Lewes Castle

Performance Spaces

Overview

History

Bibliographic Sources

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14th c. barbican
Brack Mount
Map of Lewes
Site plan
SW shell keep
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Venue Type & Location

Private Residence

Site Name: Lewes Castle
Location: Lewes
County: Sussex
Location Type: Town - in town at determined location

Overview

The Norman grey flint castle held a defensive position on high ground N of the High Street at the NW end of the town, with a commanding view of the River Ouse. The castle was distinctive for its 2 mottes, the higher motte facing the SW approach from the town and the 2nd, called the Brack Mount, overlooking the river.

The 14th c. barbican and Norman gatehouse remain, with some of the curtain wall. The S half of the shell keep stands on the larger motte with its 2 13th c. towers intact but another shell keep on Brack Mount, formerly at the opposite end of the large oval bailey, is gone. No vestige of a hall remains above ground. A road now passes through the middle of the bailey, with buildings on the W side and a bowling green on the E.

Performance History

A possible performance venue. An entertainer or entertainers patronized by Richard Fitz Alan, 14th Earl of Arundel, performed elsewhere in the mid-14th c. Although it has been stated that the castle ceased to be a lordly residence after 1347 (Farrant, 'Lewes Castle transformed' 169; Drewett, 'Excavations at Lewes Castle' 72), Fitz Alan's Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry claims that Lewes was, with Reigate and Arundel, one of his residences.

Current Status

Parts of the ruin, including the SW keep, owned by the town and open to the public at specified times.

History of the Venue

late 11th c. William de Warenne built an elliptical shell keep with an unusual 2 mottes. A timber structure on the site may have predated this castle.

late 13th c. 2 semi-octagonal towers added.

ca. 1330 Barbican built by John, 7th Earl Warenne.

1347 The honour of Lewes passed to Richard Fitz Alan, 14th Earl of Arundel, on the death of his uncle, the 7th Earl Warenne. The castle was subsequently used as a wool storehouse.

15th c. Neglect led to ruin and the castle ceased to be used as a residence.

1620 Much of the castle dismantled. Castle bailey used for public meetings.

17th c. Castle divided into several copyhold tenements (VCH: Sussex 7.19).

1725 Repairs made.

1733 Barbican granted to Thomas Friend, a wool merchant.

1750 Keep granted to Friend as well.

1765 John Kemp inherited the barbican and keep.

1838--51 John Hoper acquired the barbican, keep and other copyhold properties on the site of the castle.

1850 Sussex Archaeological Society rented the keep to house their collections.

1895 Repairs made to the barbican and W tower.

1920 Purchased by Sir Charles Thomas Stanford who gave it to the Sussex Archaeological Society.

Record Source

REED Herefordshire/Worcestershire 398; Kent: Diocese of Canterbury 1.41

Patrons who owned this venue

Name Dates Titles
Fitz Alan, Richard 1313-1376 14th Earl of , 9th Earl of

Bibliographic Sources

View a list of abbreviations.

  • Armitage, Ella S. The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles. London: John Murray, 1912.
  • Brent, Colin. Historic Lewes and its Buildings. Lewes: Lewes Town Council, 1995.
  • Brown, R. Allen. Castles, Conquest and Charters: Collected Papers. Woodbridge: Boydell P, 1989.
  • Buck, Samuel, and Nathaniel Buck. [A Collection of Engravings of the Castles, Abbeys, and Towns in England and Wales]. 5 vols. London: The authors, 1726–52.
  • Clark, George T. 'The Castle of Lewes.' Sussex Archaeological Collections 34 (1886): 57–68.
  • Drewett, Peter L. et al. 'Excavations at Lewes Castle, East Sussex 1985–1988.' Sussex Archaeological Collections 130 (1992): 69–106.
  • Dunvan, Paul. Ancient and Modern History of Lewes and Brighthelmston. Lewes: W. Lee, 1795.
  • Farrant, John H. '"A garden in a desert place and a palace among the ruins": Lewes Castle transformed, 1600—1850.' Sussex Archaeological Collections 134 (1996): 169–77.
  • Godfrey, Walter H. 'The Barbican, Lewes Castle.' Sussex Archaeological Collections 70 (1929): 9–18.
  • Grose, Francis. The Antiquities of England and Wales. 8 vols. London: Hooper & Wigstead, 1785.
  • Guy, John. Castles in Sussex. Chichester: Phillimore & Co., 1984.
  • Harfield, C.G. 'A Hand-List of Castles Recorded in the Domesday Book' English Historical Review 106 (1991): 371–92.
  • Harvey, Alfred. The Castles and Walled Towns of England. London: Methuen & Co., 1911.
  • Holden, E.W. ‘Lewes Castle.' Sussex Notes and Queries 17 (1970): 184–8.
  • Horsfield, Thomas Walker. The History, Antiquities, and Topography of the County of Sussex. 2 vols. Lewes: Nichols & Son, 1835.
  • Jones, Richard. 'Hastings to Herstmonceux: The Castles of Sussex.' . . The Archaeology of Sussex. David Rudling (ed). Great Dunham: Heritage Marketing and Publications, 2003.
  • King, David J. Cathcart. Castellarium Anglicanum: An Index and Bibliography of the Castles in England, Wales and the Islands. 2 vols. Millwood, NY, London and Nendeln, Liechtenstein: Kraus International Publications, 1983.
  • Lower, Mark Antony. A Compendious History of Sussex, Topographical, Archaeological & Anecdotal. 2 vols. Lewes; London: Geo. P. Bacon; John Russell Smith, 1870.
  • Mackenzie, James D. The Castles of England: Their Story and Structure. 2 vols. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1896.
  • Nairn, Ian, and Nikolaus Pevsner. Sussex. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth, Midd: Penguin Books, 1965.
  • Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 01/05/2005 (http://www.oxforddnb.com)
  • Pettifer, Adrian. English Castles: A Guide by Counties. Woodbridge: The Boydell P, 1995.
  • Renn, D.F. Norman Castles in Britain. London: John Baker, 1973.
  • Salter, Mike. Castles in Sussex. Malvern: Folly Publications, 2000.
  • Salzman, L.F. 'Lewes Castle.' Archaeological Journal 116 (1959): 260–1.
  • Salzman, L.F. 'The Castle of Lewes.' Sussex Archaeological Collections 63 (1922): 166–79.
  • Salzman, L.F. 'The Castle of Lewes.' Sussex Archaeological Collections 64 (1923): 134–9.
  • Salzman, L.F., C.R.J. Currie and T.P. Hudson. The Victoria History of the County of Sussex. Victoria History of the Counties of England. 8 vols. London: Oxford UP, 1905–7 [vols 1–2], 1935 [3], 1953 [4], 1997 [5], 1980–7 [6], 1940 [7], 1937 [9].
  • Somerset Fry, Plantagenet. Castles of the British Isles. New York: Dorset P, 1990.
  • Thompson, A. Hamilton. Military Architecture in England during the Middle Ages. London: Oxford UP, 1912.
  • Timbs, John. Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales: Their Legendary Lore and Popular History. 3 vols. London: Frederick Warne and Co., 1872.
  • Turner, Thomas Hudson, and John Henry Parker. Some Account of Domestic Architecture in England, from Richard II. to Henry VIII. 3 vols (vol 3 in 2 pts). Oxford: John Henry and James Parker, 1851–9.