunset 17:51 in Sept 1066) And the veiled moon refuses you service, (no moon so very dark) You fill the waves otherwise with torches reddish glow, Just as the stars fill the sky in place of the fallen sun. (So navigation by the stars may have been possible) As many are the ships, so many lights you disperse. The sails rule a straight course through the sea. But cautious lest dark imposes losses, And contrary wind and current disturb the sea, (This may imply that the fleet moved over a shoal with the current changing and lapping around the ships) You order the fleet to halt course, form up and drop anchor. (So they anchor up not too late so lets assume no more than about 20:00) On the open sea you moor offshore. (Mooring offshore in the Channel is a bit awkward as the anchor lines for Viking vessels would not have been more than about 11 metres) A Viking age anchor has been found in Ladby(Denmark) the anchor is 1.26 m long and 0.83 m wide is made mostly of iron and equipped with an iron anchor chain which is estimated to have been ca. 11 m long. The original Ladby anchor can still be seen today in situ – in its original resting place – in the remains of the ship-grave at Vikingemuseet Ladby. The majority of the sea in the channel is deeper than 11 metres, and as the sea was probably about 4 metres higher in Norman times then the only places they could anchor were the few banks and shoals in the Channel that are currently no more than 7 metres deep. Continuing to England And as the sun casts its rays over the horizon, (up and sailing before sunrise, so possibly 05:00) You order the sails set to the wind to make way While the ships raise anchor. The third hour of the day overspreads the earth Since leaving the sea behind when you seize a sheltered strand. (so about 4 hours sailing and arrive about 09:00) The land belonging to you had been stripped of terrified tenants. You rejoice as you and yours seize a peaceful arc of strand. Overall Journey Time ▲ The Fleet leaves after midday, so assume 12:00 and anchors up at about 20:00 which means they sail for about 8 hours. They weigh anchor at about 05:00 and arrive by 10:00 so another 5 hours sailing. Their overall sailing time is from 12:00 to the following 10:00 about 22 hours overall. Viking ships could sail at an average of about 7 mph, which would give an overall distance of 56 miles(90 km) from St Valerie to the anchor point, then a further 35 miles(56 km) to Pevensey. So the overall journey would be a maximum of 91 miles(146 km). As an aside, when a fleet in the middle ages anchored in the sea, all the ships were tied together, with a few throwing out anchors, this made a large platform that people could walk across, and in the case of the Norman Invasion probably allowed the horses to be fed and watered while at anchor.(sorry cant find any images to illustrate this). Map showing the Shoals and Sandbanks in the English Channel ▲ So we are looking for areas which are no more than 7 metres down for anchorage points. The bathymetry map shown below shows the depth of the sea and all the sandbanks and shoals in the English Channel today(2024) together with their shallowest depth in metres. Yellow is deepest, with the shading going to red for the shallower water. This may have been different in Norman times, but the changes would probably be minimal, rather than completely different. The modern names of these shallow areas in the Channel are shown to the left of the map. a – Basurelle (7mtr) b – Vergoyer (4.2mtr) c – Les Ridens (13mtr) d – The Varne (3mtr) e – Colbart Ridge (1.5mtr) f – Bullock Bank (14mtr) g – Royal Sovereign Shoal (5mtr) The banks and shoals that are currently less than 7 metres down are a-Basurelle, b-Vergoyer, d-The Varne, e-Colbart Ridge and the g-Royal Sovereign shoal. The first four of these are sand and shingle banks, so are the most likely. The Royal Sovereign shoal consists of rocky outcrops, so is much more dangerous to anchor over and is less likely to be the anchorage point. The Basurelle is also probably unlikely as the anchor chains would have been at full stretch to hold the fleet. The Vergoyer which is just under half way across the channel and as the fleet sailed for about 7 or 8 hours untill they anchored and only 4 hours after then this would be unlikely to be the anchor point. This just leaves d the Varne and the e Colbart Ridge as potential anchorages. The Varne is further up the channel than the Colbart Ridge so would have taken more time to get to or from so it was probably not here either. This just leaves the Colbart Ridge as the most likely anchor point. Routes to cross the Channel ▲ 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 / 24 3 / 24 4 / 24 5 / 24 6 / 24 7 / 24 8 / 24 9 / 24 10 / 24 11 / 24 12 / 24 13 / 24 14 / 24 15 / 24 16 / 24 17 / 24 18 / 24 19 / 24 20 / 24 21 / 24 22 / 24 23 / 24 24 / 24 ❯ The slideshow above 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 around 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. Green 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, but will not have time to get to Hastings/Pevensey within the time available. 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 impossible. 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. Final Map ▲ This map is derived from Google My Maps to show possible routes across the Channel. The various sand/shingle banks in the Channel where the fleet could have anchored are shown together with their depth in 1066. The red circles show possible locations where the sea is shallow enough for fleet anchoring locations. The thick coloured lines show potential routes for the fleet to take to reach Britain, the thin coloured lines show the routes the few ships that landed at New Romney would have had to have taken. Conclusion ▲ The Carmen provides the only details of the journey From the Carmen the only logical route is from St Valerie to the Colbart Ridge off the coast at New Romney to anchor till dawn, then sail along the coast towards the west, this measures approximately 146km. Footnote ▲ There are reports of Romney being destroyed after William defeats Harold that may also have some bearing on the route. Master Wace 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, 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. Orderic Vitalis When his own dead had been given honorable burial he advanced to Romney, defeated the garrison and avenged the slaughter of some of his men. They had landed there in error and had been routed in the ensuing battle by the fierce defenders, with terrible losses on both sides. My Comments It seems unlikely they would have landed in Romney by error as 700 ships were sailing together, it is much more likely that the vessels were taking on water and they needed to reach the nearest shore, and if the route went from the Colbart Ridge to Pevensey, then Romney would have been the nearest shore line. Copyright saxonhistory.co.uk 2013 - 2024Contact SimonAuthor Simon M - Last updated - 2024-09-27 08:16:42All pages on our site (Sitemap)