Lewes Castle

Lewes Castle stands on a man-made mound in the South Downs gap where the River Ouse cuts through. Built from local limestone and flint, it commands views over the town of Lewes. The castle has two mottes, a rare feature shared only with Lincoln Castle. William de Warenne, the first Earl of Surrey, ordered its construction after the Norman Conquest. The mottes were topped with wooden palisades before stone shell keeps replaced them in the 12th century. The castle played a part in the Battle of Lewes in 1264 when Simon de Montfort’s forces engaged royal troops. A barbican gate was added in the 14th century to strengthen its defences. The last de Warenne earl died in 1347 and the castle passed to the Earl of Arundel. In 1850 the Sussex Archaeological Society began leasing it, and in 1922 Charles Thomas-Stanford donated it to the society. Visitors walk along the surviving curtain walls and shell keeps that overlook the town. The bailey area still shows traces of the stone wall and towers built centuries ago. A section of the curtain wall collapsed in 2019, weighing about 600 tonnes, but the rest remains intact. The castle’s grounds offer views across Lewes and the surrounding Downs. Inside, displays explain its history and the role it played in medieval England.