The Lansdown Arms, Lewes

Visited 02/01/25. Visited counted first on 01/12/18. Five hand pumps dispensing Gun Extra Pale Ale, Jaipur, Harvey's Sussex Best, TT Landlord and Old Rosie cider. Keg offering of Guinness (at least 2025 starts with something the last pub of 2024 didn't have), Thatchers Gold, Aspall, Neck Oil, Madri, Pravda, K1664 and Peroni. Corner pub near Lewes station with outside drinking on the hill up into town a popular spot in warmer conditions. Pretty basic interior with bare boarded floor in the front, up a single brick height step to flag stoned floor rear of pub. Pretty basic apart from the good painted tree trunk just inside door with upper branches tacked to the ceiling and holding a long string of bright white fairy lights. Walls partly exposed brick, partly dark blue painted boards. Wooden fronted bar counter against back wall opposite the corner entrance with relief carved Eastern mystic sculpture above the bar counter. Pretty basic wooden tables and chairs and tall stools at the bar counter popular with the older local crowd on my early evening visit on my first pub visit of 2025 albeit not a new and hence counted venue for me. No TV's in this venue and generally have always found the music in here to my taste but it was turned up a bit too much on my visit this evening.

It seems that the ale choice in The Lansdown hasn't varied for a while: the choices available on my visit corresponding exactly with those listed by the previous reviewer. The Gun Scaramanga was reasonable enough, if lacking a bit of condition. The single room inside is liberally adorned with plenty of bric-a-brac, including a fake tree in front of you as you enter which all adds a bit of interest. Furniture comprises Church pew type seats and simple wooden tables throughout, which wouldn't seem to offer comfort for an extended stay. The pub works well as a pit-stop before or after exploring the town's pubs if you're on the train, but I'm not sure I'd contemplate staying for too much longer than that.

Just a short walk from Lewes station, this is a rightly popular pub with a compact interior and a good ale range. A corner entrance leads you into a bare boarded room with the servery along the back wall and some limited seating options in the remainder of the space. Most of the seating comes in the form of simple tables and chairs, although a few high stools are dotted around for good measure – ideal for perching along the bar or any ledges you might come across. The bar has a rustic, timber fronted counter, smart modern shelving on the bar back and an eye-catching wood carving across the canopy depicting some sort of Far Eastern scene. There’s a fair bit of wood panelling and dark wood beams around the room, but a contemporary colour scheme helps make the place feel like somewhere most pub users could enjoy and the décor includes a few modern bits alongside the usual breweriana, paintings and photos you might associate with a traditional boozer. Perhaps the most striking feature is the presence of a tree in the middle of the room, with one branch carved into a tiny table surface big enough to hold one pint glass. Our visit wasn’t timed too well, with us tipping up an hour before a game was due to start at Lewes’ nearby Dripping Pan ground, so the place was mobbed with football fans, making it hard to move around an ultimately forcing us to take a seat on one of the pavement benches out the front. The five handpulls were all clipped, offering a choice of Gun Scaramanga, Harvey's Sussex Best, Taylors Landlord, Thornbridge Jaipur and a real cider. The Scaramanga was in good condition and a great first pint of the day, whilst others reported the Landlord to be in fine shape as well. The place seems very popular and was doing a good trade when we passed on our way back to the station at the end of the day, long after the football was done. I liked this place and thought it makes a good introduction to Lewes’ strong pub scene. I couldn’t really enjoy the place to the full due to the crowd and therefore can’t be entirely sure where it ranks among the town’s other top ale houses, but I enjoyed it enough that I’ll definitely make an effort to stop by again the next time I’m in town. Date of visit - 12th October 2024

Nice pub at bottome of hill between the high town and the station. Bare floor boards, chunky tables and chairs and some fairy lights to soften the effect

When'ever I'm in Lewes having a drink I always make this pub my last before getting the train, do like it, it has a good selection of ales even though by the time I get there I've had enough of ale and alway's go for the Thatchers Gold. A one room pub which does have a local's feel with several tables outside the main door on the pavement, alway's quite busy and just a couple of minutes walk to the station.