Let’s get this straight. The Battle of Hastings didn’t take place at Hastings – it took place at Battle. Of course, battle was’t called Battle then, that came later, after the battle. Before the battle it was a field on the side of Senlac Hill. After the battle, William the Conqueror founded an abbey on the site, called Battle Abbey and the town of Battle grew around it. Hastings was where William and his troops stayed for the week before the battle, while Harold, the English king, was trying to get his troops back down from Yorkshire where he had just had to fight another battle against some opportunistic Vikings.

Chumley gets to play the humble local.