List of places of worship in Hastings

All Saints Church, one of two surviving medieval churches in the centre of Hastings, overlooks the Old Town.

The distinctive Elim Pentecostal church was built in the 1980s.

The borough of Hastings, one of six local government districts in the English county of East Sussex, has more than 50 extant places of worship serving a wide range of religious denominations. A further 22 buildings formerly used for public worship, but now closed or used for other purposes, also exist. The borough is made up of the ancient port and seaside resort of Hastings, the neighbouring planned resort of St Leonards-on-Sea (united with its former rival in 1888)^[1] and their 19th- and 20th-century suburbs, some of which (such as Ore and Hollington) were autonomous villages until they were absorbed into the growing urban area. Ancient churches existed in the Old Town of Hastings and in the villages, although some were lost in the medieval era; growth stimulated by transport improvements and the popularity of sea bathing encouraged a rush of church-building in the Victorian era; and more churches and congregations were established throughout the 20th century, despite periods of stagnation and decline.

Most residents of Hastings identify themselves as Christian, and churches representing many Christian denominations exist in the town. The largest number of these belong to the Church of England, the country's officially established church. Roman Catholic and Protestant Nonconformist churches of many types are also prevalent, and St Leonards-on-Sea has a mosque. The spread of housing inland in the 20th century, in suburbs such as Silverhill Park, Broomgrove and the vastly expanded Hollington (which was transformed from a haphazard collection of cottages among fields into a 1960s council estate), resulted in the founding of new churches, partly offsetting the loss through demolition of others in Hastings town centre.

English Heritage has awarded listed status to several current and former church buildings in Hastings. A building is defined as "listed" when it is placed on a statutory register of buildings of "special architectural or historic interest" in accordance with the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990.^[2] The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, a Government department, is responsible for this; English Heritage, a non-departmental public body, acts as an agency of the department to administer the process and advise the department on relevant issues.^[3] There are three grades of listing status. Grade I, the highest, is defined as being of "exceptional interest"; Grade II* is used for "particularly important buildings of more than special interest"; and Grade II, the lowest, is used for buildings of "special interest".^[4]

History of Hastings and its places of worship

Hastings' location within East Sussex

Hastings is a seaside town on the southeast coast of England, facing the English Channel. The borough covers 7,340 acres (2,970 ha) and had a population of 85,029 at the time of the United Kingdom Census 2001.^[5] Hastings is most famous for the battle fought nearby in 1066, in which William the Conqueror's Norman army defeated the English troops of King Harold II,^[6] but its recorded history is much longer: 5th-century origins have been attributed, Roman settlement on the site has never been proved but is considered likely,^[7] and a town had developed by 928, when it was important enough to have its own mint.^[8][9] By the 12th century, it was the main member of the Cinque Ports, and its castle dominated the cliff below which the ancient settlement developed.^[10][11] There were seven churches in 1291, when Pope Nicholas IV ordered a survey of all places of worship in England, but decline set in during the 14th century and two French raids wrecked the town. By 1801, just two of the old churches—All Saints and St Clement's—survived.^[10]

The common thread throughout the town's history has been fishing: in 1329 a priest was threatened with excommunication for failing to pay the Bishop of Chichester the 2,000 herring demanded by custom,^[12] and a beach-based fishing fleet still exists in the 21st century.^[13] The fishermen even had their own church from 1854 until World War II: the rectors of All Saints and St Clement's got together to provide a chapel of ease on the beach to serve their spiritual needs. The former St Nicholas' Church is now Hastings Fishermen's Museum.^[14] The town's focus moved away from this industry and towards tourism and leisure from the early 19th century, though, as development spread west from the old town.^[15] Improved transport opened the town up to day-trippers, especially from London; sea-bathing, promenading and other seaside leisure activities became increasingly fashionable; and James Burton capitalised on the demand for growth by founding an entirely new town, St Leonards-on-Sea, immediately west of Hastings—spurring its older rival into further growth.^[8] The population rose from 2,982 to 6,051 between 1801 and 1821,^[15] and the need to build more churches was recognised. In 1824, St Mary-in-the-Castle Church, which took its dedication from a ruined collegiate church in the castle grounds, was the first new Anglican church to be built outside Hastings Old Town;^[10] but a Baptist chapel had already been established in 1817,^[16] and another followed at Wellington Square in the 1830s.^[17] Development was so rapid that Holy Trinity Church, the second town church in Hastings, had to be crowded into a "crazy site" when it was built in the 1850s.^[18] St Leonards-on-Sea gained its first church, St Leonard's, in 1837, followed by St Mary Magdalen's Church in 1852 and an array of Nonconformist places of worship. (Dissenters were not universally welcomed: the town's first Congregational chapel, planned in 1807, had to be built in London and taken to the town by sea because no local firm wanted to build it. The weatherboarded chapel's successor survived until 1972.)^[19][20] Hastings and St Leonards-on-Sea each have a large 1880s Roman Catholic church,^[18][21] but worship by that community dates back to 1848, when the now disused St Michael's Chapel was opened for public use.^[19] Rapid population growth continued throughout the 19th century: for example, the 1871 census recorded 29,289 residents, and there were 65,528 in 1901.^[22] In response to this, 27 churches were built in Hastings and St Leonards-on-Sea in the second half of the century. Some were intended for high-class, fashionable visitors and residents; others were founded "with missionary zeal to bring some hope of redemption to working-class areas".^[23]

