St Leonard's Church, St Leonards-on-Sea

St Leonard's Church
The church from the south
50°51′05″N 0°33′05″E / 50.8513°N 0.5514°E / 50.8513; 0.5514Coordinates: 50°51′05″N 0°33′05″E / 50.8513°N 0.5514°E / 50.8513; 0.5514
Location	Undercliff, St Leonards-on-Sea, Hastings, East Sussex TN38 0YW
Country	United Kingdom
Denomination	Church of England
Churchmanship	Evangelical
Website	www.stleonardschurch.org
History
Founded	8 September 1831
Founder(s)	James Burton
Dedication	Leonard of Noblac
Dedicated	22 May 1834
Consecrated	22 May 1834
Architecture
Status	Parish church
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II
Designated	25 September 1998
Architect(s)	James Burton (first church); Giles and Adrian Gilbert Scott (present building)
Style	Modern Gothic
Groundbreaking	1831
Completed	1832 (first church); 1961 (present building)
Administration
Parish	St Leonard, St Leonards-on-Sea
Deanery	Rural Deanery of Hastings
Archdeaconry	Lewes and Hastings
Diocese	Chichester
Province	Canterbury
Clergy
Rector	Vacancy

St Leonard's Church is an Anglican church in the St Leonards-on-Sea area of Hastings, a town and borough in the English county of East Sussex. The main church serving James Burton high-class mid 19th-century new town of St Leonards-on-Sea was designed by Burton himself just before his death, and it survived for more than a century despite being damaged by the cliff into which it was built; but one night during World War II, the sea-facing building was obliterated by a direct hit from a damaged V-1 "doodlebug" which had crossed the English Channel. The Gilbert Scott brothers' bold replacement church was ready in 1961, and along with a sister church at nearby Bulverhythe it continues to serve the parish of St Leonards-on-Sea, now part of the Hastings conurbation. English Heritage has listed the building at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.

By the 12th century, Hastings on the English Channel coast was one of Sussex's largest and most important towns. The famous Battle of 1066 took place nearby; a castle was founded; the town operated its own mint; it was the leader of the Cinque Ports; and seven churches existed within its boundaries. The surrounding manors included Gensing, a large and attractive expanse of land running down from a forested valley on to flat agricultural land and a beach immediately west of the town. As Hastings recovered from an 18th-century slump and started to become fashionable and well patronised again in the early 19th century, speculative development was encouraged.

James Burton, a builder and entrepreneur who later fathered the prominent architect Decimus Burton, saw the potential of the Gensing estate land, which was owned by the Eversfield baronets of Denne Park near Horsham, West Sussex. He bought a large section of this manor, including 1,151 yards (1,052 m) of seafront land, for £7,800 in February 1828, and developed a carefully planned new town, St Leonards-on-Sea, on it. Residential, commercial and hotel development was rapid, especially after it was incorporated as a town by an Act of Parliament in 1832 (previously it had been run as a private enterprise by Burton), and the resort soon rivalled neighbouring Hastings in popularity.