Lewes Bonfire

Origins and history

Bonfire Night itself grew out of the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605, when a group of English Catholics, Guy Fawkes among them, were stopped before they could blow up the House of Lords. Parliament answered the following January with an act setting aside 5 November for public thanksgiving, and Church of England parishes were told to hold a service that day. In Lewes the marking of the date was irregular for a long time and often rowdy. Oliver Cromwell's government banned it; it returned under Charles II but without a fixed pattern. By the 1820s crowds of Bonfire Boys were lighting fires and letting off fireworks, and by the 1850s the modern processions had taken shape.

How the night unfolds

The evening opens with a barrel run along Cliffe High Street. Teams of women and men drag flaming tar barrels, and one barrel is thrown into the River Ouse, a gesture said to recall magistrates being pitched into the water after they read the Riot Act in 1847. Seventeen burning crosses are then carried through the town in memory of the martyrs, and wreaths are laid at the war memorial. Each society walks its own district before the groups join for a single parade. Torch carriers drop small fireworks known locally as rookies, and others carry banners, instruments or burning letters that spell out a society's initials. The night ends at separate fire sites with bonfires and firework displays.

The bonfire societies

Seven societies run the evening. Cliffe and Lewes Borough were both founded in 1853, which makes them the oldest; the others followed later in the same century, except Southover, which disbanded in 1985 and started again in 2005. Each society has its own district, its own headquarters, often a pub, and its own set of costumes: coloured jumpers for the smugglers' groups and 'pioneer' sections dressed as Vikings, Native Americans, monks or chalk miners. In the weeks before 5 November the societies travel to outmeetings held by other Sussex towns. On the night, groups from 25 to 30 other places come to Lewes and march behind the local societies.

Effigies and tableaux

Effigies are part of the night. Guy Fawkes is burned every year, and Pope Paul V, who led the Roman Catholic Church in 1605, has long been among the figures. Each of the six main societies also builds a tableau, a large three-dimensional model filled with fireworks. Cliffe and Southover put the heads of their current 'Enemies of Bonfire' on pikes; those named have ranged from national figures to local officials who tried to place limits on the event. Choices have drawn attention far beyond Sussex, as when Osama bin Laden was burned in 2001, or when plans to burn effigies of Alex Salmond were investigated by police in 2014.

Martyrs and controversy

The seventeen Protestant martyrs burned in Lewes during the Marian Persecutions lie at the centre of the occasion, and preaching about them became a custom. William Richardson, who served as rector in Southover, used sermons in 1893 to warn his hearers about the dangers of Catholicism, and the town's Orange Lodge, then newly set up, was well represented among them. Anti-papal feeling has a long history in Lewes. The mayor asked in the 1930s for 'no popery' banners to be taken down and for the burning of the pope in effigy to stop. Today such hostility is uncommon, though debate about tradition and bigotry goes on, and Lewes Borough gave up blackface and its Zulu costumes in 2017.

How Lewes Bonfire is kept

Local societies gather in their own districts during the afternoon and evening, then converge for a joint parade through the middle of town, with visiting Sussex societies following. Torches are carried throughout, along with banners, instruments and burning crosses. A barrel run opens the evening, and a wreath-laying takes place at the war memorial. The processions break up at the edge of town, where every society has its own fire site, bonfire and firework display, and the effigies are burned. Members then go back to their headquarters for the Bonfire Prayers.

When and where

The date is fixed at 5 November, the anniversary of the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot in 1605. When the fifth falls on a Sunday the celebrations move to Saturday the fourth. Preparations run through the autumn, with each society visiting other Sussex towns for outmeetings in the preceding weeks.

Everything happens in Lewes, a market town in Sussex with a little over 17,000 residents. The society districts cover different quarters of the town, from Cliffe to Southover, and the fire sites sit on the edge of the built-up area. Crowds of up to 80,000 come from across the south of England and sometimes further.

What Lewes Bonfire means

The burning crosses and the wreath-laying carry the memory of seventeen neighbours put to death for their faith. The barrel thrown into the Ouse stands for a moment of resistance, when magistrates who tried to read the Riot Act were tipped into the river. For the societies, the night is about belonging as much as history: each group has its own patch, colours and pioneer figures, and the Monster Iron Key carried by Lewes Borough is held to grant the Borough Boys the freedom of the town's streets.

Days Lewes Bonfire is marked

Questions people ask about Lewes Bonfire

See also

MummingA medieval European custom of masked house-to-house visits, performances and seasonal revelry.ImbolcA Gaelic festival heralding spring and honoring Saint Brigid with woven rush crossesOnamA ten-day harvest festival in Kerala celebrating the return of King Mahabali with feasts, flower carpets and boat races.Damba festivalA Ghanaian celebration of royal authority, ancestral memory, music and dance

Good reading and sources

• Lewes bonfire society ends tradition of blacking-upThe Guardian, Article
• Police investigate Alex Salmond bonfire effigyBBC, Article
• Lewes bonfire society ends tradition of blacking-upThe Guardian, Article
• Police investigate Alex Salmond bonfire effigyBBC, Article

• Lewes Bonfire on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.