Early History of Lewes
Lewes lies in a gap in the South Downs, inhabited since the Stone Age. The steep, hilly area is historic sheep-farming country. The Greenwich Meridian runs through the town. A Roman road linked Lewes to London, but the present town was founded in the sixth century by the Saxons. Three hundred years later, King Alfred fortified it against Danish invaders.
Two mints existed in Lewes from 925, mainly to provide money to pay off Danish marauders. The Normans minted coins there for some years after the Conquest, but the tradition stuck. The town had its own currency in local circulation until 1895, and in 2008 the Lewes pound has been revived.
Lewes and Royalty
William de Warenne, one of the Norman barons who invaded England in1066, married William the Conqueror's daughter Gundrada. They built Lewes Castle, which still stands. Gundrada's tomb is in St. John the Baptist church in Lewes.
In 1148 Lewes was granted a Charter of Independence by King Stephen, and in 1264 a treaty signed in Lewes set the scene for a milestone in constitutional history, a Parliament in which county and borough representatives were called together with the nobility for the first time.
Eleanor of Lancaster, daughter of Henry Plantagent, was buried with her husband, the Earl of Arundel, at Lewes Priory.
Anne of Cleves' house in Lewes was part of her divorce settlement from Henry VIII; she never visited it. It is managed by the National Trust and open to visitors.
Lewes and the USA
Lewes has many connections with the United States. John Harvard, founder of Harvard University, was married to a local girl in South Malling church in 1636. James Iredell, one of the first Justices of the US Supreme Court, was born in Lewes, emigrating to North Carolina in 1767, aged 17. Tom Paine, author of 'Common Sense' and 'The Rights of Man', worked in Lewes as an excise officer for six years before leaving for America in 1774.
Vanished Buildings of Lewes
The de Warennes founded Lewes Priory in 1077. Its church was once the biggest building in England. Destroyed by Henry VIII in 1537, only Its ruins remain.
Lewes Naval Prison, now under North Street Car Park, held three hundred Finnish prisoners of war in 1854. Their captivity and the powerful bond they built with local people are remembered in a popular Finnish folksong.
Bonfire Night in Lewes
The people of Lewes have always loved a party. When England beat off the Spanish Armada they celebrated with two barrels of gunpowder in the castle gun, shaking the town to its foundations. Now, they hold one of the wildest bonfire parties in Britain.
The town has seven bonfire societies keeping 150 years of tradition alive. Annual parades and bonfires are held on November 5, anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot, or November 4 if the anniversary falls on a Sunday.
Bonfire societies from neighbouring towns join the Lewes celebrations, which commemorate not only the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot, but the 17 Protestant martyrs burned at the stake in Lewes during the reign of Mary I. 17 flaming crosses are carried through the streets in their honour. A flaming tar barrel is thrown into the river Ouse, commemorating an unsuccessful attempt by magistrates to quell the riotous bonfire celebrations of 1847 by reading the Riot Act.
An online virtual walking guide is available to help visitors enjoy this quirky, charming town.
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