There aren’t many walks where you can pack quite so much into less than 3 km. This short Battle walk combines glorious Sussex countryside and far-reaching views with streams, fields, a handsome historic High Street, independent shops and coffee stops and an extraordinary amount of history. Because almost from the moment you leave the car park, you are walking through the landscape of 1066.
Distance: approximately 2.5–3 km
Extended walk option: approximately 5.9 km
Start: Mount Street car park, Battle
Highlights: Caldbec Hill, fabulous views, 1066 history, countryside, St Mary’s Church, Battle Abbey and Battle High Street
Starting from Mount Street
Park in Mount Street car park, just off Battle High Street. As you enter the car park, the traffic bears around to the left. Look instead for a hedge and fence beside what appears to be a little private drive or alleyway, marked Little Twitten. This is where your walk begins.
Follow the path and at the little crossroads almost immediately ahead and at the St Mary marker stone, continue straight on. You’ll soon find yourself on a narrow track with allotments on your right. Don’t be put off by this slightly unpromising beginning because as you can see ahead, the landscape is about to open up rather magnificently. You are walking onto Caldbec Hill.
Caldbec Hill and the night before the battle
The allotments soon fall away and suddenly there is an enormous sweep of countryside beside you. Stop here.
Straight across the landscape is Battle Great Wood and, if you turn and look back towards the south, you might be able to pick out the ridge around Telham Hill. Tradition associates Caldbec Hill with Harold’s army the night before the Battle of Hastings. It has also been linked with the mysterious Hoar Apple Tree, mentioned in one version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and traditionally associated with the gathering of Harold’s forces.
Although the generally accepted site of the Battle of Hastings is the hillside on which Battle Abbey was subsequently founded, historians John Grehan and Martin Mace have argued that the battle actually took place here, on Caldbec Hill, about a mile north of the Abbey. English Heritage discusses Caldbec as one of the alternative proposed battlefield sites, although the historical consensus remains with the traditional Battle Abbey location.
But standing here, with Sussex rolling away below you, gives you something that dates, names and maps don’t always provide: a sense of the terrain. Telham Hill across the valley is where William of Normandy is said to have camped the night before the great battle, so suddenly you’re right in the heart of the action.
Down into the countryside
Continue straight ahead along the track, dipping down and then climbing again towards the far side of the field. Eventually the path reaches the field boundary, where you can either turn left through the hedge or right down the field. Turn right and follow the path downhill. Continue into the next field. Here you have another choice of paths. I took the left-hand route, which brings you onto a tarmac lane. Follow the lane downhill and turn right at the bottom. You’ll shortly pass a footpath on your right — this is where the alternative route across the previous field would have brought you out.
Ignore it and continue until you reach the second footpath on your left. Take this path. It leads you over a little stream and bridge before beginning the climb back towards Battle.
Back up to Battle
Shortly after crossing the stream, the path forks. Either route will take you in the right general direction; I took the left fork. From here it’s a short but fairly steep climb through hawthorn and hedgerow until you emerge onto the road near the junction of Marley Lane and Upper Lake.
For the short version of the walk, turn right and start making your way back towards the centre of Battle. After fields, hills and hedgerows, you’re suddenly back amongst Battle’s historic architecture.
You’ll pass St Mary’s Church on your right and then the great presence of Battle Abbey on your left before walking back along the historic High Street. Take your time here. Battle has plenty of independent shops, cafés and restaurants, so this is an extremely easy walk to turn into coffee, lunch or a little browse around town. The Bull Inn is an former 16th century coach house and perfect for a quick pint and a bite to eat.
Then simply turn back down Mount Street to return to the car park.
Fancy going further?
If 3 km simply isn’t enough or 1066 has got its hooks into you, there is a cracking extension to this walk. When you emerge from the footpath near Marley Lane and Upper Lake, don’t turn right towards Battle.
Instead, at the roundabout take the first left and follow Lower Lake downhill towards Battle Hill. Cross the railway and then take the first footpath on your right.
The path takes you down into the valley and then climbs the other side until eventually you emerge onto Telham Lane, at the foot of Telham Hill. It’s approximately 1.9 km (1.18 miles) from Marley Lane to this point. And once again, stop and turn around because now you can look back across the countryside towards Caldbec Hill and Battle Great Wood.
Having stood on Caldbec Hill looking towards Telham, there is something rather wonderful about crossing the valley and then turning around to see Caldbec from the other side. Whatever happened on these hills almost 1,000 years ago (and wherever every stage of the battle unfolded) walking the landscape allows you to start understanding its geography in a way that you simply can’t from a map.
Make it a 5.9 km circular walk
From Telham Lane you can simply retrace your steps back to Battle. Alternatively, turn right and follow Telham Lane until you reach its junction with the B2095, opposite Crafted at PowderMills. From here you can pick up the 1066 Country Walk Bexhill Link and follow it back towards Battle. The link eventually joins the main 1066 Country Walk, which itself runs for 31 miles between Pevensey and Rye via Battle.
And there could hardly be a more appropriate way to finish. The path brings you back into Battle beside Battle Abbey and the traditional site of the Battle of Hastings.
By now you will have looked across Caldbec Hill, crossed the valley towards Telham and followed part of the 1066 Country Walk back to the place where, according to the accepted historical account, Harold and William finally fought for the English crown on 14 October 1066. If you still haven’t had enough of 1066, you can pay to enter Battle Abbey and walk the battlefield itself.
Or you can head back up the High Street in search of that pint at The Bull Inn. After nearly 6 km and almost 1,000 years of history, you’ve earned it.
If you have enjoyed this short walk at Battle, you may also like:
The Battle of Hastings 1066: the Battle that Changed Sussex & History
