6 Best Sights in Lewes, The Southeast

Art and life mixed at Charleston, the property that Vanessa Bell—sister of Virginia Woolf—bought in 1916 and fancifully decorated, along with Duncan Grant (who lived here until 1978). The house, which is more farmhouse than grand country manor and lies seven miles east of Lewes, soon became a refuge for the writers and artists of the Bloomsbury Group. On display are colorful ceramics and textiles of the Omega Workshop—in which Bell and Grant participated—and paintings by Picasso and Renoir, as well as by Bell and Grant themselves. Entry to the house is by guided tour; you can buy tickets when you arrive (first come, first served) or book in advance online. There are also art exhibition spaces to explore, a lovely little walled garden, and a branch of Lewes-based Italian restaurant Caccia & Tails. Come in May for the annual Charleston Festival, which attracts big-name writers and artists from all over the world. The house isn't suitable for those with mobility issues, although reduced-price ground-floor-only tickets are available.

This 16th-century house, a fragile-looking, timber-frame building, was part of Anne of Cleves's divorce settlement from Henry VIII—although she never lived in it. Today, it offers a fascinating slice of high-class Tudor life, with well-preserved interiors including a kitchen, parlor, and a large bedroom divided into a Great Chamber with an antique four-poster bed and a smaller Hall Chamber. There's also the main hall (now the reception area and shop), a charming little Tudor garden, gallery spaces displaying collections of Sussex ironwork and pottery, and a room full of medieval dress-up clothes for kids. To get to the house from Lewes Castle and the High Street, walk down the steep, cobbled Keere Street past lovely Grange Gardens, then hang a right onto Southover High Street.

Move over Dover: these are perhaps Britain's most spectacular white cliffs. Located 18 miles southeast of Lewes, off the A259 just before Eastbourne, this up-to-162-meter-high curtain of chalk has watched over the English Channel for nigh on 100 million years. Today, you can walk the windy path along the top of Beachy Head for lovely views of the cliffs, the sea, and the pretty red-and-white-striped lighthouse. For a longer clifftop walk, continue west along the Seven Sisters Cliffs; it's around 5½ miles (two hours) each way from the Beachy Head parking lot to the stony beach at Cuckmere Haven.

High above the valley of the River Ouse stand the majestic ruins of Lewes Castle, begun in 1100 by one of the country's Norman conquerors and completed 300 years later. Start your visit at the Barbican House for an introduction to the castle's history through audiovisual displays, town models, tapestries, and archaeology collections before heading up the hill to see the castle itself. It's a bit of a climb to the keep, plus several more steps to the very top of the West and South Towers, but it's worth it for the panoramic views of the town and countryside. The Barbican also has a dress-up room for kids.

Ten miles southeast of Lewes on the A27, Wilmington has a famous landmark that people drive for miles to see. High on the downs to the south of the village (signposted off the A27), a 226-foot-tall white figure with a staff in each hand, known as the Long Man of Wilmington, is carved into the chalk. His age is a subject of great debate: some researchers think he might have been created as far back as Roman or even Neolithic times, but recent soil analysis places the figure closer to the 16th century. It's one of England's two most significant human hill figures, along with the Cerne Abbas Giant near Dorchester in Dorset. To get here, park in the public parking lot just south of Wilmington Priory and walk.

Of particular interest to Bloomsbury Group fans, this property three miles south of Lewes was the home of novelist Virginia Woolf and her husband, Leonard Woolf, who bought it in 1919. Leonard lived here until his death in 1969. Rooms in the small cottage include Virginia's study and her bedroom. Artists Vanessa Bell (Virginia's sister) and Duncan Grant helped decorate the house.