Lewes

Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England, and has a history as a bridging point and as a market town. The town features a number of significant historic buildings, including Lewes Castle, the remains of Lewes Priory, Bull House and Southover Grange and public gardens.

The steep and cobbled Keere Street plays host to many historic buildings, including a timber framed bookshop. The highest point of the old town features a limestone and Coade stone facade of the eighteenth century Crown Court and the lowest part of the town is Harvey & Son's Brewery, a 19th Century tower brewery still in use.

 

The Grange Gardens are of huge popularity due to the lack of green open space in the town and are open to the public for most of day. The centre of Lewes features a number of regional vernacular architecture and variety of historic construction materials and techniques.

Charleston, Firle, Lewes BN8 6LL (01323) 811265
This quirky mansion was the home of two artists, Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant.

Purchasing the house in 1916, they set about re-designing and decorating it in their own unique way. The house then became a haunt for a group of artists known as Bloomsbury. Its members included Maynard Keynes, Virginia Woolf and E.M. Forster.

The house is open to the public during the summer season and guided tours are available.