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LEWES.

LEWES is principally situate on a declivity west of the Ouse, which here cuts through the chalk hills; but it also partly stands on the level ground on the eastern side, sheltered by the South Downs, which rise abruptly, almost close to the river banks.

The fact of Lewes being a Roman station seems extremely doubtful; but it had acquired its present name, said to be derived from leswes, the Anglo-Saxon word for pastures, at least two centuries before the Norman conquest. William the Conqueror fixed on Lewes as the site of one of those fortresses by which he kept in awe his Saxon subjects; and considerable remains of it still exist, on a commanding height, north-west of the town. One gateway is nearly entire; and the keep, which is in tolerable preservation, has recently been tastefully repaired. East of the town, also, are the ruins of a very ancient and wealthy priory; the walls of which enclosed an area of about thirty-three acres : at the dissolution of the monasteries, its revenues amounted to 1,0907.