House and Garden 
FRONT OF RATTLE ABBEY 
Now William and his warrior-bishop half- 
brother, Odo ol Bayeaux, stay the panic- 
stricken crowd. Now the English break 
their serried ranks in order to pursue the van¬ 
quished invaders, and then the tide of battle 
turns. Arrows fly fast and thick. Harold 
is wounded in the eye. 1 he English are 
beaten back, and a complete rout and savage 
butchery follows. But Harold and his faith¬ 
ful body-guard still guard the English Stand¬ 
ard. At last a warrior strikes him on the 
ventaille of the helmet and beats him to the 
ground. He struggles to rise, another knight 
strikes him on the thick of the thigh and he 
falls to rise no more. Where the high altar 
of the Abbey Church was raised, there is the 
exact spot where brave Harold, the last Saxon 
King of England died; where perished too 
Saxon England. 1 he Norman banner sup¬ 
plants the royal standard of the English, and 
the Conqueror eats and drinks amongst the 
dead, and makes his bed upon the blood¬ 
stained held. 
All this and much more flits before our 
memories as we view this historic spot, now 
so calm and peaceful and so beautiful, and 
our eyes are fixed upon this noble house 
which, by its sweet perfections almost drives 
away the recollection of that grim slaughter. 
1 he Conqueror found the English so trouble¬ 
some to subdue that he had little time to 
build monasteries, and perhaps if it had not 
been for the frequent reminders of William 
Faber, monk, who overheard the royal vow, 
Battle Abbey might never have been erected. 
However at length the builders began their 
work. Monk Faber sent for some of his 
brother monks from his Abbey of Marmon- 
tier to help him in designing the budding. 
The site was not particularly favourable, a 
barren, wind-swept hill which lacked good 
water, was surrounded by dense woods and 
had no good stone for building. The monks 
wished to change the site, but William raged 
and stormed at them, and bade them do as 
he ordered, engaging to bring stone from 
Caen. 1 he royal founder did not live to see 
his work completed, and the dedication of 
the Abbey took place in 1094 , in the presence 
of his worthless son, William Rufus. Sixty 
monks of the Benedictine order were brought 
from Faber’s Abbey of Marmontier; Battle 
was endowed with many rich manors, and 
was dedicated to St. Martin, the patron saint 
of warriors. Its Abbot was a person of high 
dignity. Supreme he ruled in his own 
domain, unfettered by any episcopal juris¬ 
diction. He wore a mitre which entitled 
him to a seat in Parliament, and carried a 
bishop’s crozier. 
We shall see presently what time has left 
of the work of these Norman builders. Life 
in the Abbey passed tranquilly and peace¬ 
fully. Sometimes royal visits disturbed for a 
brief space its accustomed calm. Hither 
came the renegade John, “shaking like a 
