Living in Lewes: area guide to homes, schools and transport

Houses and flats for sale in Lewes
The town centre offers a mixture of medieval, Georgian and Victorian houses and cottages. Each of the areas beyond the town centre has its own name. According to estate agent Liz Hollington from Strutt & Parker, Cliffe, at the bottom of the town, has made a remarkable recovery from the flood which devastated it in 2000.

“The area has regenerated,” she said. “There was time when houses there didn’t sell, but now the town’s emphasis has shifted down the hill to Cliffe High Street, where there are lots of new independent shops and cafés.”

Southover has medieval, Tudor, Victorian and Edwardian houses, there are two popular primary schools, and it is close to the station.

The Wallands area has some of the town’s most expensive houses.

Travel and commuting: Lewes is on the A27, which connects with the A23 London to Brighton Road north of Brighton. The commuter train journey to Victoria takes about 66 minutes and an annual season ticket is £3,860.

The area attracts: Liz Hollington says Lewes attracts a lot of London buyers. “Over the last few years we have noticed that families want to be within walking distance of the town centre rather than out in one of the villages. The cost of driving is now a consideration which it never used to be. It is quite an arty town with a lot of people working in the media.”

Staying power: families tend to stay in Lewes, which often means there is a shortage of homes to buy.

Postcodes: Lewes is divided between two Brighton postcodes — BN7, the western half of the town including the villages of Plumpton and Rodmell, and BN8, the eastern half, including villages such as Firle, Glynde and Ringmer. The BN7 postcode is the more desirable.

Best roads: the two best roads are Rotten Row and cobbled Keere Street, both charming and in the heart of the town. Also popular are King Henry’s Road, Prince Edward’s Road and The Avenue, where there are large, detached Victorian houses which can sell for more than £1 million.

Up and coming: The Pells area to the north of the town centre is where there are two- and three-bedroom Victorian houses which sell for between £350,000 and £400,000.

Renting: Rebecca Lewis, lettings manger at Strutt & Parker’s local office, said the town is attracting a lot of young couples from London who rent before they buy. There are also older families who make a lifestyle choice to downsize to a rental home in one of the downland villages, often because they are renting out their London home.

Photographs by Graham Hussey

Historic Lewes’s two main claims to fame are its Bonfire Night fireworks display every year, the UK’s biggest, and nearby Glyndebourne opera house’s annual international-quality summer season. But this beautiful town has more going for it than fireworks and high notes.

It’s a short hop to Brighton but Lewes is far quieter. It has boutiques, antique shops, plenty of cafés and restaurants, plus a monthly farmers’ market. It is a haven for culture vultures with an art gallery, film club, comedy club and annual arts festival, and many pubs host live music. There are also cricket, football, cycling and golf clubs.

Lewes sits within the South Downs National Park, and since it is only 10 miles inland, a day out at the seaside is simple — choose from heaving Brighton or laid-back Saltdean.

Primary
Most of Lewes’s primary schools get good results at Key Stage 2 (age 11). The most sought-after Lewes primary schools are: Western Road in Southover High Street, Southover in Potters Lane and Wallands in Gundreda Road, and they are all judged “good” by the government’s education watchdog Ofsted.

Iford & Kingston CofE in the village of Kingston is judged “outstanding”.

Private
The local private primary school is Lewes New School (co-ed, ages three to 11); and the local all through private school is the long-established Lewes Old Grammar – known locally as LOGS – in the high street. Brighton College (co-ed ages 3 to 18) is a well-respected private school in nearby Brighton which was named independent school of the year a couple of years back by a Sunday newspaper. Cumnor House (co-ed, ages four to 13) in Danehill close to Haywards Heath is a day and boarding prep school currently very popular with London parents.

Comprehensives
Priory School (co-ed, ages 11 to 16) in Mountfield Road, is the local comprehensive; it gets good results at GCSE and is judged to be “outstanding”. Other comprehensive options are Ringmer Community College (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in the village of Ringmer and Chailey School (co-ed, ages 11 to 16) north of Lewes between Burgess Hill and Uckfield; both are judged “good”.