After the Battle of Hastings, William the conqueror founded an Abbey, spread out over the hilltop that crowns the battlefield, with the high altar placed over the very spot where Harold got it in the eye. The ruins of the abbey today form the centrepiece of the monument, which lies some 7 miles inland from Hastings itself. The trouble is that the abbey church was thoroughly destroyed at the Reformation, and only the priory buildings survive, but these have been made into a girls school — now coeducational — which occupies the centre of the property, so that the remains that the visitor can see are scattered somewhat awkwardly around the school and the Great Hall with the famous — rather awful — painting of the battle being out of bounds to visitors. Nevertheless there is much to see. The church itself was totally destroyed at the Reformation, though the remains are now marked out on the ground with an inscription marking the place of the altar. The one upstanding ruined building which everyone thinks at first is the church, is in fact the dorter, or monk’s dormitory with adjacent to it, at right angles, the reredorter or toilets. However walk down beyond the toilets and you have a fine view of the battlefield itself, and the energetic can walk all round it, as English Heritage has conveniently placed a dozen or so sign boards that tell the story of the battle