Last weekend, I paid another visit to the lovely East Sussex town of Lewes – I was in town to play a gig with my band at the Con Club, so it was something of a flying visit.
Here’s sixty photos I took while whizzing around the town – for more about Lewes, check out my earlier photo features.
Wikipedia has this to say about Lewes:
Lewes is the county town of East Sussex and formerly all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. Its population is now around 17 thousand. The settlement is a traditional market town and centre of communications and in 1264, it was the site of the Battle of Lewes. The town’s landmarks including Lewes Castle and a 15th-century bookshop. Other notable features of the area include the Glyndebourne festival, the Lewes Bonfire and the Lewes Pound.
A twitten is a “narrow path or passage between two walls or hedges.”
The splendidly named ‘Red, White & Blue’ former pub at 16 Friars Walk closed around 1960 but its tiled facade remains.
The redundant church of All Saints was given to Lewes Town Council to be used as a Community, Arts and Youth centre in September 1980, and it’s still thriving today.
Sadly, this ornate water fountain looked like it hadn’t worked for a long time.
Shops on the hill.
Old hand painted sign.
Clockmakers below a digital marketing agency.
Lewes Castle stands at the highest point of the town on an artificial mound constructed with chalk blocks.
Built in 1069, it was originally called Bray Castle.
The Fifteenth Century Bookshop, complete with timber frame and overhanging storeys , uneven floors and low narrow doorways, at 99-100 High St, Lewes.
Dartboard cover at the Con Club revealing some very poor shots.
The Swan Inn is a fantastic pub.
The staff were lovely. Thank you!
The Crown Inn closed in spite of (or perhaps because of) the efforts of Alex Polizzi and her ‘Hotel Inspector’ Channel 5 TV series.
Former landlady Karen Lloyd complained to the Argus:
“She walked into a shower they wouldn’t let me clean, and she said ‘I’m being persecuted by pubes’.
“I then got harassed by a woman in Wales who rang me up to tell me to put a hair net on my crotch.
Lewes Flea Market on Market Street.
Hosted in a converted church, it’s ideal for a bit of rummaging for retro-dgoods, furniture and all manner of secondhand curios and tat. Open every day 10am-5pm.
River view.
Harveys Brewery, Sussex’s oldest independent brewery, founded in 1790 and located smack bang in the centre of Lewes by the banks of the River Ouse.
Old 1830 water pump.
Cliffe High Street.
More photos: Sussex photo galleries
Chat about Lewes on the forum.
Related posts:
Lewes: architecture, stickers, a disused railway line and a fine chippie – in photos
Photos of Lewes, East Sussex – old castle, historical buildings, Harveys ales and a car boot sale
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Stockton-on-Tees photos: street market scenes, rain, walking barrels and bargain hunters, Dec 2018
Jeez Mike! There’s some absolute corkers in here!
NICE TOWN, I REMEMBER IN THE 1930.s I LIVED ,THEN IN WEST HOATHLY. THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES, AND OLD VETERAN, OF SO LONG LONG AGO.
Thanks for the walk round Lewes you have shared, which I have not yet visited, but will soon, need to find the Pub where my family were in St Michaels Parish in 1620s.
My first job in the 1950s was in the Bindery of Ward Locks in Edmonton and did work on the “Little Red Books” while I was there, a collectors dream now! Thanks very much. Eileen B.