Sussex Bonfire Societies

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Members of the Lewes Borough Bonfire Society parade behind their banner wearing blue and white smugglers colours, as part of the torchlit procession on Bonfire Night in Lewes, Sussex.

The Sussex Bonfire Societies are responsible for the series of bonfire festivals around Eastern Sussex during October and November.

The origin of these societies is in the town of Lewes. Lewes has seven separate societies and on the 5 November the town is host to five separate bonfires. The bonfire night celebrations here are both a celebration of Guy Fawkes Night and a commemoration of the burning of 17 Protestant martyrs in Lewes High Street from 1555 to 1557, during the reign of Mary Tudor, though the sectarian aspect of the celebrations passes most people by these days.

The societies outside Lewes - with the exception of Mayfield - only celebrate Guy Fawkes night, but have picked up the habit of burning large effigies on their bonfire. Traditionally these were Catholic figures in Lewes, but recently have taken a more secular turn.

As far as Mayfield and it's bonfire celebrations are concerned, not only were two of the Lewes Martyrs from the village but, on 24th September 1556 four further protestant martyrs were actually put to death in the village itself (on a site opposite the current Colkins Mill Church in Station Road, which has a stone monument to the martyrs situated in its gardens). Furthermore - and as far as fitting in with the celebrations of other local societies allows - Mayfield's torchlit procession and carnival always take place on the Saturday nearest to 24th September.

Traditionally Guy Fawkes' night in England was celebrated by large communal bonfires and celebrations, but in most parts of the country this has withered to family bonfires and large public fireworks displays. No one really knows why the tradition has remained so strong in Sussex, but it is the highlight of the year for many towns and villages in the area, with not only fires, but parades and festivals. The Bonfire Society will also collect money and donate it to a local charity.

The complexity of organising such a festival (arrangements usually start in summer) has led the societies to band together and take part in each other's bonfires. This also much improves the associated parade, with large festivals like Lewes and Hastings going on throughout the night. This has also meant that not all bonfires can be held on the traditional 5th November and the season has been extended to almost 6 weeks with outfires running from early September to mid November. The bonfire season starts with the Uckfield Carnival and the last outfire of the season is held in Robertsbridge.