Lewes Priory history: introduction

Text Box: Graham Mayhew is a professional historian and freelance lecturer teaching part-time for the Open University and Sussex University. He also organizes occasional visits and study tours. He has written various articles on medieval and early modern Sussex and is the author of Tudor Rye (1987)a major study of this medium-sized Cinque Port town during the Reformation period. He was for many years a member of the management committee of Lewes Priory and has been taking groups around Lewes Priory and other ecclesiastical sites in England and throughout Europe for over 25 years. He is a graduate of York University from which he holds a BA and D.Phil in history and is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. He is currently writing a history of Lewes Priory. These pages provide a brief summary of some of his main findings.

Text Box: This website provides a summary outline of some of the main conclusions of recent research into Lewes Priory which will form the basis of the author’s forthcoming book on Lewes Priory, due for publication in 2010. © Graham Mayhew 2007. No part of this website may be reproduced whether electronically or by any other means without the express permission of the author who asserts his intellectual property rights to the contents of these pages

The priory of St Pancras, Lewes 1076-1537

Founded by William and Gundrada de Warenne as a result of a visit to Cluny in 1076, the first monks under Lanzo, the first prior, arrived in 1077.

The first church was consecrated early in the 1090s at which time work began on the Great Church, modelled on Cluny III the east end of which was completed between 1088-95, followed by the nave which was finished by 1122. At Lewes the Great Church was consecrated on St Pancras Day (12 May) 1146, at which time it was largely complete, although some work continued into the mid-1160s and the 2 western towers were only finished in the late 13C. At over 420 foot long from nave to east end it was the same length as Cluny III prior to the building of the latter’s narthex, but unlike Cluny, Lewes only had single aisles so was much narrower.

At its height Lewes had over 100 monks and 8 dependent priories as well as 170 parish churches and chapels under its control. Until the 14C it was the wealthiest post-Conquest foundation in Canterbury Province. It had a major library and was the source of major schools of Romanesque sculpture and wall paintings. It was also a popular pilgrimage centre on the southern route to Canterbury.

Miraculous draught of fishes. Lewes Priory cloister capital