In 1897, an Act of Parliament brought several surrounding villages into the borough of Hastings; nine years earlier the same had happened to St Leonards-on-Sea.^[1] Places such as Ore and Hollington had become suburbanised but retained ancient churches as well as gaining new ones: Ore's 12th-century St Helen's Church was ruined in the 19th century, but a replacement was built nearby^[24] and a second, Christ Church (distinguished by the "very naughty turret" on its roof), was provided to serve the village's Victorian suburbs;^[25] and Hollington's 13th-century church in the middle of a wood^[26] was supplemented by a second Anglican church and one for Methodists. The scattered village was later redeveloped into Hastings' largest council estate, and more places of worship were added for various congregations.^[27]

Religious affiliation

According to the 2001 United Kingdom Census, 85,029 people lived in Hastings. Of these, 67.4% identified themselves as Christian, 0.75% were Muslim, 0.27% were Hindu, 0.04% were Sikh, 0.32% were Buddhist, 0.13% were Jewish, 0.47% followed another religion, 21.3% claimed no religious affiliation and 9.3% did not state their religion. The proportion of Christians was lower than the 71.7% in England as a whole, and affiliation with most other religions was also much less widespread than in England overall: in 2001, 3.1% of people in England were Muslim, 1.1% were Hindu, 0.7% were Sikh and 0.52% were Jewish. The proportion of people with no religious affiliation was correspondingly higher than the national figure of 14.6%.^[28]

Administration

All Anglican churches in the borough of Hastings are part of the Diocese of Chichester, whose cathedral is at Chichester in West Sussex.^[29] The Rural Deanery of Hastings—one of eight deaneries in the Archdeaconry of Lewes and Hastings, which is in turn one of three archdeaconries in the diocese^[30]—covers the whole borough and includes all 18 open Anglican churches.^[31] Four churches which are no longer used for Anglican worship are still nominally included. St Mary Magdalen's Church in St Leonards-on-Sea, now used by the Greek Orthodox community, has been included in the parish of Christ Church.^[32] The ruined St Helen's Church, near Ore, is part of the new St Helen's parish, together with St Barnabas' Church.^[33] All Souls Church at Clive Vale has been included in the parish of Christ Church in Ore.^[34] The long-closed church of St Mary-in-the-Castle on Hastings seafront is now in Emmanuel Church's parish.^[35]

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Arundel and Brighton, whose cathedral is at Arundel,^[36] administers the borough's three Roman Catholic churches. St Leonards-on-Sea Deanery, one of 13 deaneries in the diocese,^[37] has five parishes, two of which cover the borough in its entirety.^[38] St Mary Star of the Sea Church is the parish church of Hastings;^[39] and the churches at St Leonards-on-Sea and Hollington are part of a joint parish.^[40] The deanery's other three parishes are centred on the towns of Bexhill, Rye and Battle in the neighbouring districts of Rother and Wealden.^[38]

Hastings' four United Reformed congregations—at Clive Vale,^[41] Silverhill (St Luke's),^[42] Blacklands (St Mark's)^[43] and Robertson Street in Hastings town centre^[44]—are in the Southern Synod, one of 13 Synods in Great Britain.^[45] The Synod is responsible for 168 United Reformed churches in southeast England.^[46]

The Hastings, Bexhill & Rye Methodist Circuit, a circuit in the Methodist Church's South East District, covers 13 churches of that denomination in the Hastings area. Four of those are in the borough: the Calvert Memorial church at Halton, the churches at Hollington and St Helen's, and the Park Road Church in Bohemia.^[47]

