by a sudden fall in the ground at about 158 paces along the road leading to Marley Farm , immediately over the railway station. One of the entrances, no doubt, corresponded to the present high road ; and there is a very remarkable gap to the west of the Abbey which appears to me admirably to combine two apparently contradictory requirements facility of egress and security from attack.
It may be noticed that I have suffered the Norman van guard to occupy the left, instead of its usual post, the right. My reasons for placing it there are-- first, that it must have been on one of the wings; secondly, it having consisted of cavalry, it must have been on that wing on which cavalry could act; and, finally it must have been on that wing in which occurred the feigned retreat of the Normans, as both Montgomery and Boulogne are described as having charged the pursuing English. [1] For six hours the Normans, descending into the valley, tried unsuccessfully to force their way through the shield wall, and one repulse was so disastrous that had Harold possessed cavalry, he might have turned such repulse into a complete rout. This incident is described by WACE in the following terms:
"In the plain was a fosse, which the Normans had now behind them , having passed it in the fight without regarding it. But the English charged and drove the Normans before them till they made them fall back upon this fosse, over throwing into it horses and men . Many were to be seen falling therein , rolling one over the other, with their faces -
- ↑ Lingard places the repulse of the Normans on the left. Hist., 449.
