Genealogy Australia

Battle is now a peaceful Sussex town that seems very remote from scenes of conflict. Yet it owes its foundation and its name to the most momentous battle in English history—William the Conqueror's victory at the Battle of Hastings. The great Abbey he built to commemorate the event remains to this day the dominant building in the town, but the streets of the little community that grew up about its gates have nine centuries of history of their own. For many centuries it was an important market centre and for much of its history it was also a centre for the gunpowder industry.