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by David Barnby.
Hardback (6.4×9.5 inches). 212 pages. 2023.
A few years ago, I read a book Mysteries of the Norman Conquest (review on HMGS.org) about a walkabout around the Hastings area and the possibility of the “official” battlefield of Hastings being in the wrong spot a few hundred yards from the actual “battle.”
This book also suggests an alternate site, Blackhorse Hill, using a considerable amount of scholarship to back up his theory. He also uses Lidar imagery about where the Cinque Port of Hastings was located in 1066, which is not where the current town of Hastings is located. From that locale, he delves into written records. All of that gets an analytical scrutiny about truths and fictions in these written accounts. The monks of Battle Abbey come in for an historical finger wagging as they tried to justify their existence and being somewhat of a tourist attraction.
It’s been decades since I walked the official battlefield. Whether or not you find his theory and evidence compelling, you have to entertain the possibility. After all, our impression of Mayan cities is expanding thanks to LIDAR paving the way for archeological examination and digs.
A battlefield about 1,000 years old plus new non-invasive technologies such as LIDAR, ground-penetrating radar, and industrial-grade metal detectors may indeed find something worth an exploratory trench.
Or it could be nothing — like the numerous Holy Grail chalices, King Arthur’s burial sites, and Hannibal’s routes across the Alps.
You’ll have to decide for yourself, but you’ll find this book well written and reasonably argued.
Enjoyed it.
— Reviewed by Russ Lockwood
