01273 302170 www.staubynsschoolbrighton.co.uk - Viva Lewes

Photo by Katie Moorman
mylewes
Profession: I’m one of the education officers at Lewes
Castle. My main job at the moment is running a
project aiming to raise awareness in the community
about the Battle of Lewes, in the run-up to its 750th
anniversary in 2014. We’re encouraging people to
come up with ideas for projects, and helping to turn
those projects into reality. There’s one group, for
example, fashioning a tapestry depicting the battle.
And a group of researchers working on identifying
where the 1264 war graves are, and commemorating
those sites.
We hear you’re going to set the castle on fire… On
the 14th April there’s an interactive event in which
specialist projection experts are going to recreate the
Battle of Lewes on the flintwork of Barbican Gate
using state-of-the-art lighting techniques, as part of a
4d extravaganza, involving actors dressed in medieval
gear, silent disco headphones, and Harveys beer. A
once-in-a-lifetime experience: tickets will be on sale
soon. On the same day there’s a conference involving
some of the biggest names in medieval history
research.
So the 2014 celebrations are likely to be a big deal?
An enormous deal. The Battle of Lewes wasn’t just
any old battle, it was an extremely important event in
English history, as it led to the first-ever representative
Parliament, and helped shape our democracy. In
2014 the eyes of the whole country will be on Lewes:
we have to decide what they will see.
Battle re-enactments, that sort of thing? We’re
hoping so. But we also want to reflect the effect the
EDWINA LIVESEy
battle had on the townspeople of Lewes. It must have
been an extremely traumatic event for the townspeople:
the monks recorded 2,700 deaths that day, as
many as lived in the town.
Are you local? I’m originally from Yorkshire, which
is evident whenever I say ‘castle’, which is a lot, in the
circumstances. I came here ten years ago for a visit,
and never left.
What’s your favourite Lewes landmark? Harveys
Brewery. I love it when steam comes out the chimney,
which drives home the point that it’s not just a beautiful
building: there’s real industry going on in there.
What’s your local? The Lewes Arms. I don’t eat out
much in Lewes, but I do like drinking hot chocolate
with cream, on the sofas in the Riverside, with the
wonderful views.
Anything you don’t like about Lewes? Being a
lovely hill town, with a medieval street pattern, parking
my van is difficult and it has been vandalised three
times recently.
Do you think Lewes could sustain a permanent
cinema? At first I didn’t like the idea of the Town
Council taking over the cinema at the All Saints.
State-run cinema? It sounded like something in the
Soviet era. But if the money can be churned back into
the building to make improvements to the seating, and
other facilities, maybe it is a good idea. I’d like to see
a permanent cinema. The Maltings will soon become
vacant, when the record office is moved to Falmer.
That would be a perfect venue. I bet someone could
find some funding for that… Interveiw by Alex Leith
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