[1] Leave the station on the exit from platform 2, walk across the car park and up the hill ahead of you on a small street. Note the rather grand public toilet on your right. At the top of the road, opposite the Lansdowne Pub, turn right into Lansdowne Place.
Notice the video surveillance camera above your head. In the olden days before mobile phones local drug dealers used to gather here, taking advantage of the phone box and the adjoining seat (since removed). So one of the town’s few cameras was installed here although by now the dealers had long gone.
Walk straight ahead along Lansdowne Place, with its attractive houses. Pass Laportes. As the road curves to the left and changes its name to Friars Walk, you will see the old church of All Saints, now turned into an arts centre.
(A) In 2012 this centre was the site of the Lewes cinema war. The Lewes Film Club and a commercial group, Lewes Cinema had both been hiring the hall to show films. The town council, who own the building, decided that Lewes Cinema were making too much profit and only paying a subsidised rent, so replaced them with their own cinema, run by the film club administration. Lewes Cinema decamped in a huff to the Lewes Little Theatre. So in 2013 we had 3 cinema operations in a town of 18,000.
Next pass the Quaker meeting house on your left.
[2] Reach a set of traffic lights and turn right into an undistinguished pedestrian shopping precinct. Walk through the precinct.
An optional alternative can be taken here. Turn right down an alley between Forfar’s bakers and the Riverside Centre. (Watch out for traffic) Keep straight ahead. Pass Greyfriars sheltered housing on your right. Enter the Lewes Railway Land nature reserve (B) On your left you will see the Linklater pavilion where there are sometimes exhibitions about the reserve or other ecological issues. his reserve was created out of the old railway sidings which were in use when large amounts of goods traffic were moved by rail Keep straight ahead on a wheelchair friendly path. Note the Reed sculpture on your right You can return the way you came or turn left after about 500 metres on a path which heads for the river. This can be boggy. Reach the river and turn left. Follow the river until you reach the path on which you entered the reserve. Now return to the shopping precinct the way you came. Turn right when you get to the precinct
The main route crosses Cliffe Bridge. To the south you can see the remains of the old river warehouses. To your left is Harvey’s brewery, a Victorian structure sometimes known as the Cathedral of Lewes. On the right, down an alley, is the John Harvey Tavern, their brewery tap. Continue along Cliffe High Street passing some of Lewes’s more interesting shops and the Gardeners Arms.
[3] At the very end of the High Street turn right along South Street. (The narrow road straight ahead leads to walks on Malling Down and spectacular views over the town). On your right notice a single story building. This is a former public toilet now used as a youth club. Walk along South Street. Notice the wide variety of largely Victorian buildings with interesting details. Reach the end of the town at the Snowdrop pub.
(C) The Snowdrop is the site of the Lewes avalanche of 1836
Return the way you came as far as point 3 but do not turn left down the High Street. Instead, continue straight ahead past Pastorale Antiques and the Dorset Arms Follow the road round to the left. You will see a large older building on your right.
(D) Jireh Chapel; one of the few places of worship in England which is part of the sect founded by Ian Paisley.
Bear left opposite the chapel into Harveys Way, and then make your way through the car park until you come to the wall of Harvey's Brewery.
On your right you can see that Lewes has the same supermarkets and similar conveniences of modern life that most towns have. The road to the right is the notorious Phoenix Causeway. It was the building of this road which caused the closure of the Lewes to Uckfield railway, even though it was well used. The demolition of the railway made the cost of the road much cheaper.
Turn left along a path in front of the wall. This goes under buildings to emerge in the High Street again. Turn right and walk through the precinct again. This time turn right when you meet the road. You will need to cross this road and it is safer to do this at these lights
On your left you will see Lewes bus station You could start and finish the walk here if you are traveling by bus.
(E) The bus station is one of the finer modern pieces of Lewes architecture. Look how much has been squeezed into a very small space. There are workshops, offices, bus stands, a waiting room with bus information point and a café. Sadly much of this is not used. The bus station was bought by a local property developer with the idea of turning it into housing. Locals and local councils have resisted this, so the property stands in its sad state, neither renovated nor demolished. Buses still call at the station, except those to Tunbridge Wells and Ringmer, which start from the bus-stop outside the supermarket across the road.
Look straight ahead. Behind the trees you can see the beginning of the Phoenix Industrial Estate. Lewes has a great industrial history. The estate is on the site of the Phoenix iron works. If industrial archeology interests you, you can find a town trail detailing the influence of the works on the town here. When this was written there were plans to redevelop the area, further suppressing the town's industrial tradition.
[4] Turn left immediately to the north of the bus station, up East Street, and then take the first turning on the left – Albion Street.
On your right in this street you will see one of only two grand Georgian Terraces in Lewes. The period was a time of great expansion in nearby Brighton, but less so in Lewes.
Turn right here and climb up School Hill, which is the middle part of the High Street. Climb until you reach the war memorial in the middle of the road.
On your left you will see an number of alleys or twittens which are a characteristic of the town. On your right you will pass a bookmakers which is believed to be one of many buildings in Lewes and Brighton owned by companies associated with Mr Van Hoogstraaten, who fought the famous battle with the Ramblers at the turn of the century. The first meeting of the first men against sexism group in England took place in the flats above here.
(F) The war memorial and the town hall to the right of it mark the historic centre of the town. It was here that 17 Protestants were burned to death during the reign of Queen Mary. If you turn round and look back to the hills behind you, you may be able to see the obelisk on the skyline that is their memorial. This burning is the pretext for the annual November the 5th celebrations which bring the town to a halt. Some Catholic residents leave town on the day but others join in as the celebrations have lost nearly all of their sectarian edge. One reported to me “We go down swinging our rosaries and encouraging people to celebrate Guy Fawkes as the only man to enter Parliament with honest intentions”- a sentiment more popular now than in the past.