Open places of worship

Name	Image	Location	Denomination/ Affiliation	Grade	Notes	Refs
All Saints Church		Old Town 50°51′33″N 0°35′47″E / 50.8593°N 0.5964°E / 50.8593; 0.5964 (All Saints Church, Old Town)	Anglican	B !II*	The medieval town's "upper church", so called because of its hilltop position, is an early 15th-century Perpendicular Gothic structure of rubble and flint. William Butterfield's restoration of 1870 included a large east window. Titus Oates was a curate in the 17th century.	[48][49] [50][51] [52]
Christ Church		Blacklands 50°52′01″N 0°34′40″E / 50.8669°N 0.5777°E / 50.8669; 0.5777 (Christ Church, Blacklands)	Anglican	B !II*	Henry Carpenter's Decorated Gothic church of 1881, for the high-class suburb of Blacklands, is dominated by its tower (completed in 1890) but has elaborate interior fittings, such as Hardman & Co.'s chancel work and a Carrara marble font depicting an angel bearing a shell.	[19][48] [25][53] [54][55]
Christ Church		St Leonards-on-Sea 50°51′14″N 0°33′33″E / 50.8538°N 0.5593°E / 50.8538; 0.5593 (Christ Church, St Leonards-on-Sea)	Anglican	B !II*	Arthur Blomfield's tall, Early English-style church of 1875 (consecrated nine years later) replaced an earlier building which still stands on the south side. Always High church in its liturgical tradition, its first vicar Rev. Charles Lyndhurst Vaughan was key to the town's religious and social development.	[19][48] [25][56] [57][58] [59][60] [61]
Holy Trinity Church		Hastings 50°51′18″N 0°34′36″E / 50.8551°N 0.5767°E / 50.8551; 0.5767 (Holy Trinity Church, Hastings)	Anglican	B !II*	The second 19th-century Anglican church in Hastings was planned for Cambridge Road, but problems with the site caused Samuel Sanders Teulon to reconfigure his design to an awkward ("crazy", to Nikolaus Pevsner) location nearby. The stone and rubble exterior conceals a highly ornate interior. The dedication recalls a lost 12th-century priory nearby.	[19][48] [10][18] [62][63] [64][65]
St Clement's Church		Old Town 50°51′27″N 0°35′27″E / 50.8574°N 0.5909°E / 50.8574; 0.5909 (St Clement's Church, Old Town)	Anglican	B !II*	The "Town church" as it is known locally was rebuilt after the French attacks on Hastings in 1377 and restored in 1875 by William Butterfield, who did the same to neighbouring All Saints Church. The vast range of memorials in the Perpendicular Gothic church include one for the marriage of Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Elizabeth Siddal.	[48][49] [66][67] [68]
St John the Evangelist's Church		St Leonards-on-Sea 50°51′21″N 0°33′11″E / 50.8559°N 0.5530°E / 50.8559; 0.5530 (St John the Evangelist's Church, St Leonards-on-Sea)	Anglican	B !II*	Only the octagonal tower survived World War II bombing; the rest of Arthur Blomfield's 1881 brick and stone church serving Upper St Leonards was rebuilt by Harry Stuart Goodhart-Rendel in 1951. English Heritage describe it as a "particularly eclectic mix".	[48][69] [70][71] [72][73] [74]
St Matthew's Church		Silverhill 50°51′56″N 0°33′20″E / 50.8656°N 0.5556°E / 50.8656; 0.5556 (St Matthew's Church, Silverhill)	Anglican	B !II*	Founded on St Matthew's Day (21 September) 1860 and opened the following year, local architect George Voysey's original church was replaced by John Loughborough Pearson's much larger red-brick Gothic Revival structure in 1885. Internal features include Aston Webb's reredos and a sturdy king post nave roof of local timber.	[48][69] [75][76] [77][78] [79]
St Peter's Church		Bohemia 50°51′39″N 0°33′41″E / 50.8608°N 0.5614°E / 50.8608; 0.5614 (St Peter's Church, Bohemia)	Anglican	B !II*	Bohemia's Anglican church is tall, long and lacks a spire or tower (one was planned). It was built in 1885 in the Early English style by James Brooks, and is red-brick inside and out—although much use is made of alabaster for wall finishes and internal fixtures.	[18][48] [17][80] [81][82]
Christ Church		Ore 50°52′20″N 0°36′30″E / 50.8722°N 0.6082°E / 50.8722; 0.6082 (Christ Church, Ore)	Anglican	C !II	The rector of Ore helped to fund a new church in the village centre to serve the influx of working-class people in the mid-19th century. A.D. Gough's Decorated Gothic stone church dates from 1858 and is distinguished by a large bell turret, a feature described as "very naughty" by Pevsner. Bomb damage in 1943 was soon repaired.	[19][48] [25][83] [84]
St Leonard's Church (Church in the Wood)		Hollington 50°52′27″N 0°32′17″E / 50.8743°N 0.5380°E / 50.8743; 0.5380 (St Leonard's Church (Church in the Wood), Hollington)	Anglican	C !II	A chapel stood on this isolated site in the middle of a wood in the 11th century, and the present building retains 13th-century work despite major restoration in 1865. The short tower is partly tile-hung and has a pyramid-shaped cap. Jean-Baptiste Capronnier designed the stained glass.	[48][85] [86][87] [27][88] [89][90]
