Despite being enlarged in 1818 to hold 70 cells along with a treadmill, the goal had become too small and was replaced by the present day Victorian prison in 1853.

[1] An early prisoner at Lewes was George Witton, a Lieutenant in the Bushveldt Carbineers in the Boer War in South Africa.

After some time Winston Churchill, himself a former prisoner of the Boers during the war, put a number of parliamentary questions to the Colonial Secretary about Witton's ongoing incarceration.

In the wake of the 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland, several of its prominent figures were held at the prison, including Thomas Ashe; Harry Boland, Winifred Carney; Éamon de Valera; Frank Lawless; and Helena Molony.

[2] In October 2003, an inquiry was launched after 25 to 30 prisoners were involved in a riot that led to property damage and the injury of an officer.

[5] On 17 September 2014, a prison officer was hospitalised with facial injuries following an attack involving three inmates who had been told they were going to be searched.

Mike Rolfe of the Prison Officers Association blamed severe staff shortage and poor management.

Rolfe said, "There were only four staff on that wing and all four retreated to safety after threats of violence and the prisoners went on the rampage."

Two years previously, a serving officer said Lewes Prison "resembled a warzone" due to a severe staff shortage and drug smuggling.

The prison offers a range of full and part-time education including information technology, literacy, numeracy, and life/social skills, and has weekly library access for all.