Settlement has been on the site since the Saxon era, and soon after a Norman invasion, Lewes Castle was built to control a critical portion of the Sussex coast.
The castle has housed many monarchs, princes and nobility over the centuries, as well as played a crucial role in beatles such as the Battle of Lewes. After the 15th-century, the castle declined in its importance and was predominantly used as a warehouse for wool, and by the 17th-century, stone from the castle was being sold off. In 1920, the Sussex Archaeological Society gained freehold of the castle.