George Henry Lewes

Lewes is situated on the slope of a chalk down falling to the river Ouse. Ruins of the old castle, supposed to have been founded by King Alfred and rebuilt by William de Warenne shortly after the Conquest, rise from the height. There are two mounds which bore keeps, an uncommon feature. The castle guarded the pass through the downs formed by the valley of the Ouse. In one of the towers is the collection of the Sussex Archaeological Society. St. Michael's church contains old brasses and monuments; St. Anne's church is a transitional Norman structure; St. Thomas-at. Cliffe is Perpendicular; St. John's, Southover, of mixed archi tecture, preserves some early Norman portions, and has some relics of the Warenne family. In the grounds of the Cluniac priory of St. Pancras, founded in 1078, the leaden coffins of William de Warenne and Gundrada his wife were dug up during an excavation for the railway in 1845. There is a free grammar school dating from 1512. The industries include the manufacture of agricultural implements, brewing, iron and brass founding, printing and market gardening.

The Battle of Lewes.

Lewes was the scene of the battle fought on May 14, 1264, between King Henry III. and the rebel barons under Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester. While Lon don was the "keep" of the baronial party, they held important "outworks" in the Midland towns of Northampton, Leicester and Nottingham. Led by the king and his son, the future Edward I., the royalists moved from Oxford against these centres and sub dued them in turn. Then, however, instead of moving against Lon don when his enemies' morale was depressed, the king passed round it in a wide sweep to relieve the royal garrison in Rochester. Thence he marched southward through Kent and along the coast west into Sussex, halting at Lewes, a stronghold of his brother-in law, Earl de Warenne. His army had been weakened by arduous marching and by the harassing of its rear by the foe. Mean while, reinforced by a large body of Londoners, de Montfort quitted London and reached Fletching, a village and clearing in the dense forest of the Weald on May 13. Efforts at reconcilia

tion having failed he led his army by an indirect route against the town, which he hoped to surprise, early on the following day. His plan was to direct his main attack against the priory of St. Pancras, which sheltered the king and his brother Richard, earl of Corn wall, king of the Romans, while causing the enemy to believe that his principal objective was the castle, where Prince Edward was. But the surprise was not complete and the royalists rushed from the town to form up and meet the enemy in the open field. Ed ward led the right "battle" against the baronial left composed of Londoners, put them to flight, pursued them for several miles, and killed a great number of them. He also captured the standard of Montfort which with its escort was behind the baronial army. Montfort's ruse, however, had been successful. He was not with his standard as his foes thought, but with a fourth "battle" which he seems to have held in rear as a reserve. His centre and right. "battles," reinforced by his own "battle," overthrew their oppo nents, and took prisoner both the king and his brother. Before Edward returned from his chase the earl was in possession of the town. In its streets the prince strove to retrieve his fortunes, but in vain. Many of his men perished in the river, but others escaped, one band, consisting of Earl Warenne and others, taking refuge in Pevensey Castle. The fortunes of the day were settled entirely by the mounted men, and the foot seem merely to have been a target. It was to be left for Edward himself, who here by his im petuosity was the cause of defeat, from the experience of his Welsh War to endow them with a weapon—the bow which changed the balance of mediaeval military supremacy. Edward himself took sanctuary and on the following day peace was made between the king and the earl. For its sequel see EVESHAM, BATTLE OF.