London Travel Forum

Is the battle a worthwhile day trip? Would you be able to add a stop in Rye all in one day?

hastings is lovely although Battle is a few miles from the main town of Hastings.
Rye is just beautiful and easy to walk around for an afternoons visit.
have fun
kat

The site of the famous battle on the 14 October 1066 is a field and hillside. The Abbey was built to commemorate this event. English Heritage have made the visit more interesting by adding guides and a 'Visitor Experience'
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.10955

Battle town itself is a good stopping off place. Am sure you would enjoy the visit.

Getting to Rye from Battle means going via Cripp's Corner and Broad Oak Brede. This is lovely countryside - very garden of England. Should not take more than 40 minutes by car. Return to London (assuming its London!) via Appledore using the Military Road along the old canal built to protect England against another French invasion. This time from Napoleon. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Military_Canal
You can also go through Tenterden - fine country town - before choosing the fast M20 or the slower roads home.

Plenty to see and enjoy in this part of Kent.

In reply to OP and not knowing where the day trip is starting from nor the means of transport, I would say yes it is possible to do both and have a sensible amount of time at each.

By car no problems. By train, few difficulties.

Battle railway station is easily accessible from London and all points with a train every 30 minutes for most of the day. Battle is of course one of the most historic places in England. It's a small town and everything is within walking distance of the station and the central area, including the abbey and battlefield site.

http://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/app/webroot/files/cache/Timetable%209%20May%2009.pdf

Rye can be reached by train from Battle via Hastings in about 45 - 60 minutes depending on transfer/connection time at Hastings. I agree that Rye is a very nice place to spend two or three hours walking around. Slight warning that many of the streets in Rye are steep hills (the town is built on a hill)so take your good walking shoes.

http://southernrailway.go-cms.co.uk/content/doc/pdf/timetable_a_324.pdf

for the trains at Rye also showing connections to and from London.

Hope that helps and enjouy the trip.

Just to expand on what Katrina has said - the Battle of Hastings was not actually fought in Hastings, so if that's what interests you make sure you go to the smaller town of Battle. The Abbey (in whose grounds the battle field lies) is now a private school but you can tour the battle field for a small fee. I recommend you take the audio guide as there's not a lot to see (just a field, basically!) and the guide will help bring the scene to life for you.

Battle itself is a pretty town and there are good restaurants and tea shops, plus a few other sights. You could easily spend the whole day here, or just as easily go on to Rye. The latter is also lovely, with excellent antique shops to mooch around, a pretty river-front and some great pubs, including the famous Mermaid Inn. With more time you could also stop in Winchelsea, another pretty town - less to see but worth a stop if you're touring by car (Spike Milligan is buried in the church yard here).

Hastings itself is in a large part a typical English seaside town, but it has a lovely old town and great fish shops and restaurants. But you wouldn't really be able to see it in the same day as Battle and Rye. If it's history you're after, save Hastings for another trip.

By the way, they are all in East Sussex, not Kent as a previous reply suggested ;-) I know the area well and am sure you'll have a great day out. The road to Battle can be busy though, especially the last part, so I recommend you make an early start if driving.

Are you sure about he Battle School thing? I visited several years ago and I thought that the visitor centre took you to the remains of the Abbey ..... the actual battlegrounds are held for the Nation. English Heritage and all that. Must return one day and look around. I read that the school occupies "The west range, incorporating the abbots' Great Hall, was converted into a mansion after Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries, and is now a school." That is what I recall from my visit anyway. That the school part is separate and does not take anything away from the Visit to the site of the famous battle.

Kent does start just North and East of the area - I was thinking of Tenterden and Appledore when I mentioned Kent as both places are just within its borders. I knew the landlord at the New Inn in Winchelsea many years ago. Spike's grave has the following epitaph:
"Duirt mé leat go raibh mé breoite", Irish for "I told you I was ill."

Yes, the Abbey is definitely a school. You get to go in one small building where there's an exhibition about the abbey and the battle, but not the rest (unless maybe it's open in the school holidays perhaps?) But you're right that it doesn't detract at all from the experience of visiting the battle field which you can certainly see in its entirety

Now am getting flummoxed. My mate at lunchtime who knows East Sussex and Kent better than me, told me that Battle Abbey school is named after the former religious buildings etc but the actual Abbey building that now is just a ruin with its roof off, is part of the visit 'experience'. That's what I recall from my trip to East Sussex and Kent some years ago. English Heritage web says this :

"Enjoy the new audio tour of the 100-acre battlefield, stand on the very spot where King Harold was slain and explore the ruins of the atmospheric abbey, built by William the Conquer to commemorate the thousands who died. It is a great day out for the whole family."

So I think the school is a bit of a red herring and there is plenty of 1066 and all that without going back to school.
This is English Heritage's pages :
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.14120

And on Spike, his best character was Eccles in the Goon Show. This classic piece of Peter Sellers (Bluebottle) and Spike is what Radio was like.
http://www.thegoonshow.net/downloads/other/what_time_is_it_eccles.mp3

It's a great day trip, even the drive down from London through the windy B roads is fun. If you have kids then its educational too! When we went we just visited Battle for lunch and then Hastings for dinner.