8-502: Barbican House is a sixteenth century house next to Lewes Castle . It is now used as a museum, and is the headquarters of the Sussex Archaeological Society . The house is a Grade II* listed building . The Barbican House was constructed in the 16th century out of timber , with a stone fireplace dated 1579. During the 18th century the house was enlarged and refronted. The house now consists of three floors plus
16-567: A basement, and is now mainly constructed from red brick . The left front of the house faces the gate of Lewes Castle . A 1907 fire in Lewes High Street which spread for an hour and a half was contained before damaging Barbican House. In 1952, the house became a Grade II* listed building . The building is now the headquarters of the Sussex Archaeological Society , who also run the Barbican House Museum (also known as
24-573: A man-made mount just to the north of the high street in Lewes, and is constructed from local limestone and flint blocks. The castle follows a motte and bailey design but, unusually, it has two mottes, and the only other castle in England to have that structure is Lincoln Castle . The first motte, known as Brack Mount, was completed shortly after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 and
32-527: The Battle of Lewes in 1264. Towers were added to one of the shell keeps in the 13th century and a barbican gate was added in the 14th century. When the last of the de Warennes, John, the 7th Earl , died without issue in 1347, he was buried in Lewes Priory . His title passed to his nephew Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel . The castle was leased by Sussex Archaeological Society from 1850, and
40-662: The COVID-19 pandemic . 50°52′21″N 0°00′30″E / 50.8726°N 0.0084°E / 50.8726; 0.0084 Lewes Castle Lewes Castle is a medieval castle in the town of Lewes in East Sussex , England . Originally called Bray Castle, it occupies a commanding position guarding the gap in the South Downs cut by the River Ouse and occupied by the towns of Lewes and Cliffe. It stands on
48-604: The Museum of Sussex Archaeology) in the house. The museum contains pottery from an excavation of the grounds of Battle Abbey , as well as floor tiles from Wilmington Priory , and green tiles from a property in Rye . It tells the history of Sussex life from the Stone Age , and contains a model village of Lewes in the 1880s. In 2020, the museum was believed to be at risk of closure due to Sussex Archaeological Society's lost income during
56-472: The second motte, known as the Keep, was completed in the late 11th century. Both mottes were built by William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey . The mottes would originally have been surmounted by wooden palisades but these were replaced with masonry shell keeps at the start of the 12th century. The bailey area also had a stone wall with towers. Soldiers left the castle to engage with Simon de Montfort at
64-412: Was acquired by Charles Thomas-Stanford and gifted to the Sussex Archaeological Society in 1922. On 11 November 2019 at 12:22 GMT the first alert was raised that a 10m by 10m section of the curtain wall had collapsed onto an adjacent house and garden. Emergency services searched the site but found no casualties. Sussex Archaeological Society said that the collapsed wall was privately owned and one of
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