Relocating to St Leonards

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St Leonards was originally laid out as a new town to the west of Hastings in the early 19th century, the plan included elegant town houses, a central public garden, a hotel, an archery, assembly rooms and a church. But today it has extended beyond the original plan.

St Leonards Heritage

Once owned by the Levett family, a Norman gentry family, who also owned Hollington and later owned by the Eversfields, who made their money in iron foundaries and property.

James Burton (1761-1837), a London architect, purchased land from the Eversfield estate to create his concept of a seaside resort, the land bought included Gensing Farm and a small wooded valley. The plan started in 1828 with the persuasion of the Turnpike Commission to allow a road into St. Leonards-on-Sea through Silverhill. James Burton died in 1837 and a pyramid in the churchyard of St. Leonards Church marks his grave. 1850, the second stage started with Burton’s son Decimus. The Eversfield Estate saw the popularity of the new town and soon sold off more space and thus the space between Hastings and St. Leonards soon reduced. The railway reached the West Marina in 1845 but it wasn’t until 1852 that a station was built at Warrior Square.

The pier began construction in March 1888 and was opened by Lord and Lady Brassey on the 29th of October 1891. Marine Court, the art-deco building that looks like an ocean liner, was completed in 1937 with 153 flats and 3 restaurants, it was recorded as the tallest block of flats in the UK at the time.

St Leonards Trivia

Rider Haggard Author of King Solomon's Mines and She. In 1918 Rider Haggard came to live at North Lodge, Maze Hill, the house built across the road at the entrance to old St Leonards. This remained his home until 1923.
Robert Tressell - author of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists lived at 241 London Road from 1907.
Elsie Bowerman - suffragette, first women called to the Bar (and to appear in the Old Bailey) and Titanic survivor! On her retirement she bought a house in Silchester Road where she stayed at weekends. She died in 1973 at the age of 83.
Anthony Crosland, politician
George Bristow, taxidermist. Bristow was the man at the centre of the Hastings Rarities affair, a case of serial ornithological fraud that took place over at least the first two decades of the 20th Century. His business address was 15 Silchester Road.
Prince Rainier of Monaco attended Summerfields School in St Leonards.
Sheila Kaye-Smith - Prolific authoress whose novels are set in the Sussex countryside around Hastings and Rye. She was born in St Leonards, the daughter of a local doctor and lived in Dane Road until her marriage in 1924.
George Monger VC - joined the 23th Regiment, later the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, as a drummer boy and was sent out to India where he won his VC during the Siege of Lucknow in 1857. At the age of seventeen he was one of the youngest recipients of this award. After leaving the Army, he came to Hastings with his wife and family and lived in Tower Road, St Leonards where he died in 1887.

Shopping

The principal shopping area is that bounded by London Road, Kings Road and Norman Road. Plans are in hand for renewal of the central St. Leonards area. Norman Road is becoming a venue for antique and boutique shops.

St Leonards Attractions

Have a look at a web-linked set of attractions in St. Leonards-on-Sea.

St Leonards Schools

Public Transport

Bexhill to Hastings Link Road.
Buses - Bus Route Maps, Bus Timetables, Rider Bus Services (Rural service), Recent changes to the bus services, School transport, Passes and concessionary fares.
Concessionary fares for school children, students, older and disabled people.
Cycling
Ferries - From Newhaven, you can cross the English Channel to Dieppe in France with Transmanche who operate throughout the year. From 1 May 2007, a new service between Newhaven and Le Havre will be operated by LD Lines.
Green Travel - For East Sussex's Information on Green Travel
East Sussex's Local Transport Plan.
Parking - For parking information.
Roads - all news about roads, roadworks, footpaths, traffic surveys, adopted roads, weighbridges, abnormal loads and considerate contractors.
Trains - East Sussex is served by several train routes. There are regular services to Brighton, London and Gatwick Airport and along the coast.

Employment Demographics

For more detailed information on employment demographics, have a look at East Sussex in Figures.

Main Industries

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of the non-metropolitan county of East Sussex at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
Year	Regional Gross Value Added	Agriculture	Industry	Services
1995	4,359	84	1,053	3,222
2000	4,953	54	1,155	3,744
2003	5,236	69	1,252	4,004

Did you know? - Transport and Environment 2006/07

Over 3,000 kilometres (97 per cent) of road network are maintained by the Council - vital for the economic prosperity of the county.
The Council maintain 38,000 street lights, 91 pedestrian crossings and 56 traffic signal controlled junctions.
38 schools have been helped to develop their own school travel plans.
Over 500 kilograms of household waste per person each year are managed, and nearly 27 per cent is recycled and composted.
Over 11 million bus journeys are run each year in rural areas.
Over 275,000 people have been encouraged and enabled to use the 3,500 kilometres of Rights of Way in East Sussex.
The Council helps to look after the county's environment, including Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Heritage Coast and other sites of local, national and international environmental importance.
Applicants are satisfied with the way that waste and minerals planning applications are handled, with at least 50 per cent of major applications decided within 13 weeks.
Nearly £49 million (10.5 per cent of the overall the Council's budget) was invested last year to improve the transport infrastructure, environment and economy.
The Council has to pay £16 per year in electricity charges to light each one of our 38,000 street lights - that's over £500,000 a year. Over 22 million square metres of roads in the county are maintained and that it costs over £2 to 'tar and chip' each square metre of road.