Christmas Window Wonderlands in Lewes

Christmas is most definitely here! There are windows of wonder all over Lewes.

For me Christmas arrived at the start of this week, when the Christmas window popped up at 25 Landsdown Place.

dollhouse-christmas-scene — Mesmerised by the house in all its glowy glory (the lightbulb in the right lamp on the right has since been replaced!)

I wrote a few months back about how I like the way people on that street in Lewes use their windows as tiny theatres. (If you didn’t see it, it’s here).

I was there on Tuesday with my children, gawping at the window, when the kindly gent who lives there came out of the house!

child-looking-in-christmas-window — Standing on the windowsill for a closer look

I asked him about it. He said he and his wife have been putting the dollhouse in the window for over 10 years. It used to be their daughter’s – she’s now 23.

When she grew too old to play with it, they put it in the loft, but a few years later, his wife took it down and created this scene of Christmas cosiness for the children of the town to enjoy.

christmas-dollhouse — A closer look at the merriment, the tree and the decorations going on in the house

She swathed it in thick cotton wool and glitter, and placed the Sylvanian animals in and all around it.

They take it out and put it in the window each year in honour of their grandchildren coming to see them before Christmas.

I said that it was the nicest, most Christmassy thing I had ever seen or known anyone do. And it really is. Bear in mind I grew up in the Far East, where Christmas is entirely unauthentic and grotesquely gaudy!

close-up-of-christmas-dollhouse — The rabbits are busy, busy with Christmas dinner, while the duck takes it easy in the frosty garden

I still can’t believe they invite people to stand their children on their windowsill to see it better. I love looking at the Christmas window on Landsown Place as much as my children do. I can’t wait to go back and indulge in it some more!

Here are some other Christmas windows I’ve noticed just today. Note there could be plenty more up the High Street, I have just been slightly chained to my desk the past few days. Sadly we missed Lewes Late Night Shopping!

gingerbread-houses-in-wickle — At Wickle there is a gingerbread house competition going on for charity. Vote for your favourite cakey rendition of a Lewes building and the winning one will receive £500 (and all the pennies used to vote!) from Wickle to donate to their chosen charity

open-door-of-dollhouse — A giant dollhouse in the window of May’s Antiques, where bears and dolls sit on the sofa just inside the open front door, and enjoy looking at the Christmas tree behind it

window-of-antique-shop-at-christmas — The window of the new-ish No.1 Lewes on the bridge in Cliffe. It’s not really geared to children, but those mini trees are a nice thing to stop and look at together. All in a row and so sweet!

christmas-lego-in-opticians-window — Christmassy scenes in LEGO in the window of Wilson Wilson + Hancock down in the precinct. We like the little figure climbing the ladder to decorate the tree!

giant-christmas-tree — Lewes town Christmas tree, which I have photographed from a crouched position and given an Instagram filter to give it a little romance. Yes it’s got size on its side, but I don’t think this is the most inspiring Christmas tree solution this town could come up with!

If you see any enchanting or inventive Christmas windows in Lewes, Brighton, or any of the neighbouring towns or villages, feel free to email a picture of it to me either through the blog’s contact page or via the Facebook microblog.

I’ll add it!

Disclosure: None of the shops or places in this post financially compensated me for putting their window on Little Lewes. These are entirely my own observations of the creative things people and businesses in our town are doing in honour of Christmas.

About Little Lewes

Little Lewes is a blog about things to do with kids in and near Lewes, the county town of East Sussex.

It's here to provide ideas and inspiration about Lewes's own special little places, and about days out and unusual spots to visit within an hour of the town.

I am Kate, a freelance writer, content creator, and editor who once specialised in travel features and books. My feet have been planted firmly on the ground in Lewes since I had my two small sons. Little Lewes is also for me, as an ode to the town that constantly reminds me that I'm lucky to have chosen it as the place to raise my family.