St Leonard's Church		St Leonards-on-Sea 50°51′05″N 0°33′05″E / 50.8513°N 0.5514°E / 50.8513; 0.5514 (St Leonard's Church, St Leonards-on-Sea)	Anglican	C !II	James Burton, the founder of St Leonards-on-Sea, built a seafront church for the new town in 1837. Five years later, the cliff behind collapsed and crushed the chancel; and in 1944 a freakish direct hit from a V-1 flying bomb, damaged by anti-aircraft fire, brought the whole church down. Giles and Adrian Gilbert Scott's neo-Gothic pale brick and stone design, executed in eight years from 1953, replaced it.	[48][69] [21][72] [91][92] [93][94] [95][96]
Emmanuel Church		West Hill 50°51′42″N 0°35′21″E / 50.8616°N 0.5892°E / 50.8616; 0.5892 (Emmanuel Church, West Hill)	Anglican	D !–	The local architecture firm of Jeffrey & Skiller designed and built the West Hill area's Anglican church in 1873. It stands at a high point in Hastings and has significant townscape presence. The stone Early English-style building lost its adjacent vicarage to a bomb in 1942.	[19][48] [97][98]
St Anne's Church		Hollington 50°52′20″N 0°32′36″E / 50.8723°N 0.5434°E / 50.8723; 0.5434 (St Anne's Church, Hollington)	Anglican	D !–	The interwar and postwar expansion of Hollington, which by the 1960s had become Hastings' largest council estate, led to improved church provision in the form of this small flint and brick building, founded in 1956 and built over several years by the Brighton firm of Denman & Sons. It is in the parish of Church in the Wood.	[48][99] [100][101] [102]
St Barnabas' Church		Broomgrove 50°52′25″N 0°35′37″E / 50.8736°N 0.5937°E / 50.8736; 0.5937 (St Barnabas' Church, Broomgrove)	Anglican	D !–	Local architect Hector Sweatman's design for a new church in the parish of St Helen's in Ore was accepted in 1954, although proposals for a church on this site dated back to 1949. The brick building has flexible space for religious and community activities.	[48][103] [104][105] [106]
St Ethelburga's Church		Bulverhythe 50°51′09″N 0°32′01″E / 50.8524°N 0.5337°E / 50.8524; 0.5337 (St Ethelburga's Church, Bulverhythe)	Anglican	D !–	John B. Mendham's modest Gothic Revival church dates from 1929 and serves the Bulverhythe area of the seafront west of St Leonards-on-Sea in the far southwest of the borough. The brown-brick structure is dominated by a large Art Deco-style tower with thin pinnacles set below the top of the bell tower stage.	[48][69] [25][107]
St Helen's Church		St Helen's 50°52′55″N 0°35′14″E / 50.8820°N 0.5871°E / 50.8820; 0.5871 (St Helen's Church, St Helen's)	Anglican	D !–	Built to replace its ruinous 12th-century predecessor nearby, this church was designed in 1869 by Edgar Brock, many of whose Sussex churches were executed in partnership with the Habershon brothers. The stone used to build it was quarried locally. Its distinctive spire was removed in 1966 and replaced with a small cap.	[48][69] [24][108] [109][110] [111]
St John the Evangelist's Church		Hollington 50°52′44″N 0°33′05″E / 50.8788°N 0.5513°E / 50.8788; 0.5513 (St John the Evangelist's Church, Hollington)	Anglican	D !–	E. Alexander Wyon's Early English-style church dates from 1865 and was parished five years later. Blue and pale (Bath) stonework predominates. Local philanthropist Countess Waldegrave founded the church on land provided by local men who realised that Hollington's focus of development was moving away from Church in the Wood.	[48][69] [27][112] [113]
St Peter and St Paul's Church		Silverhill Park 50°52′45″N 0°34′09″E / 50.8791°N 0.5692°E / 50.8791; 0.5692 (St Peter and St Paul's Church, Silverhill Park)	Anglican	D !–	This small yellow-brick church, with a many-sided layout and a copper roof, was opened in 1969 on Parkstone Road in the postwar Silverhill Park estate. It is in the parish of St John the Evangelist, Hollington.	[48][114] [115][116]
Calvert Memorial Methodist Church		Halton 50°51′56″N 0°35′23″E / 50.8656°N 0.5896°E / 50.8656; 0.5896 (Calvert Memorial Methodist Church, Halton)	Methodist	D !–	James Calvert, one of the first Christian missionaries to Fiji, was one of the founders of this church, and it now bears his name. The red-brick building, which replaced a tin tabernacle, is an Early English design and was opened in 1892.	[48][117] [118][119]
Hollington Methodist Church		Hollington 50°52′42″N 0°32′59″E / 50.8782°N 0.5496°E / 50.8782; 0.5496 (Hollington Methodist Church, Hollington)	Methodist	D !–	The present building dates from 1887 and has survived bomb, storm and fire damage. It is the fourth Methodist place of worship in Hollington: a cottage was used from 1823, a small chapel superseded it two years later and a larger building was provided in 1835. The plain brick and stone church has arched windows.	[48][117] [27][113] [120]
Park Road Methodist Church		Bohemia 50°51′50″N 0°33′32″E / 50.8638°N 0.5588°E / 50.8638; 0.5588 (Park Road Methodist Church, Bohemia)	Methodist	D !–	The roots of Methodism in the Bohemia suburb can be traced to 1876, and four years later land was bought for the erection of a church. A school chapel elsewhere sufficed until 1891, when Philip Tree started building his Decorated Gothic-style design. The church, prominent on its corner site with its tower and stone spire, opened the following year.	[48][117] [121][122] [123]
