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Lewes Town Wall, section called The Green Wall

A Scheduled Monument in Lewes, East Sussex

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Coordinates

Latitude: 50.8756 / 50°52'32"N

Longitude: 0.0133 / 0°0'47"E

OS Eastings: 541744.15326

OS Northings: 110387.176796

OS Grid: TQ417103

Mapcode National: GBR KQ2.45M

Mapcode Global: FRA B6XS.H0G

Entry Name: Lewes Town Wall, section called The Green Wall

Scheduled Date: 23 January 1973

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1002249

English Heritage Legacy ID: ES 380

County: East Sussex

Civil Parish: Lewes

Built-Up Area: Lewes

Traditional County: Sussex

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): East Sussex

Church of England Parish: St John sub-Castro, Lewes

Church of England Diocese: Chichester

Summary

A length of the medieval town wall of Lewes, 54m north of Eastgate Baptist Church.

Source: Historic England

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 4 September 2014. The record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

The monument includes a length of the medieval town wall of Lewes known as the ‘Green Wall’. It is situated east of Waterloo Place on the north-east side of Lewes old town and carries a footpath. It survives as upstanding stone remains and below-ground archaeological remains. The upstanding wall is constructed of flint on top of an earthen bank and runs for a distance of about 32m.

The medieval town wall of Lewes was constructed in about 1267 and there was a further grant for murage, tax levied for the upkeep of the wall, in 1334. The wall is shown on Sussex OS maps (1:2500) of 1875, 1899, 1910 and 1932 when it ran considerably further northwards.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Between the Roman and post-medieval periods a large number of English Towns were provided with defences. Construction of these reached its peak in around 1300 although many were then maintained for many centuries thereafter. The defences could take the form of earthen banks, ditches or masonry walls or a combination of all three. They were constructed to mark the limits of the town or its intended size and could be used to defend the town in times of trouble. Their symbolic role in marking out the settlement and its importance was also significant and thus many defensive circuits included well built and visually impressive water-filled moats, walls and gateways. In the medieval period the development of towns was closely associated with major landowners and many towns were deliberately established next to major castles so that their lordly owners could influence and gain from the important market, trade and other functions of the developing urban centres.

The length of the medieval town wall of Lewes, 54m north of Eastgate Baptist Church survives well and will retain evidence of its construction. As a monument accessible to the public, the town wall forms an important educational and recreational resource.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
NMR TQ41SW2. PastScape 406490.,

Source: Historic England

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