St Leonard's Church, Aldrington

St Leonard, Aldrington
The church from the southeast
50°49′58.58″N 0°12′13.56″W / 50.8329389°N 0.2037667°W / 50.8329389; -0.2037667Coordinates: 50°49′58.58″N 0°12′13.56″W / 50.8329389°N 0.2037667°W / 50.8329389; -0.2037667
Denomination	Church of England
History
Dedication	Saint Leonard of Noblac
Administration
Parish	Aldrington, St Leonard
Deanery	Rural Deanery of Hove
Archdeaconry	Chichester
Diocese	Chichester
Province	Canterbury
Clergy
Vicar(s)	Revd Stephen Terry

St Leonard's Church is an Anglican church in Hove, in the English city of Brighton and Hove. It is on New Church Road in the Aldrington area of Hove, which was previously a separate village, and it serves as Aldrington's parish church. The church was on Church Road but now stands on New Church Road, renamed in reference to the other church (St Philip's) which was started in 1894.

Aldrington developed in the mediaeval period as a small village between Hove, to the east, and the original (inland) settlement at Portslade, near the mouth of the River Adur. Over time the course of the river changed, and the population gradually fell; damage caused to houses in the Great Storm of 1703 increased the rate of decline, and the area was totally depopulated by 1800. A mediaeval parish church, built in the 13th century with a tower, chancel and nave, existed on a site to the northeast of Aldrington's only road. This started to fall into disrepair in the 16th century, however, and was in ruins by 1638, with the walls collapsing soon after 1800.

The rapid residential development of Hove in the early and mid-19th century revived Aldrington. As demand for land and housing grew, development spread westwards and Church Road — the continuation of the main east–west route through Hove and Brighton — was extended from the edge of Aldrington into Portslade. In the sixty years from 1875, all of the land to the south of Church Road was developed with housing, and the opening of Aldrington railway station to the north stimulated growth in its vicinity. The parish of Aldrington officially became part of Hove in 1893, being incorporated within its district. The following year, the section of Church Road west of Hove Street was renamed New Church Road after plans for the construction of St Philip's Church were agreed.

St Leonard's church remained in its ruined state until 1878, when architect Richard Herbert Carpenter (the son of Richard Cromwell Carpenter, designer of St Paul's Church in Brighton) and Benjamin Ingelow were chosen to rebuild it. They incorporated parts of the tower and south aisle into the new design, which was a reproduction of the mediaeval style — in particular through the use of lancet windows and knapped flintwork. The new tower included six bells.