St Helen's Methodist Church		Ore 50°52′29″N 0°36′23″E / 50.8748°N 0.6063°E / 50.8748; 0.6063 (St Helen's Methodist Church, Ore)	Methodist	D !–	This small church on the Ore–Baldslow Road (The Ridge) probably dates from 1877, although the date on its foundation stone is now illegible. The white-painted exterior hides red-brick walls. The windows are lancets. The slope of the land conceals a hall beneath the church.	[48][117] [124][125]
Wellington Square Baptist Church		Hastings 50°51′22″N 0°34′55″E / 50.8560°N 0.5819°E / 50.8560; 0.5819 (Wellington Square Baptist Church, Hastings)	Baptist	B !II*	Wellington Square was an early high-class residential development in Hastings: it was built on the site of some lime kilns in the 1820s. A Baptist church was integrated into it in 1838. Arched sash windows, stucco and an unbroken parapet and moulded cornice give a Neoclassical appearance.	[17][48] [126][127] [128][129] [130]
St Leonard's Baptist Church		St Leonards-on-Sea 50°51′24″N 0°33′42″E / 50.8566°N 0.5616°E / 50.8566; 0.5616 (St Leonards Baptist Church, St Leonards-on-Sea)	Baptist	C !II	Thomas Elworthy's Baptist church of 1882 is an ornate Classical/Italianate design with pairs of Corinthian pilasters on its three-bay façade, a balustrade at first-floor level, round-headed windows, an elaborate pediment and extensive use of terracotta decoration. The gallery inside is supported on slender iron columns.	[17][48] [129][131] [132]
Ebenezer Baptist Church		Silverhill 50°52′02″N 0°33′16″E / 50.8672°N 0.5545°E / 50.8672; 0.5545 (Ebenezer Baptist Church, Silverhill)	Baptist	D !–	This small 1950s brick building on the Ponswood industrial estate was originally a Gospel Hall used by Plymouth Brethren. It is now aligned with the Gospel Standard Baptist movement.	[114][133] [134]
Halton Baptist Church		Halton 50°52′06″N 0°36′04″E / 50.8682°N 0.6011°E / 50.8682; 0.6011 (Halton Baptist Church, Halton)	Baptist	D !–	This modern Baptist church, built in the Vernacular style, stands on the Old London Road on the way to Ore village.	[48][135] [136][137]
Robertson Street United Reformed Church		Hastings 50°51′20″N 0°34′39″E / 50.8555°N 0.5776°E / 50.8555; 0.5776 (Robertson Street United Reformed Church, Hastings)	United Reformed Church	C !II	Henry Ward's church of 1884–85, for the Congregational community in the town centre, replaced a Lombardo-Gothic predecessor of 1856 which stood on the same site. The Robertson Street frontage of Ward's tall Neoclassical/Renaissance building is surrounded by shops, but the façade on Cambridge Road is fully visible and spans five bays. The walls are of dark stone. Charles New, the most important figure in Hastings' Congregationalist community, was instrumental in getting the new church funded and built.	[17][48] [129][138] [139][140] [141][142] [143]
Clive Vale United Reformed Church		Clive Vale 50°51′58″N 0°36′16″E / 50.8660°N 0.6045°E / 50.8660; 0.6045 (Clive Vale United Reformed Church, Clive Vale)	United Reformed Church	D !–	Founded as a Congregational church in 1887, this small red-brick chapel by Thomas Elworthy is in the Early English style and is distinguished by the unusual feature of a side porch.	[17][48] [144][145]
St Luke's United Reformed Church		Silverhill 50°52′10″N 0°33′26″E / 50.8695°N 0.5572°E / 50.8695; 0.5572 (St Luke's United Reformed Church, Silverhill)	United Reformed Church	D !–	One of southeast England's first English Presbyterian churches was founded in 1853 when Silverhill was no more than a farm and some cottages. Henry Carpenter built a permanent church of stone in 1857, which grew rapidly: a tower and spire were built in 1865, and a chancel in 1909. The Great Storm of 1987 ripped off the spire, which has been replaced by a pyramidal cap.	[48][117] [146][147] [148][149] [150]
St Mark's United Reformed Church		Blacklands 50°51′58″N 0°35′03″E / 50.8660°N 0.5841°E / 50.8660; 0.5841 (St Mark's United Reformed Church, Blacklands)	United Reformed Church	D !–	According to Sussex church historian Robert Elleray, the predecessor of the present church was architect Thomas Elworthy's chef d'œuvre. It had a tower, spire and terracotta-edged red brickwork, but was demolished in 1972 to make way for a residential development with a church integrated into the ground floor.	[17][48] [114][151] [152]
Calvary Chapel		Hollington 50°52′14″N 0°31′31″E / 50.8706°N 0.5252°E / 50.8706; 0.5252 (Calvary Chapel, Hollington)	Evangelical	D !–	One of a fellowship of more than 40 Calvary Chapels in the United Kingdom and Ireland, this Evangelical congregation moved from a community centre in Hollington to a new building elsewhere in that suburb in 2009.	[48][153] [154]
King's Church		St Helen's 50°53′13″N 0°34′12″E / 50.8869°N 0.5699°E / 50.8869; 0.5699 (King's Church, St Helen's)	Evangelical	D !–	This Evangelical church has its origins in a house church established in 1974. Terry Virgo, founder of the Newfrontiers movement, was involved later, and as the congregation grew it moved from Priory Road in Halton and took over a building previously used for indoor cricket.	[48][155] [156][157]
