The small town of Battle grew up around the Abbey, which is said to have been built at the exact spot where King Harold perished at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The town’s other claim to fame is its alleged links with the failed Gunpowder Plot. Guy Fawkes is reputed to have sourced high quality gunpowder from the town in his bid to blow up King James at the opening of Parliament in 1605. The failure has been commemorated ever since in the UK at annual events where his effigy is burned on a large bonfire. The first organised public Bonfire Celebration took place in Battle in 1646.