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

St Leonard's Church
St Leonard's Church (viewed from Marina) was rebuilt between 1953 and 1961, and functioned as a parish church until 2018.
Map
50°51′05″N 0°33′05″E / 50.8513°N 0.5514°E / 50.8513; 0.5514
LocationUndercliff, St Leonards-on-Sea, Hastings, East Sussex TN38 0YW
CountryUnited Kingdom
DenominationChurch of England
History
Founded8 September 1831
Founder(s)James Burton
DedicationLeonard of Noblac
Dedicated22 May 1834
Consecrated22 May 1834
Architecture
Functional statusClosed
Heritage designationGrade II
Designated25 September 1998
Architect(s)James Burton (first church);
Giles and Adrian Gilbert Scott (present building)
StyleModern Gothic
Groundbreaking1831
Completed1832 (first church);
1961 (present building)
Administration
ProvinceCanterbury
DioceseChichester
ArchdeaconryLewes and Hastings
DeaneryRural Deanery of Hastings
ParishSt Leonard, St Leonards-on-Sea

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's 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 served the parish of St Leonards-on-Sea, covered by the Hastings Archdeaconry. Historic England has listed the building at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.