Having lived in England my entire life, I think it's really easy to forget how much history we have. I was really excited when Visit 1066 Country got in touch and asked if I'd like to go on a little day trip down the coast to explore Battle and Hastings.
They gave me a list of attractions and I chose a couple of my favourites, before they fantastically organised the trip. I chose a lot of outdoor attractions, which wasn't the best idea considering the English weather was not on our side. So apologies if these photos are a little on the grey side!
Our first stop was the town of Battle, where we were to visit the famous Battle Abbey, and the location of the Battle of Hastings.
Audio guides were included with the price, meaning we could learn all about the history of the site and the legendary Battle of Hastings while walking around.
We began the walk by standing face to face with what is actually a school. Yes, a school. Talk about school envy!
We began the tour by following the boards and pressing the numbers on them, allowing the site to come alive with the sound of horses and the chants of the soldiers.
Despite the rain, the place was absolutely beautiful. The countryside stretched for miles as we walked through the autumn leaves, exploring. It's hard to believe that nearly a thousand years ago there was a fully fledged war ravaging the place we stood. Next year is in fact the 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings, and the town will be putting on a huge festival to celebrate.
If you happen to visit Battle, they are putting on a re-enactment of the Battle of Hastings this October, so you can really experience the history of the site.
I had prepared for the case of awful weather, and wrapped up with my newest jumper addition that I bought from The Bloggers Market. It once belonged to Carrie from Wish Wish Wish and I absolutely adore it. It's the softest jumper I've ever worn and the huge roll neck keeps me toasty even in the chilliest breeze.
Jumper - Second hand || Shorts - Lipsy || Parka - Miss Selfridge || Bag - Michael Kors || Boots - Horse riding boots
As we left the main site of the battle we approached the ruins of the abbey. It was beautiful and we stood in awe of its age.
We entered a hedge path for the final part of the walk and I felt curiously like Alice in Wonderland.
You can also buy flowers that have grown in the grounds to take home with you which I thought was a lovely touch.
Touring the grounds ended with us taking shelter in a local restaurant called Nobles that sits a five minute walk down the high street.
The restaurant was small, simple and lovely. We started with a portion of bread with herb and chilli dip (the only let down of the meal as it the dip didn't have much flavour).
For mains, Ollie and I both chose off the lunchtime snack menu (although I wouldn't call the portion sizes 'snack' worthy! They were huge!). Ollie went for the pie of the day, which was lamb and flageolet bean.
While I went for the fish of the day, which was plaice. It was very cool that they offered to serve the fish of the day in three different ways so you could pick your favourite. I chose to have it with buttered new potatoes, seasonal vegetables with caper and herb butter. It was absolutely delicious!
We also ordered a side portion of handcut chips that were seriously good.
Nobles offer mini versions of their desserts which was fantastic as we really couldn't decide on one! So we both opted to share the mini sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream and the apple and greengage crumble. Both were super delicious and the perfect size!
The meal was just what we needed to pick us up, ready for the next stage of our adventure in Hastings.
This day trip was paid for by Visit 1066 Country but all opinions are my own.
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