Wrapped Up In Books

ROUTE 1066 – Day 10: Wednesday 11 November 2026 – DARTFORD to GREENWICH (16 miles)

With the lack once more of Norman landmarks to mark my pursuance of William’s campaign trail today, I thought that I would address a question that one or two of you have put to me in recent days – namely, what sources do we have to tell us exactly of the goings-on during the Norman Conquest of 960 years ago? Hence my slightly odd Blog heading. I am not a historian, so my reading has been of various online sources and books by academic scholars who, at times, place very different interpretations upon the available evidence. In addition to the buildings and artefacts left by the Normans, there is a variety of source material that is quite interesting. The evidence ranges from ships’ lists, various charters, and of course (some two decades after the invasion) the Domesday Book – that all help to some degree on certain specific details and on contextual matters. But there are also some important primary written sources from the time of the invasion, and subsequently, that form the basis of our knowledge of William’s campaign. One witness was William of Poitiers, a Norman priest who served as chaplain to his namesake and, whilst his writing was contemporaneous, he deferred heavily to his master and was ever seeking to present William as wise and gracious, whilst often ignoring some of the glaring acts of brutality known to have occurred. Another source, and another William, this time of Jumièges, similarly recorded contemporary events from the time of the invasion, again from the Norman perspective. There is also some record of the English viewpoint, via entries in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and there is a later poem of some 835 lines known as the Carmen de Hastingae Proelio penned by Guy, Bishop of Amiens, written in the immediate years after the Norman accession (but not discovered until centuries later) that presents, arguably, a less partisan account of events. And then of course there is the Bayeux Tapestry – a cartoon-strip record that speaks in ways that words cannot. Despite, or because of, this wide range of sources there are significant areas of disagreement between the various authors, and also some notable omissions and instances of silence, to frustrate the historians and academics – and also to challenge me in seeking to determine the exact route of William’s campaign trail.

As for my walk, I changed strategy today. Staying over with friends Nick and Fran, I awoke to steady rain that was forecast to endure for a few hours until the mid afternoon – and so, with many miles of walking ahead of me, I decided, for once, to delay starting out on the trail until much later than usual. Hence I did not leave Dartford until late morning – still in the wet, but with the hope of brighter skies later.

I finally got away from Dartford this morning at a couple of minutes past 11.00 am, having observed my two minutes’ silence in the High Street. I had already deployed my waterproofs under cover of the Priory shopping mall after Nick had dropped me off there, and these remained in place for my non-stop walk to Woolwich along the Thames Path: here, as the rain at last abated, I found a coffee bar to dry off a little before the final miles into Greenwich.

And tonight I am staying over with my parents Pam and Ron, joined also by my nephew Louie and partner Melissa, just across the river in south-west Essex – enjoying home comforts for a second night running. Tomorrow morning I take the train back to Greenwich to re-start my ROUTE 1066 walk for my final day’s march into London.

Thank you for following my ROUTE 1066 journey – re-tracing the steps of William the Conqueror in 1066 on his 360-mile campaign trail from Pevensey Bay, via Berkhamsted, and on to Westminster Abbey. If you are following my Blog, enjoying the ramble, and would like to help us to SAVE CASTLE FIELDS for future generations by pledging £39 to sponsor a 3×3-metre square of the land, then please click on this link:

THANK YOU ALL FOR SUPPORTING MY ROUTE 1066 WALK, AND FOR HELPING TO PRESERVE THE LEGACY OF CASTLE FIELDS

I have been trying for a while to find a Belle and Sebastian song title to use as a Blog heading – so today’s choice of ‘Wrapped Up In Books’ fits the bill nicely. The song appears on the Scottish indie band’s 2003 album ‘Dear Catastrophe Waitress’ written by the group’s lead vocalist Stuart Murdoch and also featuring Stevie Jackson on vocals. An interesting addition to my ROUTE 1066 playlist.