Lewes District Council

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187 High Street
Lewes
East Sussex
BN7 2DE

Tel: 01273 483448
lewes.tic@lewes.gov.uk
Minicom 01273 484488

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Local History & Heritage

History and heritage is everywhere to be seen in our district. We have many local attractions to thrill and entertain visitors

Anne of Cleves House and Museum

Anne of Cleves House and Museum in Lewes is a large Tudor hall house said given to the wife of Henry VIII in their divorce settlement. It contains the Lewes folk museum, exhibitions illustrating the post-mediaeval social and economic history of Sussex, and a collection of Sussex ironwork.

Bluebell Railway

The Bluebell Railway takes its name from the bluebells which line the banks in spring. The Victorian-style Sheffield Park Station is the railway's headquarters and houses the 30 steam locomotive collection. The line has three well preserved stations.

Charleston

Charleston, near Firle, is the setting for the Bloomsbury Group in Sussex. It is a charming 17/18th century house, with a traditional Sussex flint-walled garden and the home of Vanessa and Clive Bell, and Duncan Grant. It has been preserved intact and visitors can see the artists' decorated furniture and murals. Nearby Berwick church also has examples of Bloomsbury art.

Ditchling Museum

Local history comes alive at Ditchling Museum in dioramas, tableaux and illustrated charts. The collection is housed in the Victorian School in a lovely setting beside the church, pond and the green. The museum has full facilities for the disabled, toilets, children’s playground, gift shop and coffee shop. Throughout the year a variety of special exhibitions are held.

Firle Place

Home of the Gage family for 500 years, Firle Place is set in one of the county's finest parks with the backdrop of Firle Beacon. Georgian in appearance, but with a Tudor heart, its 16th century buildings are ranged round a central courtyard. Open to the public, Firle Place offers the chance to view fine paintings, porcelain and furniture.

Glynde Place

There has been a house on the site of Glynde Place since the 12th century. The present house was built as a square around a courtyard in 1569, from flints and Normandy stone. Inside the house there are fine collections of family portraits, old antique furnishings and an Elizabethan staircase. House and park are open to the public.

Lewes Castle

Lewes Castle and Barbican House date from the 11th century and today stand proud in the centre of Lewes town centre. Just a few miles east of the district boundary at Pevensey, William of Normandy landed in 1066 to claim the English crown. To the Saxon town of Lewes he sent a favourite noble, William de Warenne, who built an imposing castle and a great priory.

The Norman motte and bailey castle is unusual for its two mottes. The higher motte (artificial mound) had an elliptical keep with a rectangular gatehouse as its southern entrance. A second gatehouse or barbican with drawbridge either side was added two centuries later. A substantial section of keep remains, giving views of Lewes and surrounding countryside, as well as an imposing fragment of the Norman gatehouse and the almost intact Barbican.

The castle's former tilting yard is the site of, perhaps, the only remaining bowling green of the type Sir Francis Drake would have played on. Political rebel Tom Paine is reputed to have had his inspiration for "The Rights of Man" after playing here.

Barbican House, close by the castle gate, is home to the museum of Sussex Archaeology. The museum charts the history of the county and its people from early beginnings to medieval times. It also houses a fascinating display of remains, tools and artefacts from an ancient way of life, and explores the impact of invasion by the Romans, Saxons, and the Normans.

Monk’s House

Monk’s House is a small converted farmhouse and garden, now owned by the National Trust. It was the home of Leonard and Virginia Woolf from 1919 until Leonard’s death in 1969. Some of their furniture and personal items remain in the house in which the Woolf’s entertained many artists and writers of the Bloomsbury Group.

Newhaven Fort

Newhaven Fort is an award-winning attraction and a fine example of an English fortification.  Offering the perfect family day out, there is so much to explore including the vast echoing tunnels and cliff-top gun emplacements. Experience a sense of freedom in this 10-acre site as you stroll along the ramparts and enjoy the breathtaking panoramic views of the South Downs and Sussex Coast.

This scheduled ancient monument tells the story of life in a Victorian Fortress through a range of audio-visual exhibitions and displays and the on-site military museum demonstrates Newhaven Fort’s role through two World Wars.

Newhaven Museum

Newhaven Museum is sited next to Paradise Park Heritage Trail. It contains a collection of photographs, artefacts and documents relating to Newhaven and the surrounding area. There is also a wealth of historical material relating to the cross-Channel ferry service.

Paradise Park Heritage Trail

Paradise Park, Newhaven is a family attraction and home to the World of Plants. An acre of themed gardens including a desert in Peru and rain forest in Mexico. The Planet Earth Exhibition and Dinosaur Museum traces the origins of the Earth and has fossils, crystals, minerals and life since dinosaurs. There is also a children's play area, model village, a cafeteria and ample coach and car parking.

Priory of St Pancras

These imposing ruins are all that remains of the huge Lewes Priory of St Pancras founded by William De Warenne and destroyed by Thomas Cromwell in 1538. A portion of the 13th century marble Great Gate survives as do parts of the refectory, dormitory, infirmary, chapel and cloisters. During building of the Lewes-to-Brighton railway in 1845 the lead-lined tombs of founder William and his wife Gundrada were found. They can now be seen in the nearby Church of St John the Baptist. The site is owned by us and managed by the Lewes Priory Trust. Guided tours are available in the summer.

Seaford Martello Tower and Museum

Seaford Martello Tower at the turn of the 19th century during the Napoleonic Wars was the last of a string of 74 such towers along the Kent and Sussex coasts. Each tower was fortified to repel invasion from France.  The tower is now the home of Seaford Local History Museum which contains a wealth of information on the town's past and present. There are also displays recreating shops and domestic scenes from Victorian times onwards. These include Victorian and war time kitchens, a grocer's store, dressmaker's parlour, cinema, school, chemist and toy shop.