[M5876b] – Traffic jam in High Street, 1962

Originally shared in 2025 as part of
Stories Seen Through A Glass Plate – Working Lewes

In an attempt to divert increasingly heavy traffic away from the High Street, a bold, controversial East Sussex County Council proposal for a Relief Road would have seen 300 houses demolished and 1000 people rehoused. This plan – and Lewes’ future – became a national issue, with conservationists, architects and even the BBC joining the debate.

The plan was featured in ‘Country Life’ magazine, which called it ‘The New Battle of Lewes’ and described how ‘cars, buses and heavy roaring lorries rumble along the High Street.’ One exasperated bus conductor, interviewed by the magazine, exclaimed ‘the only thing to do is pull the whole blinkin’ place down.’

Country Life, May 1964