Lewes-Town.co.uk
Title
Lewes Town Council
Description
Seen by the Romans when they built a fort to guard a ford, south of which the river was navigable. The remains of this Roman fort can be seen in the churchyard of St John Sub Castro. Lewes prospered under the Normans and the advantages of the river being navigable soon benefited the town. Ships plied round from London and other ports of south and east England. Imports included wine, cloth, spices, salt and fish. Exports included such local produce as corn, malt, leather and timber, with wool fast becoming the main exported commodity as the farming on the South Downs increased. The importance of Lewes as a port becomes apparent when, by the reign of Edward the Confessor, the burg of Lewes was required to pay twenty shillings towards coastal defence whenever needed. Lewes was also expected to supply ships and men to defend the shores. In the 17th and 18th centuries, corn, wool and iron products produced locally from Wealden iron ore, became the main trade. Along with the increase in merchant trading came the increase in smuggling. Wool smugglers, known as "owlers", became a nuisance to the thriving businessmen. According to records, in 1731 a battery of dragoons was despatched to Lewes to combat the smugglers.
During the Napoleonic Wars with France, Lewes prospered. The local iron foundries produced ordnance and wool was needed for uniforms. Big improvements were made, canals were cut and locks bui1t to maintain a navigable waterway; eighteen locks existed between Newhaven and Lindfield. In 1801, over twenty five barges were kept at the Lewes Quay. Upstream from Lewes, paper rnills and water mills were built and quarries were used to extract chalk, lime and stone for road making. Horses towed barges up and down river, and some barges raised sail. It was the coming of the railways to Lewes between 1845 and 1858 that put an end to river trading . Ironically, the last busy period for the barges was the transporting of heavy building materials required for the railway construction. There is still evidence today of tbe once thriving port - there are old timber riverside buildings which at one time served to store grain and wood. These buildings serve as a timely reminder of another part of the history of Lewes.
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