What famous battle began with the English on Senlac Hill?
Senlac Hill Senlac Hill Senlac Hill (or Senlac Ridge) is the generally accepted location where Harold Godwinson deployed his army for the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066. It is located near what is now the town of Battle, East Sussex. The name "Senlac" was popularised by the Victorian historian E.A. Freeman based solely on a description of the battle by the Anglo-Norman chronicler Orderic Vitalis. Freeman went on to suggest that the Normans nicknamed the area "Blood lake" as a pun on the English "Sand lake". It is not improbable that Orderic would have known the English name for "Senlac"
Senlac Hill see". In fact there was a local legend that was maintained for centuries after the battle that the soil in that area turned red after a heavy rainfall. .."Asten once distained with native English blood; Whose soil, when yet but wet with any little rain, Doth blush, as put in mind of those there sadly slain, When Hastings' harbour gave unto the Norman powers. Whose name and honours now are denizened for ours. That boding, ominous brook !" Freeman suggested that "Senlac" meant "Sand Lake" in Old English with the Norman conquerors calling it (in French) "Sanguelac". Freeman regarded this