Lewes History Group

Please note: this Bulletin is being put on the website one month after publication. Alternatively you can receive the Bulletin by email as soon as it is published, by becoming a member of the Lewes History Group, and renewing your membership annually.

1. Next Meeting: 11 December 2023, Sue Berry, ‘The Development of Lewes, 1840-1914’
2. A.G.M. Agenda
3. The Franciscan Friars in Lewes
4. Lewes between the Twittens
5. Southerham Chapel
6. 17^th Century Child Care
7. Lieutenant Hill’s 1874 O.S. Maps of Lewes
8. The Sussex Winter Assizes in 1910
9. A.G.M. Reports (by Neil Merchant, Ron Gordon & Barbara Merchant)

 

1. Next Meeting     7.30 p.m.    Zoom Meeting           Monday 11 December       Sue Berry          The Development of Lewes between 1840 and 1914

Sue will begin by asking why the arrival of the railway failed to give Lewes a reboot in the 1840s of the kind that greatly benefited Brighton and other resorts. Was the lack of growth typical of market towns? She will then explore how the town found its feet by developing stronger links with the surrounding rural area. From the 1860s onwards some ambitious new suburbs were developed, attracting investors from Brighton – but what type of housing worked best, and why? In spite of a slow start, Lewes had changed a lot by 1914, and the Georgian area became ringed by nineteenth century development.

This meeting will be held by Zoom. Members will be sent a free registration link in advance. Non-members can buy a ticket (£4) at http://www.ticketsource.co.uk/lhg. The emailed ticket will include a Zoom registration link for the talk, to complete in advance.

 

2. A.G.M. Agenda               

Our December meeting will be followed, after a short gap, by our A.G.M. at 8.45 pm. You will need to log in separately via the link that will be sent to members separately. The A.G.M. will be held in the regular Zoom format, so we can see each other. For the A.G.M. Reports see item 9 below.

1. Acceptance of Annual Reports. Please see below.
2. Appointment of officers. The following officers have so far been nominated for 2023:
   • Chair: Neil Merchant;
   • Treasurer: Phil Green;
   • Secretary: Krystyna Weinstein;
   • Executive committee: Ann Holmes (Chair for EC meetings), John Kay (Bulletin editor), Ian McClelland (Chair for evening meetings & ‘Street Stories’ lead), Barbara Merchant (Website manager), Victoria Moy (Communications) & Chris Taylor (Membership).

Any other nominations, seconded and with the candidate’s consent, should be sent to info@leweshistory.org.uk by 5 December.

3. Membership subscription. Your Committee recommends that the annual subscription should remain at £10 p.a. per member, and that admission to evening meetings should be free for members. Admissions charges for non-members should remain at £4 per meeting.
4. Questions and comments.

 

3. The Franciscan Friars in Lewes

The Franciscan order was founded in 1209 by Francis of Assisi to preach and help the poor. The friars, quickly known as the grey friars from the colour of their habits, took a vow of poverty and were banned from owning property, so supported by alms. The movement spread rapidly throughout Europe, and the first nine Franciscans, led by an Italian but including three English brothers who had joined the movement in Europe, landed near Dover in 1224. By 1254 the British province of the order had 1,242 friars housed in 49 friaries. One of these was in Lewes.

The foundation of the Lewes friary is not recorded – the early Franciscans kept few records, and almost all of what we know of them comes from the records of others that mention them. The Lewes Friary is first recorded in 1241 in the Calendar of Liberate Rolls, enrolments of writs from Chancery for expenditure from the royal treasury. The Calendar of Close Rolls record that in 1242 they were granted 10 oak trees and in 1243 given royal permission to ask the burgesses of Lewes to allow them to erect a wall over the town ditch to enclose their precincts, indicating that they had already embarked on building. They are mentioned in a 1249 assize roll, when a thief sought sanctuary in their premises for 10 days, and in 1253 they were beneficiaries under the will of St Richard of Chichester – he left them twenty shillings and a manuscript book of the gospels of St Luke and St John. Two grey friars are reported to have played a role as mediators after the 1264 Battle of Lewes. When King Edward I visited Lewes in 1299 he gave them a grant of 24s 0d for three days food, interpreted as indicating that at that date the friary had 24 brethren.

Their grey friars’ site, between the town walls and the river, was bounded on the north by the High Street, on the west by Friars Walk, and on the south by the parish boundary separating All Saints parish from Southover. To the east it went almost to the river. Archaeological excavation showed the built on part, at the north end, to have been covered with gravel and then a layer of rubbish, suggesting that it had once been a wharf and then abandoned. Excavations of the site in the 1980s suggested two main periods of building, the first phase in the 13^th century and a substantial later rebuild that could not be securely dated.

