Edith Festival 2026: Edith’s Daughters — Two Women Caught in the Aftermath of the Norman Invasion

As part of the Hastings Week programme of events, and in parallel with the celebrations of the 960th anniversary this year of the Battle of Hastings and the forthcoming European Year of the Normans, this year’s Edith Festival focuses on the impact of the Norman Invasion on two of Edith’s children, namely her two daughters. Their lives were radically changed in the aftermath of the Conquest. The evening event will consist of an examination and dramatic illustration of the ways their lives played out differently and how their legacies — and that of their mother, Edith Swanneck — inform our lives today.