The tale of one of the most famous battles in English history could be rewritten after an expert claimed he had discovered a missing piece of the story. The Battle of Hastings, fought on 14 October 1066 on the Sussex coast, saw William the Conqueror defeat King Harold and seize the English throne. It has inspired works from the iconic Bayeux Tapestry to an eight-part BBC drama last year, but Prof Tom Licence, an expert in medieval history and literature at the University of East Anglia, said he has found 19th Century historians missed an important detail. Experts from the British Museum and English Heritage said the research – which claims Harold's troops did not march across land but arrived by sea – was exciting. Licence will put his findings to the test when he presents them to experts at a conference at the University of Oxford on Tuesday. It comes amid preparations for the Bayeux Tapestry to go on display at the British Museum, on loan from France, following a historic agreement.…