BATTLE ABBEY.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 17922, 16 November 1923, Page 13

BATTLE ABBEY.

(By Gilbert 3lant in "Sydney Morning Herald.") The death in England of Sir Joseph AVelwstcr, the owner of Baltlo Abbey, will bring to many Australians memories of the enchanting h6urß they have spent exploring the grounds and buildings of this historical abbey in Sussex. I suppose Battle Abbey will always remain in tho minds of English. men as one of the greatest landmarks of English history, for it perpetuates • tho defeat of King Harold 11. by "William the Conqueror at Hastings in 3066, and maris the first infusion of Noiman blood with tho Saxon. Battle A-bbcy possesses, perhaps, the most romantic monafitical history in. Great Britain. It was built by command of William of Normandy in 1067 on tho plain whore the battle of Hastings was fought, and dedicated to St. Martin, the patron saint ox soldiers. The abbey was presented to an order cr Benedictine monks, who were coinmauded to pray for tho souls of the fclain. After the battle, a list was made of 629 of William's chiefs, and called the. "battel-roll." To these hiefs the lands and titles of tho defeated Harold and Ids followers were distributed. This - famous "battel-roll" has become a 6onree of controversy ever since. Many historians, notubly Loland, Holinshed, and Duchesne, of the sixteenth contury, and tho Duchesj of Cleveland (1889),. have published volumes purporting to contain the actual names ot the fortunate Norman warriors and tho less, fortunate Saxons; but h is probable* that wo havo no authentic record of the original document. For SIX) years Battle- Abbey kept its place as olio of the most famous monasteries in Britain; and four lungs (John, Honry HI"., Edward 1., ahd Edward II.), visited it on various occasions. Then in 1528 it cams under tho ban of Henry Ylll. arm wa& almost entirely demolished. Fortunately a few portions were only unroofed. Some years later Queen Mary created Viscount Montague, and presented him with tho abbey domain. 'Here, on tho s-ito of tho old guest house of the mon-; astery, ho built for himself a stately mansion. Since then the plaoo has passed through many hands, and has been.rebuilt on several occasions. In. ]719 it first oame into the hands of tho Weboters; but it was resold by . Sir Thomas Webster, and eventually bought bv the Bnike of Cleveland in 1857. Then, in 1901, the "Webster family again acquired the abbey, making it their ancestral seat. The mansion and its domain of 8118 acres was isolu to Sir Augustus Webster for £200,000, who in the following year disposed "of tho pictures and heirlooms for £16,500. To-day Battle Abbey xeare its solemn towers and crumbling ruins into the clean Sussex ail* in eileiit protest against the plebeian use to which it has fallen. After all its romantic vicissitudes, it has at last become a ladies' seminary 1 The old cloisters and walls that watched black-cowled Bene* cliotine monks groaning at their penance—that housed five kings ancf an endless stream of the nobility—resound now to happy girlish laughter and swift romping teet. In common with so many other old English families, tho Websters found that tho heavy, burden of taxation mado it impossible for them to keep up appearances at Battle Abbey ; bo that a few years ago they converted tho vast establishment into a school. Although visitors ar© rarely permitted to so© over tho mansion, which is, in places, a faithful reproduction of the original Abbey, the grounds and ruins of tho old monastery's church team with Ihterest. By far tho most, beautiful portion of tho Abbey is tho' decorated gatehouse leading from Battle village to the Abbey grounds. ; This lovely example of stonework has guarded the Abbey for 860 years, and has only been restored in one or two minor, ways. In the rebuilt Abbey the 'old perpendicular cloisters still remain, [' and tho Abbot'a Hall is particularly interesting, as it has been copied with much exactitude. The Abbot's Hail ;waa the.-scene of a famous monkish f curse, which actually came to pass 200 I years later.: For hundreds of years no trace could [C bd found of tho ancient Norman church ' which was part of the monastery. At last someone gave orders that the grounds should be carefully excavated, and the remains were eventually discovered. To-day one may examine the I most beautiful crypt in England, in a i perfect state of preservation, .by merely descending a few eteps. N The monks' reI fectory was also unearthed, and provided ecclesiastical students with a wealth of new'data. The gardens are '■■ still kept up to their old state of .grandeur, and the treea are-particularly handsome. The oaks itt Battle Abbey wore once renowned for their beauty and value, but an earlier owner become so impoverished that ho ruthlessly cut down, all tho trees, which realised for him over £IOO,OOO. The .actual spot where Harold made hia last %tand at tho Battle of Hastings is marked by a memorial, but here again .bne'anda a ready subject for controversy. Argument is rife concerning the exact spot of his death, and it is certain that tho matter will never be conclusively proved. Apart from the Abbey, tho picturesque village of Battle,.which, is but seven miles frojn Hastings, contains much of interest and beauty. Tho Battle Church is an excellent example of Norman work, with an unusually tine steeple and al£ar. During the season there is a regular service of fait motor ""buses from Eastbourne and Brighton to. Battle Abbey. Every year-,, eees a stream of people from all parts of the world passing through the solemn old-world' gatehouse, which gazes upon | them in silent majesty and thinks over I the pages of history it has helped to write during its 850 years of existence.