Lewes & district · Local news you can trust
Every food hygiene rating from a September inspection in Lewes district is a 5, six of them school kitchens. Four places still hold a 1 from this spring and summer.
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House prices
Lewes House Prices Up £2,990, Best Rise in East Sussex
The Lewes district average reached £368,408 in July, up £2,990 in a year and the best rise in East Sussex. Prices have edged down since April; flats fell 2.1%.
Events
What's On in Lewes: Glyndebourne's Autumn Operas, Then Bonfire
Glyndebourne's autumn operas open on 14 October, Seaford Bonfire is on the 17th, Ben Wheatley is at the Depot on the 29th and Lewes Bonfire is 5 November.
Lewes
Lewes term dates 2026/27: half term 26 to 30 October
Lewes district schools break for half term 26 to 30 October and for Christmas on 18 December. Peacehaven and Lewes Old Grammar start October a week early.
Lewes
Lewes Christmas trains: none on 25 Dec, few on 26 Dec
No trains run through Lewes on Christmas Day, and Boxing Day is a Saturday with the bank holiday on Monday 28 December. The 28 bus ran to Lewes on 25 Dec 2025.
Lewes
Lewes Christmas bins: no collections 25 to 28 December
Lewes district bins skip 25 to 28 December 2026 and rounds run a day or two late until mid-January. Every round's dates, tree drop-offs and tip hours.
Lewes
Lewes tip opening times: 9am to 4pm, book first
Lewes tip at Ham Lane opens 9am to 4pm every day; Newhaven and Seaford are on winter hours, 8am to 4pm. Every visit must be booked. Christmas hours inside.
Lewes
Lewes October half term: 8 things on, 24 Oct to 1 Nov
Lewes schools are off 26 to 30 October 2026. What's on locally that week: Newhaven Fort's daily Halloween programme, Lewes Castle's trail, Firle Bonfire.
Lewes
Lewes Castle in winter: shut 24 to 26 Dec, weekends from Jan
Lewes Castle opens Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 4pm, until 3 January 2027, shuts 24 to 26 December, then goes weekends only. Tickets from £6.50 for children.
Seaford
Seaford Christmas lights switch-on: Saturday 12 December
Seaford Christmas Magic, with the lantern parade and lights switch-on, is on Saturday 12 December 2026, two weeks later than last year. What happened in 2025.
Peacehaven
Panto near Lewes: Beauty and the Beast, Peacehaven, 3-5 Dec
The district's panto this Christmas is Peacehaven Players' Beauty and the Beast, 3 to 5 December 2026. Lewes Little Theatre has A Christmas Carol, 5 to 12 Dec.
Lewes
Santa near Lewes: free Seaford grotto, steam trains from £10
Where to see Father Christmas near Lewes in 2026: Seaford's grotto on 12 December, Paradise Park in Newhaven, and Bluebell Santa Specials from £10 a child.
Lewes
Lewes Station Cash Machine to Go: 13 October to Object
Barclays will shut the ATM at 1 Station Road on or after 11 December. LINK found no gap in Lewes and stopped at step one of three. Reviews close 13 October.
Lewes is the historic county town of East Sussex, on the Ouse under the castle, and it is not the largest town in its own district. Seaford is, along the coast. Peacehaven and Newhaven come next, and the council itself moved its headquarters to Newhaven in 2023. Ringmer and the downland villages fill in the rest.
The Lewes Post covers all four towns and the villages with them. Planning here is split, because much of the district lies inside the South Downs National Park, where applications are decided by the park authority rather than the district council, and we always say which body made a decision. Everything we publish comes from the published record with a link to the document.
Every fact carries a link to the source it came from.