Pevensey Castle, Normans Bay, smuggling and family remembrances ... Part 2

If Jenny and I had continued further north from Bexhill the village of Battle would be reached, where William the Conqueror changed English history by feigning retreat and then beating King Harold, the King killed by an arrow in his eye – so the story goes, as depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry.

Harold had only been crowned King of England in January 1066, after the death of Edward the Confessor, but due to the succession struggle had been anticipating an invasion from France, by William, Duke of Normandy (as he was), another contender for the English throne, and had based himself on the south coast at the ready.

Death of Harold in the Battle of Hastings, as shown on the Bayeux Tapestry (above)

Harold maintained a large fleet in the Channel to deter the Norman army from crossing the water, but due to dwindling supplies he was forced to dismiss it during the summer, many ships of which were subsequently lost in a storm. William then landed unopposed at Pevensey on 28th September 1066.

Another claimant included the King of Norway, Harald Hardrada, who beached in the north of England in September 1066. King Harold learning of this headed northwards at breakneck speed, covering the 185 miles (300 kilometres) from London to Yorkshire in four days taking the Vikings completely by surprise and routing them in the Battle of Stamford Bridge on 25th September 1066.

Harold now had to hot foot it back south again to deal with the Duke. The Duke, with his fleet safe in the western haven of Normans Bay, meanwhile shored up the fortifications at Pevensey Castle and made his plans.

Senlac Ridge is about 5 miles inland from Bexhill and Hastings where Harold, when he arrived from the north, based his army – the high ground gave him a great advantage over the Normans, who made repeated charges up the hill ... but to no avail. The English were exhausted and finally succumbed after two days of fighting and were vanquished on October 14th: William’s feint of retreat caused the English to break ranks with the intention of routing them but with intended consequences.

Hastings, Battle and Pevensey are about 50 miles further south from the capital .. and if the elite marathon runners in this weekend’s London marathon were able to maintain their speed for the 225 miles or so, then it would take them 18 hours to get to Yorkshire (26 miles is covered in about 2 hours). But think of that distance wearing armour and with all the paraphernalia needed for an armed struggle ... Speedy Gonzales (as shown) came to mind somewhat incongruously!

William could not use the coastal route that Jenny and I took as we skipped along the tiny islands, that are now small high points – hence the road, called Rickney Lane, as back then and until the 1400s these islands were in the tidal bay inlet. The hamlet names along this part of East Sussex are all derived from the Old English word “eye” meaning island: Peven’s sey, Rickney, Horse Eye, North Eye.

William, as you can see, had to skirt the bay and coastal marshes, to begin his attack on Harold who had encamped on Senlac Hill, but his forces were well rested after the two weeks in port. Much has changed along this coast over the millennia.

Normans Bay, with its Pevensey Levels, is a changing coastline – ten thousand years ago at the end of that glaciation period the rising sea levels flooded the lower reaches of the numerous coastal river valleys creating a tidal estuary with a wide bay, leaving the present Levels under water.

Over hundreds of years, the tidal bay gradually became saltmarsh, then as today reedy meadows, while in 1287, two hundred years after the Battle of Hastings, a huge storm caused this silting up of the channels along this part of the Sussex coast, which precipitated that change.

This is a map of the 7 Cinque Ports in Kent and Sussex. Pevensey is located on the southern tip of the lowest bay on this map, before the change in the coastline (as depicted with a dotted line), which continues to occur. (to see a larger image click through to Wikipedia).

After that brief historical sojourn regarding the Conquering of the English King by William we returned along the old coast road towards his landing point and Pevensey Castle. The sea once lapped against the south and east sides of the Castle, and after William’s success the Normans converted the remains of the original Roman sea fort into a fortress; it was an important part of their coastal defences.

In a few hundred years the Castle fell into disrepair as the sea receded and Pevensey ceased to command the coastline. It was temporarily fortified during the brief threat of the Spanish Armada in 1587 – 88; while in World War II it was fitted out as a Home Guard command post. Rickney Lane traversing the marshes had anti-tank cylinders along its length – as shown in the picture.

Anti-Tank Cylinders, Rickney Lane: There are two here the second is partially obscured by the reeds opposite the farm track. A hole at the top of the first one is also just visible and from this barbed wire would have been attached to stretch across the road to form a roadblock. The farm track on the left also carries a footpath across the marshes which rejoins Rickney Lane near Pevensey Haven. © Copyright Simon Carey

The Roman fort of the Saxon Shore stood guard on a harbour which is now silted up. It is not a rectangular castle like most of its contemporaries, but oval in plan and is well provided with substantial external bastions. Both the Romans and Normans recognised the castle as of strategic military value and for over a thousand years kept it strengthened during their custodianship.

Pevensey Castle - main gate

A keep, a strong central tower, was built in the south east corner, and a small inner bailey (one of the two outer walls of the castle) was fortified within the Roman walls. These were used as defences for the outer bailey, which still stand for much of their length today. Pevensey Castle with its history stretching back to Roman times chronicles very graphically the story of Britain’s south coast defences. For an aerial view – visit the 1066 Online website: http://www.1066online.com/HASTINGS-MAIN/Places-to-Visit/visit-sussex/Pevensey-Castle.html

As a byline .. an earlier word for a keep, still used for some medieval monuments, especially in France, is donjon; a derivative word is dungeon.

Pevensey Castle walls

The following, part of a Rudyard Kipling poem, refers to the Pevensey Levels - I thought a perfect description - what do you think?

Trackway and Camp and City lost,
Salt Marsh where now is corn,
Old Wars, old Peace, old arts that cease,
And so was England born.

Dear Mr Postman, I still haven’t heard from Jenny – but no doubt we’ll catch up and I shall let you know how she got on. My poor mother isn’t very well and we’re in for a difficult time – but let’s hope she can settle down and be comfortable – quite honestly that’s what I really wish for .. she has been in no discomfort until this year .. and I really don’t want her to suffer at all.

Hilary Melton-Butcher
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