The Tabernacle		Hastings 50°51′20″N 0°34′38″E / 50.8555°N 0.5771°E / 50.8555; 0.5771 (The Tabernacle, Hastings)	Evangelical	D !–	Charles Pavey founded this church in the town centre in 1854 for an Independent Calvinistic congregation. By the 1970s it had become a Free Evangelical church, and the interior fittings were reordered to cater for the different form of worship. The exterior is unchanged, however: the yellow-brick and stone building has a steeply gabled porch set below five tall lancet windows.	[114][117] [48][129] [158]
Kingdom Hall		Hollington 50°52′20″N 0°31′53″E / 50.8723°N 0.5315°E / 50.8723; 0.5315 (Kingdom Hall, Hollington)	Jehovah's Witnesses	D !–	This modern Kingdom Hall stands on Churchwood Drive in the west of Hollington. It was opened on 12 March 1988 and can hold 250 people, and is used by two Hastings-based Congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses: Central and Hollington.	[48][159] [160][161]
Kingdom Hall		St Leonards-on-Sea 50°51′19″N 0°33′21″E / 50.8552°N 0.5559°E / 50.8552; 0.5559 (Kingdom Hall, St Leonards-on-Sea)	Jehovah's Witnesses	D !–	This Kingdom Hall is used by the St Leonards-on-Sea Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses. Attendances grew in 1998 when members of the Halton Kingdom Hall in St George's Road were displaced: their building was demolished to make way for Southern Water's large cross-town drainage tunnel.	[114][162] [163][164] [161]
Hastings Old Town Kingdom Hall		Ore 50°52′31″N 0°36′41″E / 50.8753°N 0.6113°E / 50.8753; 0.6113 (Hastings Old Town Kingdom Hall, Ore)	Jehovah's Witnesses	D !–	Newly built on Old Top Road in the Ore Valley area of the town, this Kingdom Hall was registered for marriages on 5 July 2007. It is used by the Hastings, Old Town Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses.	[165][166] [161]
Church of St Thomas of Canterbury and English Martyrs		St Leonards-on-Sea 50°51′23″N 0°33′54″E / 50.8565°N 0.5649°E / 50.8565; 0.5649 (Church of St Thomas of Canterbury and English Martyrs, St Leonards-on-Sea)	Roman Catholic	C !II	The Roman Catholic community moved from the chapel at the Holy Child of Jesus Convent into a new church nearby in 1866. It burnt down in 1887; Charles Alban Buckler's new Gothic Revival building was ready in 1889. Its plain ironstone and Bath stone exterior hides an elaborately decorated interior with rib vaults and wall murals.	[17][48] [18][167] [168][169]
St Mary Star of the Sea Church		Old Town 50°51′34″N 0°35′40″E / 50.8594°N 0.5944°E / 50.8594; 0.5944 (St Mary Star of the Sea Church, Old Town)	Roman Catholic	C !II	In 1882 poet Coventry Patmore, living in Hastings at the time, commissioned his friend Basil Champneys to build a large, ornate church in memory of his wife. The Decorated/Perpendicular Gothic flint building, on a sloping site, has a crypt underneath and a very high east end with a large window. Inside, the nave continues into the chancel. There is a bellcote but no tower.	[48][69] [21][170] [171][172] [173][174] [175][176]
Church of the Holy Redeemer		Hollington 50°52′42″N 0°33′14″E / 50.8782°N 0.5538°E / 50.8782; 0.5538 (Church of the Holy Redeemer, Hollington)	Roman Catholic	D !–	The Roman Catholic Church serving Silverhill and Hollington was opened in 1934. It was added to the parish of St Leonards-on-Sea in 1959. The plain brick Vernacular structure, designed by Wilfred Mangan, was greatly extended and reoriented in the 1980s.	[48][177] [178][179] [180][181]
Alexandra Gospel Hall		Silverhill 50°52′13″N 0°33′29″E / 50.8702°N 0.5580°E / 50.8702; 0.5580 (Alexandra Gospel Hall, Silverhill)	Brethren	D !–	This Gospel Hall, a Brethren place of worship, was built in 1964 on Sedlescombe Road North, replacing a pair of houses. Its small congregation was boosted in 1990 when members of the former Castle Hill Gospel Hall joined.	[48][135] [182][183]
Meeting Hall		Hollington 50°53′08″N 0°32′40″E / 50.8856°N 0.5445°E / 50.8856; 0.5445 (Brethren Meeting Hall, Hollington)	Brethren	D !–	This Brethren meeting room was registered for marriages in October 1998.	[184][185]
Elim Church Centre		Blacklands 50°52′09″N 0°35′00″E / 50.8693°N 0.5834°E / 50.8693; 0.5834 (Elim Church Centre, Blacklands)	Pentecostalist	D !–	The congregation, established in the 1950s, worshipped at a hall in the centre of Hastings until the 1980s, when they acquired a site on Elphinstone Avenue in Blacklands and built a permanent church. It was registered for marriages in August 1981.	[48][114] [186][187] [188][189]
His Place Community Church Centre		Silverhill 50°52′14″N 0°33′26″E / 50.8705°N 0.5573°E / 50.8705; 0.5573 (His Place Community Church Centre, Silverhill)	Pentecostalist	D !–	St Matthew's Church founded a mission hall on Duke Road, Silverhill, in 1912. In 1994, after a period as an artificial flower factory, it became the home of the St Leonards Assemblies of God Pentecostal Church, founded as a house church in 1985. It now operates under the name "His Place".	[190][191] [192]
Hastings Citadel		Hastings 50°51′31″N 0°34′55″E / 50.8585°N 0.5819°E / 50.8585; 0.5819 (Hastings Citadel, Hastings)	Salvation Army	D !–	The 1880s brick building, enlarged in 1937, has always been known as the "Iron Fort" locally. It was the focus of anti-Salvation Army riots as soon as it was founded: youths picked up on the ill-feeling displayed in other Sussex towns and formed their own "Skeleton Army" to attack the building and its members.	[48][193] [194][195]
