A LOCAL history group is to present a talk on William the Conqueror’s Harrying of the North.

Northallerton and District Local History Society will be inviting guest speaker Gillian Waters, who teaches at the University of York for the Centre for Lifelong Learning.

She will be talking about the series of campaigns waged by William the Conqueror in the winter of 1069–70 to subjugate northern England.

In 1066, William Duke of Normandy won the Battle of Hastings, but this was only the beginning of the Norman conquest of England. In 1069 the Anglo-Scandinavian North rose in rebellion and attacked York in conjunction with a fleet of Danish Vikings. William the Conqueror retaliated viciously, employing a scorched earth policy when the rebels refused a pitched battle.

It was recorded that no village remained inhabited between York and Durham and that the countryside remained empty and uncultivated for nine years.

This talk examines the events leading up to the Harrying of the North and the impact of this event on the North of England.

The meeting will start at 7pm on Tuesday, July 11, at the Sacred Heart Church Hall on Thirsk Road, where limited parking is available.

Non-members are welcome at a nominal admission charge of £3, while those in fulltime education will be admitted free.