What Happened Where?
The de Warenne family lived inside the safest part of the Castle, the Shell Keep. Most of the Castle's occupants lived and worked in the Bailey.
This was a large, roughly oval area between the two mottes and inside the curtain wall. When the de Warenne family was here the Bailey buzzed with activity, noise and smells. When they moved on to one of their other castles, Lewes would have been much quieter.
Important buildings in the Bailey included stables, barracks, workshops, storehouses, the forge, brew house, bake house, dairy and kitchen. There was also an area for soldiers to practise archery and other skills.
After the late 14th century, when the Castle began to decay, houses and other buildings were built in the Bailey.
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The open green area has been used as a bowling green since at least 1639. Tom Paine, the revolutionary, played bowls there when he lived in Lewes in the 18th century.
Did You Know?
The Bowling Green in the former Bailey is the lumpiest in England. This is because the grass is on top of the remains of the medieval buildings that used to be there.
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