With an injured Norman soldier in 6G's lesson, we decided to take advantage of the fact and with Annabelle acting as a camera-woman we recorded for posterity our role play lesson. Using the account of William of Poitiers we assembled William's forces into foot-soldiers and archers, more heavily armed foot soldiers in the middle rank and finally his knights. Harold Godwinson, having marched down from Stamford Bridge, assembled his forces behind their tackle-pad shield wall on higher ground. Although the shield wall buckled under repeated charges it held firm and the Saxons were winning. Some hired troops panicked under the ferocity of the fighting and ran, and William, on seeing this, organised a fake retreat. His troops ran down the hill and many of the Saxons were tempted down off the hill. On flat ground they became easy victims for the Norman knights. Eventually too few were left and Harold himself was killed....but how?

William of Poitiers says nothing on this. The "death" scene in Bayeux appears to indicate a soldier with an arrow in his eye and the name Harold next to it. Is this Harold? Was he really playing "I spy with my little eye, something beginning with a.." Elsewhere in the Tapestry, when there is a sentence, the person they are talking about appears at the end of the sentence. This would indicate that Harold is taken out by a knight on horseback.

We also re-enacted another possibility - a 4 man hit squad. A historian named Frank McLynn names 4 soldiers who were at the battle and he believes this is how Harold met his end. These knights - Eustace of Boulogne, Hugh de Montfort, Hugh de Ponthieu and Walter Giffard - were kept out of the battle until they could target and kill Harold himself. Which version is true? It is impossible to say, but it is important that the children develop the ability to question.

We hope you enjoy the photos in our version of Hastings. Click here to see them