Sussex EUS – Lewes

Sussex EUS – Lewes 16th-century Southover Grange) and, especially, the medieval parish churches, the priory, the 5 STATEMENT OF HISTORIC castle, and the town walls are of stone. Caen stone and flint rubble predominate, but Quarr URBAN CHARACTER stone was used at St John-sub-Castro and the priory: since the Dissolution, Caen and Quarr 5.1 Town summary from the latter have been re-used elsewhere, such as in the walls of Southover Grange. After 5.1.1 Historic environment overview 1700, brick is the dominant building material (the principal material at 172 of the houses of this Lewes has retained its county town function, date). Flint is used as the main material at 32 seeing significant expansion and redevelopment houses, but this probably seriously undervalues of shops and offices. Yet it retains much of its its importance in the pre-railway period since it historic fabric: despite the arrival of the railway in was increasingly hidden by stucco and other th 1846, mid and later 19 -century expansion was cladding. Such cladding of timber-framed and th desultory and that of the 20 century has tended flint-rubble buildings includes mathematical tiles to add to rather than destroy the earlier town. (survives on 65 buildings), tile-hanging (also 65 The high streets of the borough and of the buildings), stucco/render (140 buildings) and ancient suburbs of Cliffe and Southover are slate-hanging (concentrated in the 19th century, closely lined with pre-1840 buildings. The and found on 19 buildings). Unusually, timber Norman castle dominates the town, and the framing after 1700 is employed in at least 14 ruinous priory marks the southern edge of the buildings but, given the prevalence of clad built-up area. Less visible is the archaeological buildings and the lack of systematic analysis of evidence of the earlier town, whose origins lie in historic buildings in the town, could be even th the 9 -century burh and, possibly, an earlier more widespread. minster church. The potential of this archaeology has begun to be realized through a series of 5.2 Historic Character Types excavations. 5.1.2 Historic environment designations 5.2.1 Historic Character Types and (Map 4) chronology (Maps 6-15) Historic Character Types (HCTs) for Sussex EUS There are 508 listed buildings, groups of buildings (e.g. terraces) or structures (e.g. Lane/road [includes all historic routes] property boundary walls, or tombs) in the EUS Major road scheme [modern ring roads, motorways etc.] study area (eight Grade I, 19 Grade II*, and 481 Bridge/causeway th Grade II). Of these, 29 predate 1500; 42 are 16 Regular burgage plots th th century; 31 are 17 century; 164 are 18 Irregular historic plots [i.e. pre-1800] th century; 209 are early 19 century; 25 are 1841 Proto-urban 358 80; and eight are post-1880. Vacant [reverted from built-up to fields etc.] There are an additional 11 important historic Market place buildings recognized in this assessment that Church/churchyard [i.e. parish] th have not been listed, including a 17 -century Cemetery timber-framed house (8 Cliffe High Street). Religious house [abbey, priory, convent etc.] Lewes has a Conservation Area. There are five Great house Scheduled Monuments in the town: the Cluniac Castle priory, the Norman castle, the medieval chapel Town defences of the hospital of St James, The Mount north Other fortification east of the priory, and a section of Green Wall Barracks east of Waterloo Place. The scheduled Anglo- School/college Saxon cemetery of Saxonbury lies immediately Public outside the EUS study area. Farmstead/barn 5.1.3 Historic building materials Mill Suburb [estates and individual houses] The pre-1700 townhouses of Lewes are almost Retail and commercial [i.e. post-1800] all timber framed, although there a few surviving Extractive industry [e.g. sand pit, brickfield] brick and flint houses from the 17th century. Heavy industry [e.g. steel or automotive industry] Earlier large-scale domestic buildings (such as 48 Sussex EUS – Lewes Light industry [e.g. industrial estates] Period Date Utility Period 1 500,000BC-AD42 Quay/wharf [inc. boatyards] Period 2 43-409 Harbour/marina/dock Period 3 410-949 Station, sidings and track Period 4 950-1065 Inland water Period 5 1066-1149 Orchard Period 6 1150-1349 Market garden [inc. nursery] Period 7 1350-1499 Allotments Period 8 1500-1599 Race course Period 9 1600-1699 Sports field [inc. stadia, courts, centres etc.] Period 10 1700-1799 Park Period 11 1800-1840 Informal parkland [e.g. small civic areas, large grounds] Period 12 1841-1880 Seafront [piers, promenades etc.] Period 13 1881-1913 Beach/cliffs Period 14 1914-1945 Table 1. Sussex EUS Historic Character Types. Period 15 1946-present Historic Character Types have been developed Table 2. Sussex EUS chronology. in the Sussex EUS to describe areas of common character by reference to generic types found 5.2.2 Historic Character Types in Lewes