Can I correct what is a longstanding myth please? The martyrs were not held in the cellars of the Star Inn, now the Town Hall and there is no historical basis for any prisoners to have ever been held in the Inn’s cellar. I seem to recall that this was an advertising scam by the owner of this old coaching Inn in the Georgian period. They were more likely to have been held in the West Gate tower that was used in the 1550s as the town lock up. But it is a good story that has improved with the telling and retelling over the years! The old West Gate tower is a few hundred yards down the High Street, in the narrows by Pipe Passage.
Dr Graham Mayhew, a local historian, had met one of the ancestors of Derrick Carver some 20 years ago, when he was giving a talk on the Lewes history. I cannot remember all the details as it was over 15 years ago that he told a group of us when he referred to this in another talk he was giving.
Hope no one minds me correcting this!
Rod
