Christmas Day lunch near Lewes from £94.95 at the Cuckmere Inn to £120 at the Royal Oak, Barcombe: eight pubs with 2026 prices, deposits and deadlines.

For Christmas Day in Lewes itself, most people look first at the White Hart on the High Street (five courses, £115). Just outside town, the Royal Oak at Barcombe (£120 for five courses) and the Bull in Ditchling (£115) are the dearest on the list, and the Cuckmere Inn at Exceat is the lowest at £94.95. Every entry was checked against the venue’s own site on 1 November 2026.

We have not eaten at any of these for this guide, and nothing here is a review. Each entry gives the 2026 price from the pub’s own Christmas page or menu, what it includes, any child price, the deposit and the Food Standards Agency hygiene rating. Christmas Day 2026 is a Friday. Most of these pubs want a deposit, or the whole bill, when you book, and your menu choices by early December. Two of the eight, the John Harvey Tavern and the Juggs, do not serve their Christmas menu on Christmas Day; they are here for December meals.

Lewes town centre

1. The White Hart, High Street

The White Hart is the hotel and pub at 55 High Street, run by Heartwood Inns. Its Christmas page offers a five-course Christmas Day menu at £115 a person with a glass of Buck’s Fizz on arrival, starting with a roast parsnip soup and finishing with cheese.

There is a Christmas Day children’s menu for under-eights at £25: two starters, a vegan, chicken or turkey roast, and ice cream or a chocolate pudding. For the rest of December, the Christmas party menu runs from Thursday 26 November to Thursday 24 December at £34 for two courses or £43.50 for three.

Price Christmas Day five courses £115 a person; children under 8 £25; party menu £34 to £43.50 (26 November to 24 December)
Booking Christmas Day £75 a person deposit (£20 a high chair), pre-orders by 1 December 2026; party menu £10 a person deposit for 10 or more
Call 01273 476694
Address 55 High Street, Lewes, BN7 1XE
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 8 July 2026
Website whitehartlewes.com/christmas
Good for town centre, rooms to stay, children's menu, vegan and vegetarian choices

2. The John Harvey Tavern, Cliffe High Street

The John Harvey Tavern is in Bear Yard off Cliffe High Street, across the road from Harvey’s brewery, and its website carries the Harvey & Son name. Its Christmas menu is £23 for one course, £30.95 for two or £37.95 for three, with traditional roast turkey “with all the trimmings”, belly pork, a locally caught fish pie or a butternut squash and lentil Wellington.

Pigs in blankets are £5 extra. It is pre-booking only, with pre-orders emailed at least seven days ahead.

The pub’s festive hours sheet shows the bar open from 12pm to 3pm on Christmas Day with the kitchen closed, so this is a December meal, not a Christmas Day lunch.

Price Christmas menu one course £23, two courses £30.95, three courses £37.95; sides £4 to £5
Booking pre-booking only; pre-orders at least 7 days before
Call 01273 479880
Address Bear Yard, Cliffe High Street, Lewes, BN7 2AN
Hygiene rating 4, Food Standards Agency, 14 May 2026
Website johnharveytavern.co.uk/christmas
Good for Harvey's beer, town centre, vegetarian main, Christmas Day bar 12pm to 3pm (no food)

Kingston and Ditchling

3. The Juggs, Kingston

The Juggs is on The Street in Kingston, under the Downs about two miles south-west of Lewes. Its Christmas menu for December 2026 is £37.50 for two courses or £45 for three, both with tea or coffee and petits fours.

The mains are roast breast of turkey with the seasonal trimmings, seared sea bass, a Puy lentil and smoked applewood Wellington and braised ox cheek. The menu runs throughout December except 25 and 26 December, and a 10% discretionary service charge is added to all tables.

