We had a nice slow start on Sunday, sleeping in and reading in bed for a while before getting up and having breakfast. It’s nice having such a well-stocked kitchen (in terms of pots and pans) so we can cook for ourselves and be quite self-sufficient. After a slow start we headed off at around 11ish for a walk to the woods. It was a clear morning, thank goodness, but once we’d finished the footpath and were walking along the side of the road, it was quite wet. This only got worse the further we went, particularly once we headed off on a path labelled ‘1066 country’, which led towards the Battle Great Woods. I was wearing my ever-reliable Docs but Peter’s runners (and feet) were getting soaked. We persevered and navigated our way along quite sludgy paths, although surrounded by beautiful autumn foliage and a surprising range of different trees. We finally looped back around to the Great Woods tracks, which were gravel-covered and not as muddy, but the damage was done and Peter was quite soaked. We had to head back to town anyway though, as we had tickets for 1pm at the Abbey so on the way we stopped for him to dry his feet and change his socks before we headed up the road.

Battle has a stunning market square with the gatehouse to the Abbey looming over it. We made our way along the path and entered the gatehouse, where after checking our English heritage cards, we were able to head into the grounds. There was an exhibition about the Abbey in the gatehouse so we started there, checking out some information about the Abbots as lords of Battle before admiring the view from the rooftop. Back on ground level, we spotted a bonfire with marshmallow roasting so we grabbed a coffee and a couple of marshmallows at the cafe and roasted them over the fire outside. It was very brisk but clear and it was the perfect atmosphere to be roasting marshmallows and then sitting and nibbling on them under the autumn leaves by a fire!

Once we’d finished our coffees we followed the path down the hill and around the back of the abbey grounds to the battlefield. Unfortunately the path around the outside was closed due to the dodgy weather (and probably lots of mud!) so we followed the top path which had information plaques telling the story of the Battle of Hastings. I find it quite strange how much this battle is revered by the British considering it was the Normans beating the native English, but the audioguide emphasised how much the Normans influenced England becoming what it is today. The pathway led along the battlefield outlining the day’s events, and then explained that the Abbey was commissioned by William the Conqueror as repentance for his actions. The ruins of the old abbey lie at the top of the hill overlooking the battlefield and after walking by an orchard in a walled garden and past the exposed crypt of the old church, we walked up into the ruins. They were quite plain on the first floor, with just the walls remaining, but once we walked back down and found the stairs to the ground floor/basement, we found beautiful arched ceilings and a man telling ghost stories about the battlefield. We walked down some more stairs and found ourselves in a hall with huge arched ceilings and windows letting in light.

From the ruins of the old abbey we made our way around to the gatehouse again, with a brief walk along the top of the fortified wall as well. We were both starving so once we’d exited the complex we crossed the road to the pub, which was unfortunately fully booked for Sunday lunch. We ended up stopping in a cute little independent groceries for some olives, cheese and another snacks and grabbing some beers from Battle Brewery before heading back to the cottage. We tried another pub on the way but that was full too so we made a dinner booking instead. Then we headed back to the cottage and sat outside in the little covered seating area for some snacks and a beer. Very cosy watching the drizzle coming down whilst being undercover!

At 6 we headed up the road to the pub and were disappointed to find that not only had they run out of roast, but also weren’t serving their usual evening mains, just the lunchtime ones. We settled for shared fish and chips and a couple of entrees that luckily turned out to be delicious!That’s probably going to be our last meal out for the foreseeable future, and it was a nice one to end on.