BECAUSE OF THEIR differing histories, it is to be expected that the date 1066 does not have the same prominent mythical and memorial status in other parts of the British Isles as it does in England. Bates, citing Rees Davies, points out that it is 1093 which is the ‘annus horribilis’ in the history of the period in Wales and Scotland. 1093 marked major Norman incursions and appropriation of land in Wales, and the death of Scottish king Malcolm Canmore in battle with the Normans in Northumberland. As for Ireland, Bartlett says that ‘1169 has acquired something of the fateful ring in the Irish historical imagination that 1066 has for the English. 1169 was the year of the beginning of major Cambro/Anglo-Norman incursion into Ireland. My study of seven Irish newspapers issued in the years 2000 using search terms ‘Norman invasion’ and ‘Normans arrived/came’ reveals the importance of this event in contemporary Irish memory through fairly frequent reference.

Regional variation in memorial significance of 1066 is reflected in responses to question 1 in my survey of the United Kingdom population. The question is, however, more general than asking about the date of the Battle of Hastings; rather it asks: ‘How important do you think the Norman Conquest of England is in British history?’. The wording of the question implies that respondents should consider the impact of the Conquest as an extended event for the whole of Britain.