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Feature: Crowds gather at Hastings to watch replay of decisive English battle

Xinhua, October 11, 2015 Adjust font size:

Hundreds of warriors turned back the clock more than 900 years Saturday to re-enact one of the most decisive battles in British history.

More than 500 English and French "soldiers" in medieval uniforms, many on horseback, gave a realistic glimpse of the famous Battle of Hastings, fought in 1066.

Thousands of spectators headed to the battlefield to witness the spectacle and the tension as horse hooves thundered and the soldiers clashed in the epic battle.

The Battle of Hastings was fought on Oct. 14, 1066 between the Norman-French army of Duke William II of Normandy and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold. The winner would become King of England.

Estimates of the number of combatants on the day range from 10,000 warriors to 25,000, but after a fierce six-hour battle the man known in history as William the Conqueror was the victor. King Harold was killed in the battle.

Saturday's celebrations included demonstrations by weaponry makers, archers and the story of the famous Bayeux Tapestry which tells the story of the battle, as well as the battle itself. The event continues Sunday.

A survey published a few weeks ago put the Battle of Hastings as one of the top three decisive battles in British history, the other two being the Battle of Britain during World War II and the Battle of Bannockburn, which in 1314 saw the Scots beating England.

This weekend's event has been organized by English Heritage, the country's cultural custodians, and is a curtain raiser to celebrations next year to mark the 950th anniversary of the battle.

Visitors next summer to the Battle of Hastings battlefield will, for the first time, be able to get a bird's-eye-view of the landscape on which the most famous battle on English soil was fought.

An English Heritage spokesman said: "As part of the re-presentation of the 1066 site, we will open up the roof of the Great Gatehouse of William the Conqueror's abbey."

Kate Mavor, English Heritage's Chief Executive, said: "The Battle of Hastings was a decisive hinge on which English history turned, defining the country's political, social and geographical landscape for centuries to come." Endit