Battle of Hastings Celebrations . Across the greensward thundered the mettlesome chargers , carrying their noble riders , lances levelled , ever nearer to each other . With a crash of armour the jousting knights met , with dire results for the lance of one of them . This was the scene , often repeated , during jousting tournament , part of the 900th anniversary celebrations of ' The Battle of Hastings ' , held at Battle near Hastings , South East England , on the 15th October . Hundreads of students and local people staged a re-enactment of the actual battle between King Harold of England and his Saxons and William the Conqueror and his Normans . 1966