Hastings Temple		Ore 50°52′16″N 0°36′25″E / 50.8712°N 0.6069°E / 50.8712; 0.6069 (Hastings Temple, Ore)	Salvation Army	D !–	The Salvation Army established their second place of worship in Hastings in 1935. The small white-painted building opened as the Cynthia Cinema (advertised as "the cheapest, the cosiest and the best") in June 1913, but it lasted just ten years and was later used to store furniture.	[48][196] [197]
Christian Spiritualist Church		Hastings 50°51′17″N 0°34′33″E / 50.8546°N 0.5758°E / 50.8546; 0.5758 (Christian Spiritualist Church, Hastings)	Spiritualist	D !–	One of several Spiritualist churches in Sussex, this is based in buildings at Claremont, facing the sea near Holy Trinity Church.	[114][198]
Hastings Spiritualist Brotherhood Church		Hastings 50°51′27″N 0°35′00″E / 50.8575°N 0.5832°E / 50.8575; 0.5832 (Hastings Brotherhood Church, Hastings)	Spiritualist	D !–	This church, on Portland Place in central Hastings, is part of the Spiritualists' National Union.	[48][114] [199][200]
Bethel Full Gospel Church Centre		Halton 50°52′06″N 0°36′01″E / 50.8684°N 0.6003°E / 50.8684; 0.6003 (Bethel Full Gospel Church Centre, Halton)	Assemblies of God	D !–	This Pentecostal group took over the former St Mary-of-the-Castle Church in Pelham Crescent in 1970, but did not have enough money to maintain the listed building. Hastings Borough Council later bought the building, and a new church centre was established on Priory Road in Halton. Until 1989 the building was registered as the Halton Baptist Mission Hall; then King's Church used it until 2001.	[159][201] [135][202] [203][204] [155][205]
St Mary Magdalene's Church		St Leonards-on-Sea 50°51′12″N 0°33′54″E / 50.8532°N 0.5650°E / 50.8532; 0.5650 (St Mary Magdalen's Church, St Leonards-on-Sea)	Greek Orthodox	C !II	This Anglican church of 1852, on a prominent sloping corner site (a characteristic feature of churches in Hastings and St Leonards-on-Sea), was one of Frederick Marrable's early works. The Decorated Gothic-style stone church has a tall turreted corner tower, added in 1872. Declared redundant by the Diocese of Chichester on 17 December 1980, it was sold to the Greek Orthodox Church and continues in use under the same dedication.	[48][69] [21][206] [207][208] [209][210]
The Independent Church		St Leonards-on-Sea 50°51′29″N 0°33′01″E / 50.8581°N 0.5502°E / 50.8581; 0.5502 (The Independent Church, St Leonards-on-Sea)	Independent	D !–	This tiny chapel, on Albany Road in Upper St Leonards, offers services in a charismatic evangelical style. It was originally registered as the Kenilworth Evangelical Mission and was granted a marriage licence under that name in February 1979.	[211][212] [213]
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints		Silverhill Park 50°52′51″N 0°33′11″E / 50.8808°N 0.5530°E / 50.8808; 0.5530 (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Silverhill Park)	Latter-day Saint	D !–	Situated on Ledsham Avenue just off the main road to Battle, this meetinghouse is used by the Hastings Ward of the Maidstone Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was registered for marriages in 1970.	[48][114] [214][215] [216][217]
Masjid al-Haq		St Leonards-on-Sea 50°51′08″N 0°33′27″E / 50.8523°N 0.5574°E / 50.8523; 0.5574 (Masjid al-Haq, St Leonards-on-Sea)	Muslim	D !–	James Burton's plans for his St Leonards-on-Sea development included Mercatoria, an inland marketplace. This use did not last long, and in 1847 his son Decimus built a National School on the site. It was the area's only school for the next 26 years, and it was still used until a much larger building was opened elsewhere in the town in 1978. The East Sussex Islamic Association bought the building in the mid-1980s and converted it into a mosque.	[48][218]
Friends Meeting House		Hastings 50°51′29″N 0°34′53″E / 50.8581°N 0.5815°E / 50.8581; 0.5815 (Friends Meeting House, Hastings)	Quaker	D !–	Quakers in the Hastings area meet at this Renaissance-style building on South Terrace in the town centre. It was founded in 1864; John Horniman, a Quaker tea trader who patented a new tea-packing process, gave money. The altered front is stuccoed.	[114][117] [48][219] [220]
Hastings Seventh-Day Adventist Community Church		Ore 50°52′21″N 0°36′35″E / 50.8725°N 0.6096°E / 50.8725; 0.6096 (Hastings Seventh-Day Adventist Community Church, Ore)	Seventh-day Adventist	D !–	This small building used by the Seventh-day Adventist community of Hastings stands on the road to Fairlight.	[48][114] [221][222]
Hastings Unitarian Church		Hastings 50°51′30″N 0°34′52″E / 50.8582°N 0.5812°E / 50.8582; 0.5812 (Hastings Unitarian Church, Hastings)	Unitarian	D !–	Governor of Hong Kong, hyperpolyglot and Unitarian John Bowring founded this church on South Terrace in May 1868. The town's Unitarian community formed eight years earlier and previously met in a music hall and an inn. It has a painted stucco façade and is a late example of Neoclassical architecture.	[48][117] [114][223] [224][225]

