Lewes Priory - Present Situation

Present Situation

Despite the disruption caused by the construction of the railway across the site, a substantial protected ruin still stands within parkland, albeit only a small proportion of the original priory building fabric. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the ruins were subject of research and conservation and a popular visitor attraction, but are now fenced off to the public, for preservation. They are set in public grounds known as Priory Fields which are open to the public but peripheral to the town. In the park there are two neo-medieval buildings, a folly tower and a cottage, made from the stone of the Priory, which were built in the gardens of the former Dorset House. A large metal sculpture of a knight's helm (1964) commemorates the Battle of Lewes. The herb garden (also known as the Garden for the Blind) of the Priory, recreated by local historians with various plants that would likely have been in the original, is open to the public at all times.

There was once a minigolf course laid out over the challenging slopes of the infirmary, but this, and the public tennis courts, have been closed by the local authority. Much of the Priory precinct is given over to recreation and sports including Lewes Football Club, currently at the Dripping Pan, the Lewes Bowls Club and the Southdowns Sports Club. The Lewes Priory Cricket Club, formerly at the Dripping Pan, now play at the Stanley Turner Ground, nearby.

A small modern development of relatively simple and attractive housing protrudes east out of Cockshut Road into the precinct. The easternmost of these dwellings overlooks the rear graveyard of St. John's Church, a secluded patch of land including a barn on the site of the original Prior's lodging.

The Priory site to the north of the railway line is in private ownership, formerly occupied by a walled nursery and before that, public gardens, all recently cleared. The standing ruins to the south are separated from the northern site and trapped between the A27 and the railway. Comprehension of the whole from site inspection is difficult and access is limited. The beauty of the situation, referred to by its greatest defender, Walter Godfrey, and reflected in older engravings is often spoiled by traffic noise.

Ashlar stone from the Priory has been used in many later buildings and walls in Lewes, including Southover Grange and gardens and can be identified on walks around the town. Lewes Priory Cricket Club ground is on an adjacent site and Lewes Priory School, nearby, commemorates this ancient foundation.