St. Leonards-On-Sea
The beautiful town founded to the west of Old Hastings by Mr. Burton, the father of the celebrated architect, Mr. Decimus Burton, in 1828, next claims attention. It was in 1815, James Burton, with his son Decimus, visited Hastings, and saw the beauty of the valley to the west of the town, with its wooded glens and cliffs, shaded from the north winds. At this time destitute of inhabitants, it was mere common land, on each side of the valley, with wild cliffs presenting their fronts like buttresses to the sea. The part was then considered an excursion from Hastings, shut out from the view by the promontory of White Rock, and visitors were wont to stroll along the rough road towards Bulverhythe and Bexhill, stopping at the New England Tavern at Bopeep for refreshments, or at a quaint-looking hut on the beach, called the Noah's Ark, formed out of the hull of a ship.
From the White Rock to the Gensing Valley (now represented by Warrior Square and Woodland Vale to the Tower Road), passing over "sand dunes" backed by the cliffs, on the top of which runs the present St. Margaret's Road and the Brisco Land, now so prominently before the public eye, on to the vale of St. Leonards, out of which was created the lovely St. Leonards Gardens, behind the Royal Victoria Hotel, and the Archery Grounds at Quarry Hill on to West Marina or Bopeep. Taking a comprehensive view of St. Leonards from the sea, what a panorama of beauty is presented to the eve. Out of this visit by the founder, assisted by the artistic mind of the son, who became famous as the designer of the Arch on Constitution Hill, Hyde Park, was reared the St. Leonards, now so much admired by visitors and residents. The parish of St. Leonard and its " Free Chapel " are frequently mentioned in old records. "In the Parish of St. Margaret, which was existing prior to the 22nd Edward I. (1290), when Petronilla de Cham augmented it by a grant, to the brethren and sisters, of 5 acres. The 5 acres abutted to land then of Wm. Waldren, bailiff, and the other land of the brethren and sisters on the E., to land of Gilbert of Gensing on the West, to other land of her own on the South, and other land of the brethren and sisters on the North. Of this hospital the bailiff was visitor." Suss. Arch. Coll. V., 14. A view of the ruins of this Chapel as it stood in 1820 is here given. The Parish of St. Leonard was partly within the county jurisdiction, and partly within the Borough of Hastings. The county portion included Filsham Farm, and parts of the farms of Yeilding, Gensing, and the Grove. The site of St. Leonards formerly belonged to a family of the name of Lewis, from whom it came to the Eversfield family, and was purchased of them by the late Mr. Burton, and on the first of March, 1828, the first stone of the Victoria Hotel was laid being also the first stone of St. Leonards-on-Sea. Mr. A. H. Burton, St. Leonards Lodge, The Uplands, Maze Hill, St. Leonards, has passed away, but the family still reside here.
