Aland to Avalanches: Surprises on an outing to Lewes

A Saturday outing to Lewes planned at relatively short notice gave us a chance to sample the top tourist attractions in the town – Lewes castle and museum; the ruins of Lewes Priory and Anne of Cleves House.

Lewes Castle

I hadn’t done my homework on this occasion. There was clearly plenty more to see around the town, including a striking war memorial with a statue of a winged Victory, a Polish pottery shop and an array of buildings in a wide variety of styles. Even the side streets had little sights to marvel at, like the white lion emblem from a long demolished pub, installed in 1954 on a wall overlooking the old YMCA buildings. In short, I really hadn’t appreciated just how much there was to see in this traditional market town.

Lewes Castle

Lewes Castle is a rarity, one of only two castles in the UK with two mottes within its walls (the other being Lincoln Castle). The original motte and bailey castle was constructed soon after the aftermath of the Battle of Hastings in 1066, but quickly superseded by a second motte upon which a stone keep was built.

It is hard to imagine how these castles must have seemed to the local population, though the extract from the Anglo Saxon chronicles (1137) given on the display boards leaves a strong impression: ‘…and they filled the land full of castles. They cruelly oppressed the wretched men of the land with castle works. And when the castles were made they filled them with devils and evil men.’

The castle saw improvement for around 300 years before falling out of favour. It was left to a steady decay, accelerated by the sale of flints for use in buildings elsewhere in the town. For a time in the 18th century the ruinous nature of the keep contributed to a deliberately overgrown look as part of a pleasure garden – which even extended to the addition of further fake ruins! Thankfully, the Sussex Archaeological Society eventually gained the freehold of the castle, ensuring the future of this important site.

The Barbican and Norman Gatehouse

Today, you can visit the Norman gatehouse, climb up to the keep and enjoy the views from the tower tops. Tickets are purchased from Barbican House Museum, just across the road, and staff will walk across with you to open the gate to the castle grounds.

One of the surprises for me was a Finnish connection. Three hundred captured Finnish and Russian soldiers were sent to the Naval Prison in Lewes in the aftermath of the Battle of Bomarsund in the Åland Islands, today part of Finland. Apparently, the Finnish officers were allowed out on parole and given free entry to the castle. They were sufficiently popular with the townsfolk that they got a full send off with a marching band when they headed to the railway station in 1856 on their way home to Finland. A seized Russian cannon was presented to the town in 1858 in recognition of the prisoners they hosted and now stands at the foot of the staircase up to the keep.

Museum of Sussex Archaeology at Barbican House

The small but fascinating museum across the street from the castle holds an eclectic collection of exhibits and is well worth taking the time to explore. One of the most striking sights was a painting by Thomas Henwood (1837) capturing the worst avalanche in UK history. I would have expected a location in the highlands, but no – this happened in Lewes.

The museum (on the right, opposite the castle)

The Lewes avalanche occurred when heavy snow fell over a few days, over Christmas 1836, accompanied by an intense cold and high winds – reckoned to be the worst winter storm seen by the country in twenty years. The snow steadily accumulated and drifted into snow banks of ‘incredible depth’ atop the chalk cliffs on the eastern edge of the town, which the Sussex Advertiser estimated to be between 10 and 15 feet.

Fears about the snow grew after one fall demolished a sawing shed at a timber yard, prompting the owner to warn the families living in a row of workers’ cottages directly under the cliffs. Some labourers were persuaded to take refuge in safer places, but many refused to be moved. The bank finally collapsed under its own weight on 27th December 1836, plunging tons of snow onto the town, smashing through the seven cottages.

One eyewitness captured the violence of the avalanche and its devastation (Sussex Advertiser, 2nd January 1837):

‘A gentleman who witnessed the fall described it as a scene of the most awful grandeur. The mass appeared to him, to strike the houses first at the base, heaving them upwards, and then breaking over them like a gigantic wave to dash them bodily into the road; and when the mist of snow, which then enveloped the spot, cleared off, not a vestige of a habitation was to be seen – there was nothing but an enormous mound of pure white.’

In the aftermath the townsfolk gathered all the shovels they had to dig the inhabitants out from the wreckage. One unfortunate mother had been persuaded to leave, but was caught out when returning home to grab a shawl – losing her life in the avalanche, but miraculously managing to shield her babe from the crush. In total, eight lives were lost in the avalanche.

Anne of Cleves House

The high status timber-framed medieval house known as Anne of Cleves House can be visited on a combination ticket with Lewes Castle. Despite the name, Anne, the fourth wife of King Henry VIII never actually visited the property. The house was granted to Ann as part of the annulment settlement agreed with King Henry VIII in 1541. As lovely as the house is, it’s not hard to see why she would have favoured the other properties included in the settlement, Richmond Palace and Hever Castle.

Anne of Cleves House

This house is not the only legacy of Henry VIII in the town, with the ruins of the Priory of St Pancras just ten minutes walk away from Ann of Cleves House. A small display of finds from the priory can be seen in the ground floor of the extension.

Lewes Priory

For over five hundred years the priory was one of the most magnificent priories in the country and of considerable international significance. A super trail of display boards around the site (free to access) attempts to help you appreciate the scale and impressiveness of what once stood here, showing the buildings that each set of ruins would once have been a part of. An illustration and model give a sense of the scale of the complex in its heyday. Nevertheless, it is a challenge to fully appreciate the magnificence of the original priory when the most substantial ruins we are left with are from a 12th century toilet block for the monks!

Lewes Priory

On our visit to Lewes many of the other historic buildings were open as part of Artwave 2022 (3rd-18th September 2022) and they are also regularly featured on the Heritage Open Days schedule should you be around at the right time. Besides all of this, there are some terrific independent shops, bakeries and cafes in Lewes. I am struggling to work out why it wasn’t on our list to visit sooner!

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