Lewes
Lewes
The town of Lewes has a nice high street of Georgian shops and houses which wend their way uphill to a high mound, on which stands the Norman castle. This was built to guard the gap in the South Downs that was created by the river Ouse, the towns position making it a strategic point from Saxon times.
The town subsequently grew on the hillside between the river and the castle; the steep streets are connected with quaint narrow passages called Twittens. Only the keep and the barbican of the castle still stand but it is worth exploring.
Elizabethan Southover grange is the boyhood home of the essayist John Evelyn 1620 – 1706 the house was built with the Caen stone from the dissolved priory of St Pancras, Anne of Cleves house can also be found in Southover Street she was given the house by Henry VIII after her divorce, it is now a local museum.
Lewes was the site of a critical battle between Henry III and Simon de Montfort who with his allied barons defeated henry to establish the English parliament.
On Guy Fawkes night the lighted tar barrels are rolled to the river in to commemorate the towns 17 protestant martyrs wo were burnt at the stake by Mary I.
Activities in Lewes
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