Lewes Castle is a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

castle in the town of

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Originally called Bray Castle, it occupies a commanding position guarding the gap in the South Downs cut by the River Ouse and occupied by the towns of Lewes and Cliffe. It stands on a man-made mount just to the north of the high street in Lewes, and is constructed from local limestone and flint blocks.

History

Barbican To Lewes Castle And Walls To South 2018 02

The castle follows a motte and bailey design but, unusually, it has two mottes, and the only other castle in England to have that structure is Lincoln Castle. The first motte, known as Brack Mount, was completed shortly after the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

of England in 1066 and the second motte, known as the Keep, was completed in the late 11th century. Both mottes were built by William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey. The mottes would originally have been surmounted by wooden

palisade A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a row of closely placed, high vertical standing tree trunks or wooden or iron stakes used as a fence for enclosure or as a defensive wall. Palisades can form a stockade. Etymo ...

s but these were replaced with masonry shell keeps at the start of the 12th century. The bailey area also had a stone wall with towers. Soldiers left the castle to engage with Simon de Montfort at the Battle of Lewes in 1264. Towers were added to one of the shell keeps in the 13th century and a barbican gate was added in the 14th century. When the last of the de Warennes, John, the 7th Earl, died without issue in 1347, he was buried in Lewes Priory. His title passed to his nephew

Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel Richard Fitzalan, 3rd Earl of Arundel, 8th Earl of Surrey ( 1313 – 24 January 1376) was an English nobleman and medieval military leader and distinguished admiral. Arundel was one of the wealthiest nobles, and most loyal noble retainer of the ...

. The castle was leased by Sussex Archaeological Society from 1850, and was acquired by Charles Thomas-Stanford and gifted to the Sussex Archaeological Society in 1922.

Wall collapse

On 11 November 2019 at 12:22 GMT the first alert was raised that a 10m by 10m section of the curtain wall had collapsed onto an adjacent house and garden. Emergency services searched the site but found no casualties. Sussex Archaeological Society said that the collapsed wall was privately owned and one of the last parts of the curtain wall. They also said that the parts owned by the society were checked independently on an annual basis. The castle was closed as a precaution. The wall was described in a contemporaneous news report as weighing 600 tonnes.

References

External links

Sussex Archaeological society website
{{authority control Castles in East Sussex Ruins in East Sussex Buildings and structures in Lewes Museums in East Sussex Archaeological museums in England History museums in East Sussex Grade I listed buildings in East Sussex Motte-and-bailey castles

History

Wall collapse

See also

References

External links