The excavations carried out in the 1980s, prior to the development of the magistrates court (now itself replaced by the Premier Inn) and the shopping precinct showed that the church was at the northern end of the site, close to the High Street. Its design was quite simple, and of quite modest size. To the south of the church were the cloisters and chapter house, and to the south of that domestic buildings. There were a good number of burials, some in coffins and others apparently in shrouds, mostly within the church and the cloisters. They were mostly of adult men but included two women. Reportedly some other burials were discovered when Fitzroy House was built. The main walls, at least those that survived, were of chalk blocks, surfaced by flint on the outer side and plaster within. The site was of course low-lying, damp at the best of times and very probably liable to flooding. The second phase buildings were constructed at a slightly higher level. There were decorated tiles on the floors, while the roofs were, from demolition material discovered, of tile and stone slate.

Left: The area of the 1980s excavations, Right: Interpretation of excavations

Apart from a few bequests in surviving wills, there are few other references to the friary. In 1524 John Peterson asked to be buried before the chapel of St Barbara in the church of St Frauncis of the Freres Minores of Lewes, but the church is also said to have been dedicated to St Mary and St Margaret. In 1533 Thomas Cromwell took an interest – he sent an emissary to Lewes to enquire about a missing chalice. The warden John Parker, also warden in 1531, was away, but it was later reported that the chalice had been returned. At least two other friars were noted, the vice-warden and a man described as a lister. In 1537 one of Cromwell’s spies reported that Brother Richard was spreading a rumour that Henry VIII had died – he was called to account and punished. His fellows, also investigated, were Brother Longe and ‘Black Herry’.

The Lewes friary was one of the last Franciscan houses to be dissolved, but in 1538 was surrendered to the King’s use. Its goods, including the altars, bells, windows and gravestones, were assessed as less than the value of the debts, £15 4s 0d. There were 77 ounces of plate, but mostly pledged against loans, but there was also the land, building materials and some tithe income. Most of the buildings were promptly demolished, and replaced by a residence, later replaced by a second residence called The Friars, then by Tabernacle, the railway and Fitzroy House, and then by a 1960s supermarket, the magistrates court, the precinct and the Premier Inn.

Sources:  Friar.org website;  Victoria County History of Sussex, vol,2 (1973) pp.95-96; Mark Gardiner, Miles Russell & David Gregory, ‘Excavations at Lewes Friary 1985-6 & 1988-9’, Sussex Archaeological Collections vol.134, pp.71-123; M.A. Lower, ‘Hand Book for Lewes’ (1845). Diagrams are from the SAC article by Gardiner et al.

 

4. Lewes between the Twittens

In February 2020 Dan Swift gave us a talk on ‘Lewes between the Twittens’, an account of four archaeological excavations that took place during 2004-2008 on sites between School Hill and Friars Walk.

They revealed evidence of Iron Age, medieval and post-medieval life in Lewes, and suggested the site of an earlier town ditch, perhaps belonging to King Alfred’s defended burgh of Lewes, much closer to the crest of the hill than the later town wall down near Eastgate Street and Friars Walk.

The Autumn 2023 edition of Sussex Past & Present reports that Archaeology South-East are now about to publish a monograph by Dan Swift summarising the finds and conclusions from this work. As an academic publication, the volume will not be cheap. A parallel volume on the origins of Eastbourne called ‘Two Millennia of Marshside Settlement’ is just available at £40.

 

5. Southerham Chapel

This painting of Southerham chapel in South Malling parish was made in 1780 by James Lambert senior. Once one of the churches and chapels planted from and controlled by South Malling College within the giant archiepiscopal manor of South Malling, which stretched from the Ouse to the Kent border, it had fallen into disuse before the College was dissolved in 1545. It had become a dwelling within the hamlet of Southerham, which had its own small open field system, and remained as such until in 1837 it was completely demolished.

Source: John Farrant, ‘Sussex Depicted’, published in 2001 as Sussex Record Society volume 85. The original is in the British Library, Add.MS.5676 f.86 [132].

 

6. 17^th Century Child Care

The magistrates at the 1691 Midsummer Quarter Sessions in Lewes heard that the City of London magistrates had sent Margaret Hill, daughter of William and Margaret Hill formerly of St Bride’s parish, London, to All Saints parish Lewes, to be cared for by her grandfather Mr Stone. The sessions heard that her mother was long since dead, and that her grandfather was “a poor impotent person”, so ordered that she should be removed from All Saints back to St Bride’s, which was her father’s parish.

At the Easter Quarter Sessions in 1694 the magistrates heard that John Latter of St Michael’s parish had had carnal knowledge of Anne Moore, singlewoman, an inhabitant of All Saints parish, and that she had a male bastard by him born in All Saints. John Latter had then run away, and he had no goods to be found to reimburse the costs incurred by All Saints. However, he did have a messuage [house] or tenement and five acres of land called Salters Hill at Town Row, Rotherfield, let at a rent of £5 p.a. The magistrates ordered these rents to be paid to All Saints parish to support the child. All Saints were also given the right to re-let the property if the present tenant left.

