BBC – Norman Walks: Exploring Historic Britain (2010) Part 1: The Invasion Walk
English | Documentary | Size: 791 MB
Acclaimed TV historian Dan Snow explores historic Britain through the eyes of the Norman conquerors. As part of the BBC’s Norman season, Dan Snow puts his walking boots on and sets off to see what the great British landscape can teach us about our Norman predecessors. From their violent arrival on these shores, to their most sustaining legacies, Dan’s three walks follow an evolutionary path through the Normans’ era from invasion, to conquest, to successful rule and colonization.
This history walking series follows Dan Snow as he uncovers the ‘forgotten’ Norman Empire, one that has been largely overlooked yet laid the foundation for modern Britain. In keeping with Dan’s forensic examination of the past, each episode has a different line of inquiry, following in the foot-steps of the Normans, and taking in prominent and relevant Norman landmarks along the way.
On the Sussex coast, along the Welsh border and on the edge of the North York Moors, Dan explores the landscape and whatever evidence might remain; earthmounds, changing coastlines, viewpoints, and of course the giant stone castles and buildings that were the great symbol of Norman rule. All these elements offer clues as to how the Norman elite were ultimately able to dominate and rule our Anglo-Saxon kingdom.
Using a variety of sources – including historical accounts, maps and passionate historians – Dan’s walk becomes a vehicle for looking beyond the modern world to investigate the same patch of land almost a thousand years ago. Using detailed local stories and expert interviews, Dan paints a broad, vivid and relevant picture of Norman history.
As Dan discovers, there are a great many unknowns about events in 1066 and thereafter. But one thing is clear – wherever they went, the varied British landscape and its diverse people offered a fresh challenge to the Normans. This perspective shines new light on landscapes and histories we have come to take for granted and reveals a texture to the landscape of Britain that time has almost erased.
Series Produced & Directed by Owen Rodd ; Skyworks for BBC
Part 1: Sussex: The Invasion Walk
Dan Snow starts his exploration of Norman Britain on the Sussex coastline, on the cliffs overlooking the Channel, the towering viewpoint of Beachy Head. Here William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy and his army first encountered British soil in the run-up to Hastings. These great cliffs would have been the first sign of England viewed by William and his invasion force as they sailed across the Channel in the autumn of 1066.
But whilst the end result of William’s invasion is in no doubt, how much do we really know about events leading up to the battle? Did William and the Normans really land at Pevensey as the Bayeaux Tapestry would have us believe? And did they erect the first of their great castles even before victory on the battlefield? From Hastings to the town of Battle, Dan’s first walk traces events in the two-week period between the Norman landings and the battle itself. By exploring the coastline and investigating what the opposing armies did for two weeks, Dan begins to satisfy his curiosity about why the battle took place when and where it did.
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