England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Lewes St John the Baptist

The Parish

Lewes is a market town and the administrative capital of East Sussex, the town is divided into 6 parishes of which St John the Baptist is just one which covers the area of the town known as Southover . Lewes is located within a gap in the chalky ridge of the South Downs at the point where the River Ouse has created a breach on its way to the English Channel at Newhaven. Lewes is about 8 miles inland from the coast and roughly the same northeast of the seaside town of Brighton. Lewes is also an important junction where the major routes A27 (east to west) meets the A26 (north to south). The parish of St John the Baptist covers the southern portion of the town, the rather more workaday area of Southover. Much of the area covered by the parish lies between the historic centre and the railway line to Brighton which loops around the south of the town. The parish centre stands at just 10 metres above sea level but land quickly rises to the west to above 200 metres as the South Downs encroach onto the town. The main drainage is the River Ouse which has created (probably in the Late Ice Age) a large breach in the eastern end of the South Downs. St John the Baptist's parish as Lewes' 4th of 6 in terms of population size supporting close to 1,200 parishioners within its rather small acreage. In Domesday times Lewes was held jointly by the King and the Archbishop of Canterbury but the entry is surprisingly lacking in detail beyond stating there were 127 households across the 6 parishes.

The Church

St John the Baptist began life in a differing role as the gate-house to a hospice providing hospitality to the poor and weary travellers. The original gate-house began life in the 12th century and was Norman Romanesque in style but of that structure little more than a single wall survives. The largest surviving structures are those of the 4-bay southern arcade which was originally the wall between the men's and women's quarters of the hospitium. The northern side of the church is 14th century and Perpendicular in style, a date similar to that of the tower's arch. The blocky brick tower was itself rebuilt in a 20 year campaign from 1814 to 1738, a period unusual for major church-building activity.  Much of the remainder is the result of well-intentioned Victorian meddling, the southern chapel, a Neo-Norman concoction and described by Pevsner as "horrible" dates from 1847 whilst the chancel is later still from 1885. Southover High Street has numerous parking bays along it length, the church's northern side, however, stands flush to the road and better views of the brick tower are to be had from the street, to the south a broad churchyard allows more considered views for the photographer.