Source: Quarter Sessions order book, ESRO QO/10

 

7. Lieutenant Hill’s 1874 O.S. Maps of Lewes

Offered at a Gorringe’s auction last spring were a folio of 13 O.S. maps of Lewes as surveyed in 1874 on a 1:500 scale by Lieutenant R.E. Hill. The map below, taken from the Gorringe’s catalogue, shows the area around the Pells and St John-sub-Castro as it was almost 150 years ago. The Pells swimming pool, St John’s Farm and Wallands Crescent are shown, but development was only just starting in Wallands Park, across Offham Road.

 

8. The Sussex Winter Assizes in 1910

This pair of postcards published by the Press Photo Company of 75 Havelock Road, Brighton, show the Royal Irish Dragoon Guard escort for the judge holding the 1910 Winter Assizes in Lewes.

 

9. A.G.M. Reports
   

Chair’s Report                                                                               (by Neil Merchant)

This has been another successful year for LHG – thank you for your membership and support. We continued our practice of hosting our monthly talks on Zoom in the winter, and in King’s Church in the summer. Attendances at both have averaged over 200, with the two most popular being Marcus Taylor’s Lewes in Storm and Flood on Zoom, and Chris Groves’ The Battle for a Railway to Lewes and Eastwards at the church.

In March, John Kay received a well-deserved Outstanding Individual Contributor award from the British Association for Local History, and we marked his achievement in May with a small reception at Depot Cinema.

Membership has been steady through the year, and stands at about 550. We have continued to publish our monthly bulletin, put on several guided walks, led by Sue Berry, in and near Lewes and participated successfully again in both the Lewes Society’s Fair and the Heritage Open Days weekend, both in September. You will see from the financial report that we end the year in a healthy state.

Once again my thanks are due to all our EC members for their commitment and contributions:

• Ron Gordon for managing our finances
• Ann Holmes for chairing our EC meetings
• John Kay for the monthly Bulletins, for our monthly talks programme, and for fielding most of the surprising number of enquiries we receive about local history and genealogy
• Victoria Moy for her unstinting PR work
• Ian McClelland for managing our Street Stories research program and chairing our talks
• Barbara Merchant for tirelessly maintaining both our website and social media presence, and our LHG records
• Chris Taylor for his work in the membership secretary role
• Krystyna Weinstein, our secretary, for taking our committee meeting minutes

Thanks are also due to our various volunteers, including Tessa Bain who maintains our display boards.

Succession: Jane Lee expressed a desire to move on earlier in the year, and we’ve been fortunate that Victoria Moy offered to take on the role. Like Jane, Victoria is a PR professional living in Lewes. They effected a very thorough handover and Victoria is efficiently carrying on Jane’s good work, and has set up an Instagram account for us. It’s well worth a visit. Our thanks are due to Jane for all her hard work over many years.

Ron Gordon similarly wants to step down as treasurer, and Phil Green kindly agreed to be his successor. They’ve been planning a transition for several months, and the end of the year marks Ron’s departure. Again, our thanks are due to Ron for his diligence and commitment over many years.

We’re still looking for someone to manage Zoom and Ticketsource, as I’m feeling the need to pass these tasks on. They are key to running our talks and walks, so finding a successor is essential.

 

Treasurer’s Report                                                                          (by Ron Gordon)

Only a draft report is available at present, as our financial year does not end until 30 November, and full accounts will be published in the January Bulletin. Current Lewes History Group income for the year 1 December 2022 to 30 November 2023 is £9,153.59 (2021-2 £8,930.17) and expenditure for the same period was £7,150.79 (2021-2 £7,135.03). The totals are thus very similar to the previous year, and again the main item of expenditure was publishing; this year includes the second reprint of the Pells Book.  Although sales have now reduced, this has contributed the highest source of income after membership subscriptions. Unfortunately we have not been able to run the Research meetings this year. However the Lewes guided walks, kindly provided by Sue Berry have proved popular. Our current accumulated balance is £23,917.64.

Website Report                                                                          (by Barbara Merchant)

In the 12 months to mid-November 2023, website usage continued to increase along pre-Covid lines, after 2020-2021’s high usage levels during lock-downs and restrictions.

The most popular website pages in 2023 were the Lewes Street Stories reports, including books published, followed by research resources, events, and Bulletins, in that order.

Our website News items are copied to Facebook and Twitter, drawing followers to the website. We also have a new Instagram account, thanks to our new Publicity Officer Victoria Moy, which already has over 170 followers and should reach a new audience and broaden our visibility.

• Facebook – 2,022 followers of LewesHistoryGroup (2022: 1,850), +9.3%
• Twitter (X) – 1,113 followers of @LewesHistory (2022: 1,096), +1.6%
• Website – 306 news item subscribers (2022: 290), +5.5%

 

John Kay

Contact details for Friends of the Lewes History Group promoting local historical events:

Sussex Archaeological Society
Lewes Priory Trust
Lewes Archaeological Group
Friends of Lewes

Lewes History Group Facebook, Twitter, Instagram