Lewes, the county town of Sussex, 50 miles S. of London, is picturesquely situated on the eastern declivity of one of the South Downs, at the foot of which flows the navigable river Ouse on its way to the sea at Newhaven, 7 miles distant. Pop. (1831) 8592; (1901) 11,249. The chief objects of interest are the ruins of a priory and castle which once stood here, the former built (1072-78) by William de Warenne, Earl of Surrey, who with his wife Gundreda, a daughter of William the Conqueror, was buried within its precincts. Of the castle which stood on high ground in the centre of the town, the keep and gateway, the only portions now remaining, are occupied as a museum. Lewes has seven churches, mostly Perpendicular in style, a county hall (1812), free library (1862), school of science and art (1868), and a town-hall (1872). Newspaper-printing and tanning are carried on. Till 1867 the town, which was incorporated in 1881, returned two members, till 1885 one. Race-meetings are held three times a year near Mount Harry on the Downs, where, on 14th May 1264, Henry III. was routed by Simon de Montfort. ' See works by Horsfield (2 vols. 1824-27), Mantell (1846), and Lower (3d ed. 1880).