Price Christmas menu two courses £37.50, three courses £45 (December, not 25 or 26 December)
Booking book through the pub's website; 10% discretionary service charge
Call 01273 472523
Address The Street, Kingston, Lewes, BN7 3NT
Hygiene rating 3, Food Standards Agency, 8 April 2026
Website thejuggs.co.uk/menus
Listing Our listing
Good for village pub, vegan main, Sussex cheese, walks on the Downs

4. The Bull, Ditchling

The Bull is the Young’s pub on Ditchling High Street. Its Christmas page lists Christmas Day opening from 12pm to 6pm, and its Christmas Day menu is £115 a person: starters such as baked South Coast scallops, mains including a crown of English turkey with maple roast gammon and Gressingham duck, 28-day-aged sirloin or halibut, all with double egg Yorkshire pudding and goose fat roast potatoes.

The youngsters’ Christmas Day menu is £65 for three courses, and the December festive menu is £48 for three courses. The menus carry no year.

Young’s terms ask for the full price at booking, menu choices by 1 December and add a 12.5% service charge on Christmas Day.

Open Christmas Day 12pm to 6pm; Boxing Day 12pm to 10.30pm
Price Christmas Day £115 a person; youngsters £65; festive menu three courses £48
Booking Christmas Day paid in full at booking; menu choices by 1 December 2026; 12.5% service charge
Call 01273 843147
Address 2 High Street, Ditchling, BN6 8TA
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 23 October 2025
Website thebullditchling.com/christmas
Good for open fires, children's menu, vegan Wellington

Barcombe, Chailey and Laughton

5. The Royal Oak, Barcombe

The Royal Oak is on the High Street at Barcombe Cross, about four miles north of Lewes. Its 2026 Christmas Day menu is five courses for £120: bubbles on arrival, an amuse bouche, a starter such as pan-seared king scallops or pigeon breast, a sorbet, then roast turkey crown, a root vegetable pithivier, monkfish, duck ragu or beef Wellington, all roasts with the trimmings, and a pudding.

Cheese is a £5 supplement. It is pre-booking only, and 50% of the price per head is taken to secure the table.

For other December dates, the Christmas party menu is £32.95 for two courses or £39.95 for three.

Price Christmas Day five courses £120; cheese £5 extra; party menu £32.95 to £39.95
Booking pre-booking only; 50% per head deposit
Call 01273 400418
Address High Street, Barcombe, BN8 5BA
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 12 August 2026
Website royaloakbarcombe.com/christmas-at-the-oak
Listing Our listing
Good for village pub, vegetarian pithivier, gluten-free options

6. The Five Bells, Chailey

The Five Bells is on the A275 at Chailey Green, about seven miles north of Lewes, and is run by Revived Inns. For Christmas Day 2026 it offers one sitting with limited availability, at £105 for adults and £45 for children under 12.

Its Christmas fayre menu, two or three courses from £29 a person, runs from 1 to 24 December by pre-booking, and the pub says it can take parties of up to 85. Saturday party nights with a DJ are £39.95 a head for tables of ten.

Price Christmas Day £105 an adult, £45 a child under 12; Christmas fayre menu from £29 (1 to 24 December)
Booking one Christmas Day sitting; call or email fivebells@revivedinns.co.uk
Call 01825 278328
Address Chailey Green Road (A275), Chailey, BN8 4DA
Hygiene rating 3, Food Standards Agency, 15 July 2026
Website fivebellschailey.co.uk/christmas
Good for large groups, children's price, party nights

7. The Roebuck Inn, Laughton

The Roebuck Inn is on Lewes Road at Laughton, about seven miles east of Lewes, and calls itself a “traditional village inn and farm shop”. Its Christmas page, updated in September 2026, prices Christmas Day at £100 a person and £45 a child: welcome canapés, a starter such as prawn and lobster ravioli, a Downsview Farm Champagne sorbet, then locally sourced roast turkey, goose breast, Sussex beef Wellington, turbot or a vegan pithivier, and a pudding or the Sussex cheeseboard.

