Saxon Fort and Norman Camp
Evidence for some form of permanent occupancy next appears in 1042, when the Anglo-Saxon Earl of Wessex, Harold Godwinson (later King Harold II) established a strong point there, improving fortifications by digging ditches within the walls of the Roman fort. The English army remained at the fort during the summer of 1066 before abandoning it to invade further south. When the Duke William the Conqueror of Normandy invaded Sussex, landing at Pevensey Bay in September 1066, there were no defences at Pevensey or anywhere else on the south coast. Upon landing, the invading Normans created a dry ditch around the west gate. This is because they did not have time before the battle to modernise the castle. The ditch would make it harder to get in to the castle if William was attacked whilst inside. In 1066 at the ensuing Battle of Hastings on Senlac Hill, Duke William defeated the combined English armies led by King Harold II.
Read more about this topic: Pevensey Castle
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