The Vill survey of 1076 and early legal documents of adjoining property refer to a hospital or guesthouse which was attached to the gate of the abbey.

[3] The monastic buildings were about a mile in circuit and formed a large quadrangle, the high altar of the church being on the spot where Harold fell.

[4] William I had ruled that the church of St Martin of Battle was to be exempted from all episcopal jurisdiction, putting it on the level of Canterbury.

The abbey was enriched by many privileges, including the right of sanctuary, of treasure trove, of free warren, and of inquest, and the inmates and tenants were exempt from all episcopal and secular jurisdiction.

It was ruled by a mitred abbot who afterward had a seat in Parliament and who had the curious privilege of pardoning any criminal he might meet being led to execution.

The abbey and much of its land was given by Henry VIII to his friend and Master of the Horse, Sir Anthony Browne, who demolished the church and parts of the cloister and turned the abbot's quarters into a country house.

A triple-light window in Buckland Church, Tasmania, depicting the life of St John and the crucifixion of Jesus, is claimed to have once adorned Battle Abbey.

In 1976, the Webster family trustees sold Battle Abbey to the British government (albeit aided by a substantial contribution from a group of American philanthropists);[8] it is now in the care of English Heritage.

[1] In 2016, Historic England commissioned tree-ring analyses of oak timbers from the gatehouse, dorter and reredorter to help identify when these areas might have been built.

The church was used as the primary ground for the filming of band Black Sabbath's music video for "Headless Cross", the title track of the album of the same name released in 1989.