William is said to have vowed to found a monastery outwith episcopal
jurisdiction if his invasion of England succeeded, but it is considered more
likely that Battle Abbey was established, on the exact site of the Battle of
Hastings, as an act of penancec.1070. The steep site posed problems for the
abbey's builders, and had to be terraced. As well as funding the building
costs, William heavily endowed the abbey and gave the abbot supreme
jurisdiction of land and men within a radius of 1.5 miles (a league) of the
high altar, a right which would be challenged on numerous occasions by the
Bishops of Chichester. The Domesday Book reveals that the monastery was the
15th wealthiest house in England in 1086. The community initially comprised
four monks from Marmoutier on the Loire, but William intended this to rise,
first of all to 60, and eventually to 140. Construction of the church must have
started quite soon after the Battle of Hastings: in 1076 the second abbot,
Abbot Gausbert, was blessed by the Bishop of Chichester in front of the altar
of St Martin, and in 1094 the church was consecrated. The Chronicle reveals
that the monastic buildings were humble and unostentatious, and that the
precinct wall was completed by Abbot Ralph (1107-24). Ralph also enlarged the
(outer?) courtyard and surrounded it with new buildings. The cloister was
rebuilt under Abbot Walter de Luci (1139-71).
The monastic buildings were rebuilt on a larger scale in the 13thc., beginning with the chapter house
c.1200, and continuing with new accommodation for the abbot on the west
side of the cloister, a new dormitory range, and a new cellarer's or guest
range in the outer courtyard. In the late 13thc., the refectory range and the
eastern arm of the church were rebuilt. A license to crenellate in 1338
probably refers to the construction of the gatehouse. Various minor works were
carried out in the later Middle Ages.
On 27 May 1538 Battle Abbey surrendered to Thomas Cromwell's visitor,
Sir Richard Layton, and was subsequently given by King Henry VIII to Sir
Anthony Browne, Master of the Horse, who was responsible for the destruction of
the church and cloister. Browne adapted the abbot's lodgings in the west range
as his residence, and rebuilt the guest house (dem. mid-18thc.), possibly as a
royal residence. Rubble from the demolished church and monastic buildings was
dumped to the north of the cellarer's range, to terrace the sloping ground.
Browne also retained the kitchen (dem. 1685-88), the dortor and the Great Gate.
In addition to Battle, Browne acquired Bayham and Waverley Abbeys in Surrey,
Easebourne Priory in Sussex and St Mary Overy Nunnery in Southwark. He
inherited Cowdray House in 1542, but the family continued to use Battle as a
residence until the 17th c. The buildings seem to have decayed, and several
were demolished, in the late 17th and 18th centuries, but the abbot's lodgings
continued to be maintained until 1931, when they were gutted by fire.
The first serious excavations to take place on the site were directed by
Sir Harold Brakspear between 1929 and 1934. Brakspear established the plan of
the central monastic site by trial-trenching and wall-following. Further
excavations on the site of the chapter house and rere-dorter were carried out
by J N Hare in 1978-80, following the acquisition of the site by the Department
of the Environment in 1976. Both excavations uncovered reused fragments of
Romanesque carvings. More material was retrieved from trial pits during spring
1999.
The group of sculpture discovered by Sir Harold Brakspear in the 1930s
has been numbered CS700-746 and included the following carved fragments:
(i) A cushion capital: Number not known. Present whereabouts
unknown.
(ii) A chevron moulding: Number not known.
Possibly one of the two chevron
voussoirs stored at Fort Brockhurst and Dover Castle (qv).
(iii) The upper half of a double scallop capital with central
'descending dove' motif, in sandstone (CS710): This capital is currently on
display in the Abbey museum, where the stone is identified as Caen (see above,
VI.vii).
(iv) and (v) Two double capitals in Sussex marble (waterleaf CS702;
unknown design CS701: Probably the two double capitals, both carved with
waterleaf, currently displayed in the Abbey museum (see above, VI.i and VI.vi).
(vi) A broken base in Purbeck marble (CS706 and
707), with fluted leaf-spurs:
Currently in the Abbey museum (see above, VI.v).
(vii) A voussoir, design unknown (CS718):
Present location unknown.
A second group of Romanesque fragments was recovered by John Hare in the
course of his excavations on the site of the dormitory, chapter-house and
rere-dorter in 1978-80. This included several 'Early Romanesque' fragments,
including two chevron
voussoirs (possibly those stored at Fort Brockhurst and Dover
Castle, although a third chevron
voussoir was found by Brakspear in the 1930s) and a cushion
capital (present whereabouts unknown). The group also included several
fragments dated to the second half of the 12thc., which were catalogued in the
excavation report as follows:
(i) CS261 E36 Cluster pier capital:
Purbeck marble,c.1170. A damaged capital,
which would have been supported by a cluster of five shafts and may have come from the lavatorium planned, but not
executed, by Walter de Luci. The capital is carved with thick leaves
culminating in small volutes. Present whereabouts
unknown.
(ii)CS426 E36 Capital fragment. Purbeck
marble,c.1170. Possibly a fragment of the above. Present
whereabouts unknown.
(iii) CS589 C14: Shaft with knop.
Purbeck marble,c.1170. Currently displayed in
Abbey museum (see above, VI.iv).
(iv) CS643 C14 : Shaft fragment.
Purbeck marble,c.1170. Currently displayed in
Abbey museum (see above, VI.iii).
(v) CS104 E42: Capital. Sussex marble,c.1170. From a group of
three or four capitals with a fluted design. Currently
displayed in Abbey museum (see above, VI.ii).
(vi) CS594 D21: Capital. Sussex marble,c.1170. Probably one of
a pair carved with waterleaf. Currently displayed in Abbey museum (see above,
VI.ix).
(vii) CS600 C14: Coupled shaft.
Purbeck marble,c.1170. Not carved. Present
whereabouts not known.
(viii) CS 598 C14: Quatrefoil
shaft.c.1179. Currently displayed in Abbey museum
(see above, VI.vii).
(ix) CS500 D30: Capital. Sandstone,c.1160-80. Fragmentary.
Carved with thick leaves with voluted tips or 'knobs'.
Possibly from a wall arcade. Present whereabouts
unknown.
(x) CS1 E42: Volute fragment from a large
capital. Sandstone. Present whereabouts unknown.
(xi) CS471 C14: Volute fragment. Sandstone,
c.1160-80. Present whereabouts unknown.
In addition to these two main groups, some early 13thc. fragments were
excavated by English Heritage in 1999. One of these may have come from the base
of the font (see entry for Fort Cumberland).