Turn right down Market Street, taking care with the traffic, which comes from a number of directions here. Pass by the Crown Inn. Then turn immediately left through the arch in the Market Tower.
On your left inside the tower is information about and a picture of Tom Paine, who lived in the town for a while. He is perhaps less celebrated here than he might be, because he was a tax collector at the time. On Fridays this area is the site of a local produce market.
Emerge from under the tower, pass some working toilets on your right and turn left along a narrow road. Opposite the toilet is the Needlemakers Centre, a collection of unusual shops and a café. At the end of the road come to a junction. Walk straight ahead - watch for cars coming too fast from the left. After 10 metres come to the Lewes Arms.
(G) The Battle of Lewes Arms was for many years it was owned by Beards, a Lewes company that had stopped brewing but kept its pubs. They stocked Harvey’s beer. In 1998 they sold out to Greene King, who started to withdraw Harveys ales from all their pubs. Last to go, in 2006, was the Lewes Arms. Promptly the clientele boycotted the pub and staged pickets outside. In 2007 the company gave in and reinstated Harvey’s beers. They subsequently sold the pub.
Turn right at the Lewes Arms. Pass Darcy Clothing. In 2013 this was the headquarters of the Chap Magazine, a "must" for stylish gentlemen.
At the road junction cross the road and walk down Sun Street, slightly to your left. (Just off to your left on the main road is Pleasant Stores, Note the various styles of terraced housing. At the end of Sun Street turn right down Lancaster Street. On your left you will see Lewes Little Theatre and, before you get to it, its car park. Go through the car park and into the graveyard of St John sub Castro Church.
(H) The battle of the Crimea This is one of the more atmospheric of Lewes churchyards. In the churchyard is an obelisk erected in 1877 at the behest of Tsar Alexander II of Russia as a memorial to 28 Finnish soldiers of the Imperial Russian army, taken prisoner during the Crimean War, who died of disease in Lewes Naval Prison
Make your way through the graveyard towards the Church. Turn left down the side of the church to a gate which leads into Church Row and then Lancaster Street. Go through the gate to Lancaster Street. If the gate is locked then you will need to retrace your steps to Lancaster Street
[5] Walk down Abinger Place, which leads south from the church to its junction with the main road.
Look out for a faded plaque marking the site of the original town gallows. It is on the right hand side of the road in the wall by the gate to the first of a row of houses, about half way up the street. The inhabitants do not seem too keen to draw attention to it !
Go straight ahead up Castle Banks. At the top turn right, where you will see several seats. This is a good place to view the site of the Battle of Lewes. A display board tells you what to look for.
Bear left, keeping a bowling green on your left. (I) This is the former tilting yard of the castle and has been a bowling green since at least 1640. Continue through the castle gate and see Lewes Castle entrance on your right and the Barbican Museum on your left. Both these are worth exploring if you have the time.
[6 ]Continue straight ahead to the upper part of the High Street.
The main route goes left, but you can make a short diversion to the right if you wish. This will take you to St Michaels Church. (High Church Anglican) with its attractive churchyard (accessible through the church), the Brewer’s Arms, Bulls House, once the home of Tom Paine. Westgate Chapel (Unitarian) and the 15th Century bookshop, one of the oldest buildings in Lewes and under constant threat of being hit by buses and heavy lorries. To the left of the bookshop is ancient Keere Street. (J)
Following the main route you pass the County Court on your left. At the traffic lights turn right down Station Street. With its narrow pavements and chicanes Station Street does its best to intimidate both pedestrians and cyclists. At the cross roads at the bottom of Station Street you meet your outward route, but you turn right. Pass the council offices and an old horse trough. At the next junction, opposite and slightly to the left, is an entrance to a park through an arch in the wall . Go through this and enter Grange Gardens (K) which are attached to the 16th century Southover Grange.
Explore the gardens any way that pleases you, but aim to end up at the gate which is diagonally opposite the one that you used to enter the gardens. You will need to cross the Winterbourne Stream at some point.
[7] On leaving the gardens bear left (not sharp left) up a slight incline to a mini-roundabout with the Kings Head pub on the left. Note the fine Georgian Crescent opposite, completely out of scale with everything else.
Turn right at the mini roundabout and walk past Southover Church on your left (Evangelical Anglican). Keep straight ahead to find Anne of Cleeves House on your right.
(L)The house was given to her by Henry VIII as part of her divorce settlement. She never lived there, but benefited from the rent.
Having inspected the house, turn back the way you came and then take the first road on the right (Cockshuts Road). Note the flint walls that were once part of Lewes Priory. Pass under the railway and then turn left, immediately before the sports club, into Priory Park. You will now see the remains of Lewes Priory (M) in front of you and beyond it a memorial to the Battle of Lewes.
Pick any route you like through the Priory. You are aiming for a gap in the wall on the opposite (eastern) side of the Priory, which lets you into a playing field. Once in the playing field turn left and then right on a concrete path. Then take the first left, heading north. On the right is are a car-park and the Dripping Pan home of the mighty Lewes FC. On your left is the modern bowls club.
(N)The ground must one of the most historic in the country. In the early part of this century Lewes attained the giddy heights of the Conference Premier, the fifth division of English football, on the back of finance provided by the same property developer that now owns the bus station. The club is now community-owned but results are not, at the time of writing, going well. However, they are famous for their artistic match day posters.
Turn left at the road and then immediately right to head back to the railway station. If you started here you can turn right into the main entrance to the station to finish your walk. If not, continue past the station and then turn either sharp right at the junction to descend to point [1] , or continue the walk following the instructions above ("Finally, we start" ) by turning right into Landsdowne Place.