across all 41 towns. Historic function is often the (Maps 14 and 15) key determinant of character type, hence the term ‘Historic Character Types’ and the time- Although Historic Character Types represent depth implicit in many of the types in Table 1 county-wide types, modern Lewes is (e.g. regular burgage plots). The types also characterized by its particular concentration of reflect the character of these towns, and, thus, some types and the comparative rarity, or they are different from those that would be absence, of others. For example, the applied nationally or to another county. identification of large areas of regular burgage plots reflects the early importance of the town The Historic Character Types have been and the comparatively good preservation of mapped to areas within the towns (polygons in medieval buildings and plot boundaries. The the Geographical Information System that considerable extent of irregular historic plots underpins the Sussex EUS). Whilst character reflects the survival of areas that saw later type can prove consistent throughout a large medieval abandonment and post-medieval th area (for example, across a late 20 -century (especially 18th-century) reorganization and housing estate), different historic use of part of expansion. that area has been used as a basis for subdivision. This is to allow the application of the 5.3 Historic Urban Character types in Table 1 to the mapped polygons throughout the 15 periods of the EUS Areas (Maps 16 and 17) chronology (Table 2). This means that for any area within the town, or mapped polygon on the 5.3.1 Defining Historic Urban Character Geographical Information System, both the Areas (HUCAs) present Historic Character Type and the past Whereas Historic Character Types have been land use(s) are defined. applied to areas of the Sussex towns with This approach gives time-depth to the map- consistent visible character and historical based character component of the Sussex EUS, development – and are mapped across the and is structured to take account of both whole history for each town – Historic Urban upstanding and buried physical evidence of the Character Areas (HUCAs) represent past. It enables the generation of maps (e.g. meaningful areas of the modern town. Although Maps 6-15) showing the changing land use of similar areas are found in many towns, HUCAs the urban area throughout the history of each are unique, can include components of different town, and, through use of the Geographical history and antiquity, and usually represent Information System developed as part of this amalgamation of several Historic Character assessment, for simple interrogation of any area Types. in the town to show all its known past land uses. Thus, HUCA 7 in Lewes combines five Historic Character Types that represent a religious house 49 Sussex EUS – Lewes dating from Period 5 (i.e. 1066-1149); a structures, as well as that for below-ground church/churchyard that, while dating from Period features. 6 (1150-1349) itself, derives its character in part from the religious house of Period 7; the 5.3.3 Historic Environment Value (Map comparatively open spaces of a sports field and 18) a market garden, both originating in the late 19th century; and the intrusive railway (categorized as The Historic Environment Value (HEV) of each stations, sidings and track) of 1846. Combining HUCA is assessed here, and expressed as a this complexity into a single HUCA called Priory, value from 1 (low) to 5 (high). Such values are however, reflects the largely coherent character iniquitous to some and always subjective, but of the area today. This coherence renders here provide a necessary means of consistently HUCAs suitable spatial units for describing the and intelligently differentiating (for the purposes historic environment of the EUS towns, for of conservation) the upstanding fabric, assessing their archaeological potential, boundaries and archaeology that form the Historic Environment Value and for linking to historic urban environment. The Historic research questions. Environment Value (HEV) of each HUCA is based on assessment of: Some components of the towns are not included as HUCAs: roads (other than those that were • Townscape rarity built as part of a particular development) and • Time-depth or antiquity waterways are kept separate as they frequently antedate surviving buildings or the known urban • Completeness. activity. Lesser additional considerations in the assessment comprise: 5.3.2 Archaeological potential • Visibility Whilst the nature and extent of areas to which Historic Character Types have been applied is • Historic association. closely related to the survival of buried The full methodology for assessing Historic archaeology, this assessment considers the Environment Value forms part of the annexe to archaeological potential at the larger scale of the the historic environment management guidance HUCAs.

Load more