Lewes Town Wall, section called The Green Wall
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Scheduled Monument
- List Entry Number:
- 1002249
- Date first listed:
- 23-Jan-1973
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Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Scheduled Monument
- List Entry Number:
- 1002249
- Date first listed:
- 23-Jan-1973
Location
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- East Sussex
- District:
- Lewes (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Lewes
- National Park:
- South Downs
- National Grid Reference:
- TQ 41744 10389
Summary
A length of the medieval town wall of Lewes, 54m north of Eastgate Baptist Church.
Reasons for Designation
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.
History
See Details.
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.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- ES 380
- Legacy System:
- RSM - OCN
Sources
Other
NMR TQ41SW2. PastScape 406490.,
Legal
This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 10-Jun-2026 at 16:48:19.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.