Lewes History Group

A Lewes Heritage Open Days Event

The Lewes Street Stories project was set up by the Lewes History Group and teams in South Street and Grange Road, at opposite ends of the town, are the latest to exhibit their discoveries. Located in the Town Hall as part of the Heritage Open Days, the event runs 10 – 11 September & entry is FREE.

The exhibition will display archive documents and photographs that reveal more about the houses and their residents. The groups are keen to research who the early residents were, their jobs and businesses as well as family sizes and where children went to school.

South Street: Bliss postcard courtesy of Linda Weller. Grange Road: a Funnell’s Series postcard

South Street has a long history as it was one of the original medieval routes into the separate community of Cliffe. Heather Downie and her team have made a start by collecting maps, photos, census returns, newspaper cuttings and recording the memories of those who have South Street connections. Heather explains: “South Street was never a home for the gentry, but a working place, with timber yards, river wharfs, boat yards and chalk pits. There has been almost continual development of housing, often replacements for earlier buildings, right up to the present with the Grand Designs’ Rusty House finished in 2015.”

Grange Road was first developed in 1865 from land sold by two estates: the Acland Estate and the Southover Priory Estate. At that time it straddled both St Ann’s and Southover parishes.

The team leader, Bridget Millmore says, “We’ve uncovered stories of everyday and unusual events, including details of bonfire preparations, an accident involving an overturned grape lorry and evacuation by boat during the 1960s flood.”

The Streets Stories Exhibition is in the Yarrow Room, Lewes Town Hall:

Saturday 11am-3pm
Sunday 10am-3pm

Lewes Heritage Open Days are organised by the Friends of Lewes

There is a related exhibition on the history of Station Street on Sunday 11 September 2016 from 11am-4pm, at 23 Station Street, the birthplace of Dr Gideon Mantell.

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Coming soon – The first book from the Lewes History Group’s Street Stories Project

This book describes the origins of the street, and how it developed.

It features stories of the people who’ve lived in Sun Street over the years, and includes original sketches, pictures and family photographs.

Available Autumn 2016 at £8.50 via the Sun Street page on the Lewes History Group website, and local book shops.

Alternatively you can contact the Sun Street team now via their web page to put your name down for a copy, or visit the Lewes History Group Street Stories exhibition on 10-11 September 2016 and leave your contact details on the list for the book there. (Sorry, now out of print, Sept. 2017)

This exhibition is part of the Lewes Heritage Open Days event for 2016, and will be at the Yarrow Room in the Lewes Town Hall.

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On a warm August evening (22^nd) 31 people gathered for the private tour of Bridge Cottage in Uckfield organised by the Lewes History Group. Bridge Cottage was built in 1436 during the time of Henry VI for a wealthy yeoman. It originally had 4 bays with the two central ones making the hall, open to the roof with a fire burning in the middle.

This recently restored example of a medieval Wealden hall house is due to open to the public in September 2016 and LHG members got a sneak preview which consisted of a very interesting talk by Mike Harker (chairman of the Bridge Cottage Heritage Centre), followed by a self-guided tour of the building.

Mike told us about the 600-year history of the house from a time when Uckfield was a clearing in the most wooded part of the country, through to the 1970’s, and then about the work that’s recently been done to restore it. The Uckfield Preservation Society saved it from demolition (to make way for a bypass) and successfully applied for £1.5M from the Heritage Lottery Fund to restore the property and develop it as a community asset. The cottage is fitted with the latest 21stC technology to make it sustainable & eco-friendly. It boasts LED lighting, underfloor heating, ground source heat pump, sheep’s wool insulation and of course, lime plaster & limewash paint.

Photos copyright Neil Merchant

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