Yes, these are twittens in Sussex and Lewes has a network of them, like a secondary nervous system. When we have our own social medium it should probably be called Twitten, in fact. Getting round the town on the main streets is inevitably slowed down by meeting people you know, but if you're in a hurry you use the twittens because they are always empty. Most of them have flint walls stitched with brick courses.

I'm told that the name is related to the German word 'zwischen', meaning 'between'.

There are some splendid pictures of Lewes twittens among these by the local artist Peter Messer.

Valmai (Lewes)