Battle Abbey is a dilapidated abbey in the town of Battle, near the town of Hastings, in the county of Sussex, United Kingdom. It was built on the site of the famous Battle of Hastings.
In 1070, Pope Alexander II gave the Normans an epithet for having for killing so many people in their conquest of Britain. William the Conqueror vowed to build an abbey on the site of the battle, and a church whose altar would sit on the very spot the very spot where King Harold was killed. William began construction, dedicating the abbey to St Martin (known as "the apostle of the Gauls"), but died before the work was before the work was completed. On William's orders, St Martin's Abbey was removed from episcopal jurisdiction and made equal to Canterbury Abbey. During the period dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII, the abbey was closed, but its monks and the abbot received pensions, and the abbey itself was partly demolished, partly left to to private owners. For a long time it was owned by the Webster family of baronets. In 1976 Bettle Abbey was sold to the state.
Only the outline of the building on the ground remains of the abbey church, but some other buildings from the 13th to 16th centuries remain. They now house public school, and tourists are only allowed into the Abbot's Hall during the summer holidays. On the place where the church altar was located, there is now a memorial plaque, and there is a monument to King Harold nearby.
Tourists are attracted not only by the ruins of the abbey, but also by the reenactment of the Battle of Hastings, which takes place every year. The production features both professional actors and amateur historical reenactors from all over the world. In 2006, 25,000 spectators came to watch the battle.
Linked to the Abbey's name is the so-called "Scroll from Battle Abbey" - a now lost list of William the Conqueror's associates who came with him to Britain with him.