Its festive menu, served throughout December, is £32 for two courses or £36 for three. The page carries no year and says prices are subject to change.

Price Christmas Day £100 a person, £45 a child; festive menu £32 to £36 (December)
Booking by phone or bookings@theroebuckinn.co.uk; book early
Call 01323 379272
Address Lewes Road, Laughton, BN8 6BG
Hygiene rating 4, Food Standards Agency, 26 August 2025, Wealden District Council
Website theroebuckinn.co.uk/christmas-at-the-roebuck-inn
Listing Our listing
Good for farm shop, rooms to stay, gluten-free dishes, vegan main

Seaford

8. The Cuckmere Inn, Exceat

The Cuckmere Inn is the Vintage Inns pub by Exceat Bridge on the Eastbourne Road, at the edge of Seaford. Its Christmas Day menu is three courses for £94.95, the lowest Christmas Day price in this guide, with hand-carved turkey breast or a roast cannon of 50-day aged Black Angus beef among the mains.

The kids’ Christmas Day menu is £41.50. A £10 a head deposit is due on all Christmas Day tables, with full payment and pre-order by 8 December, and a 10% discretionary service charge for tables of seven or more.

Price Christmas Day three courses £94.95; kids' Christmas Day menu £41.50
Booking £10 a head deposit; full payment and pre-order by 8 December 2026; deposits non-refundable within 14 days
Address Exceat Bridge, Eastbourne Road, Seaford, BN25 4AB
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 24 February 2026
Website vintageinn.co.uk/restaurants/south-east/thecuckmereinnseaford/christmas
Listing Our listing
Good for Cuckmere valley, children's menu, dog-friendly pub

How we chose

These are pubs in and around Lewes, Kingston, Ditchling, Barcombe, Chailey, Laughton and Seaford that publish their 2026 Christmas prices on their own websites, with a food hygiene rating of 3 or above. Prices, deposits and deadlines are taken from each venue’s Christmas page or menu as they stood on 1 November 2026; hygiene ratings come from the Food Standards Agency. Several popular Lewes pubs and restaurants had not put a Christmas price online when we checked, so they are not listed yet. Prices can change and tables go quickly, so confirm with the venue before you pay a deposit. For more festive plans see Lewes Christmas markets, the Christmas lights switch-on, Glyndebourne’s Christmas concerts, what’s on in Lewes this month, things to do in Lewes and Christmas train times, or browse the local business directory.

Run a place that should be here, or spot something that has changed? Email newsdesk@lewespost.co.uk. Taken a good photograph of any of these places? Email it to newsdesk@lewespost.co.uk and we will add it with your name as the credit.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I have Christmas dinner in Lewes on Christmas Day 2026?

In the town itself, the White Hart on the High Street serves a five-course Christmas Day menu at £115 a person. Nearby, the Royal Oak at Barcombe charges £120, the Bull in Ditchling £115, the Five Bells at Chailey £105, the Roebuck Inn at Laughton £100 and the Cuckmere Inn at Exceat, Seaford, £94.95. The John Harvey Tavern’s kitchen is closed on Christmas Day, and the Juggs at Kingston’s Christmas menu does not run on 25 or 26 December.

How much is Christmas dinner for children near Lewes?

Where a child price is published: £25 for under-eights at the White Hart, £41.50 for the kids’ Christmas Day menu at the Cuckmere Inn, £45 for children at the Roebuck Inn and for under-12s at the Five Bells, and £65 for the youngsters’ three courses at the Bull in Ditchling.

Where can I go for a Christmas meal in Lewes in December, not on Christmas Day?

The John Harvey Tavern’s Christmas menu is £23 to £37.95 for one to three courses, the Five Bells at Chailey’s festive menu starts at £29, the Roebuck Inn’s is £32 or £36, the White Hart’s party menu is £34 or £43.50, the Juggs at Kingston’s is £37.50 or £45 and the Bull in Ditchling’s is £48 for three courses.