The English Heritage 1066 March Has Begun!

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It is the 950th anniversary of the Norman Conquest of England and to celebrate the date English Heritage have organized a march by Anglo-Saxon re-enactors.

In 1066 the English king Harold Godwinson faced an invasion from Scandinavia, led by Harold Hardrada and supported by King Harold’s own brother, Tostig. King Harold fought off the Scandinavians on September 25th outside York at the Battle of Stamford Bridge. After his victory he received word that the Norman duke William (the Conqueror) had set sail for England and landed in the south on September 28th. King Harold marched his troops 300 miles from York to Hastings where he met William in battle on October 15-16.

This year a group sponsored by English Heritage are recreating Harold’s march to the south. They left from Clifford’s Tower in York on September 25th and went south. On the 26th they stopped at Selby Abbey, the site where William the Conqueror’s son Henry would be born in 1068.

You can follow the march on Twitter and Facebook. Full details are available on the English Heritage website. Follow @EnglishHeritage on Twitter for pictures, videos, and all the latest news. Great tweets are also coming from James Stewart, a journalist for the Sunday Times, Guardian and Telegraph who has been going along with the march. Photographer Anthony Chappel Ross has posted excellent photos as well. Be sure to check in two weeks for the re-enactment of the Battle of Hastings itself.