As part of the Lewes History Group’s Street Stories series about our town, this book by Heather Downie builds on earlier accounts of her research on the history of South Street.

South Street is among the most interesting roads in Lewes. It is a long street with a history to match and in many ways represents in microcosm much of the town’s domestic, commercial and industrial past and present. There are houses and cottages on the street with origins in the 17th century and possibly earlier. It has a long-established rowing club and a bonfire society. It has provided the site for a poorhouse, a pest house, several shops, a cluster of pubs and cricket-bat manufacture.

Leading the visitor up one side and back down the other, Heather provides a building-by-building history of the street’s people and their activities over a long period of time. Like the other volumes in the series, South Street draws on a broad range of historical sources and is illustrated by a wide selection of photographs, sketches and maps.

Published by Lewes History Group, 15 April 2024. ISBN 078–0-9956064-5-6

Available from Lewes Tourist Information Centre at £8.50 or by mail order form