[phillc73]

Harold's mother, Gytha, left England with other prominent nobles. I seemed to recall her going to Flanders, Wikipedia (that credible source) suggests somewhere in Scandinavia instead.[1]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gytha_Thorkelsd%C3%B3ttir

Edit: Worth listening to are these BBC 4 In Our Time Podcasts.

The Battle of Stamford Bridge: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b011jvlt

The Domesday Book: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b040llvb