Ruins of Lewes Priory
RUINS OF LEWES PRIORY, COCKSHUT ROAD
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1190737
- Date first listed:
- 25-Feb-1952
- List Entry Name:
- Ruins of Lewes Priory
- Statutory Address:
- RUINS OF LEWES PRIORY, COCKSHUT ROAD
Location
Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.
Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions .
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.
What is the National Heritage List for England?
The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.
The list includes:
 |
Buildings |
 |
Scheduled monuments |
 |
Parks and gardens |
 |
Battlefields |
 |
Shipwrecks |
Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2005-04-10
- Reference:
- IOE01/14034/32
- Rights:
- © Mr Trevor Hope. Source: Historic England Archive
Local Heritage Hub
Unlock and explore hidden histories, aerial photography, and listed buildings and places for every county, district, city and major town across England.
Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1190737
- Date first listed:
- 25-Feb-1952
- List Entry Name:
- Ruins of Lewes Priory
- Statutory Address 1:
- RUINS OF LEWES PRIORY, COCKSHUT ROAD
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- RUINS OF LEWES PRIORY, COCKSHUT ROAD
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 41416 09540, TQ 41471 09604
Details
TQ 4109 NW LEWES COCKSHUT ROAD
14/74 (east side) Southover 25.2.52 Ruins of Lewes Priory GV I
Ruins of the Priory of St Pancras. Founded after 1077 by William de Warenne and his wife, Gundrada. Chalk corework with flint and stone dressings and facings, patched with some Portland stone. Principal parts that remain include: Fragment of the southwest tower of the Priory church, probably late C11 or early C12, with wall-bench and shafts;of its wall-arcading. Part of the southern wall of the Frater, including herringbone flintwork and masonry. Vaults remain below with the remains of a spiral stair. Various blocks of masonry by the railway-line west-south-west of the frater, formally buttresses to a large hall of unknown use. They are of C15 date, of chequered stone and flint flushwork. The undercroft of the Dorter, late Cll and late C12, containing the original reredorter. The southern part of the Dorter undercroft retains the springing-points of the semi-circular vault. At some point this part of the building was used for rifle practice. The Reredorter, late C12. In the south wall have been set many carved fragments, now heavily weathered. Remains of the Infirmary Chapel, late C11 and second third of the C12. The original square-ended chancel was later lengthened with a nave, given north and south chapels and may also have had a triforium. The remains at Lewes are important, at least in part, because the first Prior of Lewes, Lanzo, (1077-1107), was greatly influenced by Cluny, then in its third great phase of building, and because, during its progressive enlargment during the C12, it was very much a replica of the mother house. The first lay-owner was Thomas Crom- well who, between 1537 and 1540, built a country house on the site of the Prior's Lodging; this later passed into the hands of the Sackville family. Work in connection with the cutting for the railway line from Lewes to Brighton in 1845 destroyed the whole of whatever may have remained of the east end and the high altar of the Priory Church. The Lewes Priory site is scheduled as an Ancient Monument.
Listing NGR: TQ4142909558
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 293053
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 20-Jun-2026 at 12:35:55.
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.