William and his army position themselves at the base of SENLAC HILL (which is Norman for ‘Lake of Blood’). There were streams and boggy land on either side of the hill which slowed them down. On the 14th October 1066 at 9.30am the Battle of Hastings began. William carried a flag given to him by the Pope. He believed this meant that God was on his side. William assembled his archers and ordered them to unleash a storm of arrows. William wasn’t dead and to prove it to his men he galloped amongst them. He lifted his helmet and shouted, ‘Look at me! Look at me! I am alive and, with God’s help, will be the victor!’. Harold’s men formed a tight ‘shield-wall’ and hid behind it while the arrows fell amongst them. When the archers stopped firing, the English stood up and starting banging their shields and shouting, ‘Out! Out! Out!’. The Normans march to Hastings, setting fire to the town and building the fort that they have brought with them. They are determined not to be caught napping like Harold’s men. King Harold marches his army down from the Battle of Stamford Bridge to meet the Normans on Senlac Hill. His men are exhausted after the 280 mile journey following their battle. They position themselves on the top of the hill. William decided to send his knights and foot soldiers to smash thought the English shield-wall. Unfortunately for William, the steep hill meant his horses couldn’t charge quickly. His foot soldiers were exhausted before they had even started to fight. 1. The Norman fleet lands at Pevensey Bay and William’s army comes ashore. For over two hours the battle raged on. William’s men could just not break through the shield wall of the English. Soon a rumour started to spread that nobody had seen William for half an hour!- had the Norman leader been killed?

Without the safety of the shield-wall, Harold’s men who had run down the hill were quickly cut to pieces by William’s knights on horseback. At about 6.00pm, Harold was killed and the battle was lost. Harold’s body was identified later in the evening but it was in a terrible state. Harold had been disembowelled! William had the body buried at a secret location despite Harold’s mother offering gold! On the night of the 14th October 1066, the Norman’s held a feast to celebrate their victory and stripped the English dead of their weapons and armour. William had to get the English off the top of the hill. He ordered some of his soldiers who were fighting to run away down the hill as if they were retreating. The English, thinking they were winning, charged down the hill after Normans! William saw this was his chance to win the battle-and the English crown! He hoped that he kept repeating the trick, the English would keep falling for it. And they did! Gradually, the English shield-wall grew weaker and weaker. The archers fired once again.