Visit to Battle Abbey 

This was a truly unique opportunity to visit Battle Abbey.   This originally Benedictine Abbey  was built in the 11th Century reputedly on the site of the Battle of Hastings.  After the Dissolution Henry VIII gave it to Sir Anthony Browne whose family then passed it to the  notorious Webster family.  They held sway for some 200 hundred years up to 1976 when, after years of profligacy and mis-management, they were obliged to sell and it was acquired for the nation.

David Martin gave an illustrated talk on the Abbey buildings and the origins of the town of Battle will be  in the Library.  After lunch James Dennett was happy to take us on a tour around the buildings.  Christopher Whittick later gave an illustrated talk  on the Abbey archive and its custodial history.

Summary of 2017

In the 2017 programme, organised by the Friends of The Keep Archives, there were three visits to Lewes Town Hall, Firle Place and Church, and Powdermill Hotel.  Click these three images to the browse the websites of these great houses visited by FoTKA during the year:

Visit to Lewes Town Hall - February 20th

This is a visit to Lewes Town Hall.  We were privileged indeed, that the Mayor of Lewes, Dr Graham Mayhew - himself a noted historian - agreed to lead the visit, with Christopher Whittick, County Archivist and Philip Pople, Trustee, as participants. After an introductory talk, we were able to see the historic building and its contents in detail.   Here's a selection of pictures of the occasion, the full write-up will be in the next newsletter.

Browse more of our visits 

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