c associations. We
were nearing the spot where William the Conqueror landed and where the
battle was fought which overthrew the Saxon dynasty--which an eminent
authority declares to have done more to change the history of the
Anglo-Saxon race than any other single event. From Lewes, over crooked,
narrow and rather rough roads, we proceeded to Pevensey, where the
Normans landed nearly a thousand years ago. It is one of the sleepy,
unpretentious villages that dot the southern coast of England, but it
has a history stretching far back of many of the more important cities
of the Kingdom. It was a port of entry in early times and is known to
have been in existence long before the Romans came to Britain. The
Romans called it Anderida, and their city was situated on the site of
the castle. Like other Sussex towns, Pevensey lost its position as a
seaport owing to a remarkable natural movement of the coast line, which
has been receding for centuries. When the Conqueror landed the sea came
up to the castle walls, but now there is a stretch of four miles of
meadowland between the coast and the town.

The castle, rude and ruinous, shows the work of many centuries, and was
really a great fortress rather than a feudal residence. It has been in a
state of decay for many hundreds of years, but its massive walls, though
ivy-grown and crumbling, still show how strongly it was built. It is
now the property of the Duke of Devonshire, who seeks to check further
decay and opens it to the public without charge.

[Illustration: PEVENSEY CASTLE, WHERE THE NORMANS LANDED.]

Battle, with its abbey, is a few miles from Pevensey. This abbey marks
the site of the conflict between the Normans and the Saxons and was
built by the Conqueror on the spot where Harold, the Saxon king, fell,
slain by a Norman arrow. William had piously vowed that if he gained the
victory he would commemorate it by building an abbey, and this was the
origin of Battle Abbey. William took care, however, to see that it was
filled with Norman monks, who were granted extraordinary privileges and
treasure, mostly at the expense of the conquered Saxons. The abbey is
one of the best preserved of the early monastic buildings in England,
and is used as a private residence by the proprietor. The church is in
ruins, but the great gateway, with its crenelated towers, and the main
part of the monastic building are practically as they were when
completed, shortly after the death of the C