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The site that is now Lewes has a very ancient history. Archaeological evidence points to prehistoric dwellers and it is also thought that the Roman settlement of Mutuantonis was here, large quantities of artefacts having been discovered in the area. The Saxons built a castle here, having first constructed its motte as a defensive point over the river; they also gave the town its name. After the Norman invasion Lewes was given by William the Conqueror to William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey. He built Lewes Castle on the Saxon site; and he and his wife, Gundred also founded a Cluniac priory here in about 1081. Lewes was the also site of a mint during the Late Anglo-Saxon period and thereafter a mint during the early years after the Norman invasion. In 1148 the town was granted a charter by King Stephen. The town also became a major port with docks along the Ouse. The town was the site of the Battle of Lewes between the forces of Henry III and Simon de Monfort in the Second Barons’ War in 1264, at the end of which de Monfort's forces were victorious. The battle took place in fields now just west of Landport. At the time of the Marian Persecutions of 1555–1557 Lewes was to witness the deaths of seventeen Protestant martyrs who were burnt at the stake in front of the Star Inn, now the Town Hall. Through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries Lewes developed as the county town of East Sussex expanding beyond the line of the town wall and serving as a port and developing iron, brewing and ship building industries. In 1846 the town became a railway junction with lines constructed from the north, south, and east to two railways stations. The development of Newhaven ended Lewes' period as a major port. Lewes became a borough in 1881. In 1940 The Battle of Britain was fought in the skies over the town which suffered damage by enemy action.