Closed or disused places of worship

Name	Image	Location	Denomination/ Affiliation	Grade	Notes	Refs
All Souls Church		Clive Vale 50°52′02″N 0°36′25″E / 50.8673°N 0.6069°E / 50.8673; 0.6069 (Former All Souls Church, Clive Vale)	Anglican	B !II*	Arthur Blomfield built Clive Vale's Anglican church in a plain red-brick style in 1890. Its height is emphasised by the clerestory with triple lancet windows, some with stained glass by Heaton, Butler and Bayne. An elaborate reredos was added in 1897. The final service was on 4 November 2007, and the Diocese of Chichester declared it redundant on 15 February 2008.	[19][25] [226][227] [228][229]
St Mary-in-the-Castle Church		Hastings 50°51′20″N 0°35′05″E / 50.8556°N 0.5846°E / 50.8556; 0.5846 (Former St Mary-in-the-Castle Church, Hastings)	Anglican	B !II*	The successor to an 11th-century collegiate church inside Hastings Castle, this Classical stuccoed church with Ionic columns formed the centrepiece of Joseph Kay's Pelham Crescent residential development on the seafront. Springs flowed from the cliff behind into a total immersion baptismal pool—rare in an Anglican church. It closed in 1970 and is now an arts centre.	[10][69] [21][126] [172][203] [135][201] [230][231] [232]
St Helen's Church (original building)		St Helen's 50°52′47″N 0°35′11″E / 50.8796°N 0.5864°E / 50.8796; 0.5864 (Former St Helen's Church, St Helen's)	Anglican	C !II	The ruins of Ore's original parish church are in an overgrown wood, but the tower, nave and chancel walls and some windows can still be seen. The tower is 12th-century, and other surviving fabric is 14th- and 15th-century. Traces of an Easter Sepulchre remain as well. The church was damp, inconveniently sited and too small for the growing district, so the new St Helen's Church was built nearby in 1869.	[103][233]
St Nicholas' Church (Fishermen's Church)		Rock-a-Nore 50°51′22″N 0°35′43″E / 50.8561°N 0.5952°E / 50.8561; 0.5952 (Former St Nicholas' Church, Rock-a-Nore)	Anglican	C !II	The rector of St Clement's Church founded this small, plain stone church in 1854 on The Stade at Rock-a-Nore in an attempt to reach out to the town's fishermen, who attended church irregularly. The first service took place on March 26 of that year. It was requisitioned and damaged in World War II, closed and bought by a trust who converted it into a fishing museum, which opened in 1956.	[25][69] [234][235] [236][237]
St Ethelburga's Mission Hall		Glyne Gap, Bulverhythe 50°50′52″N 0°30′48″E / 50.8477°N 0.5133°E / 50.8477; 0.5133 (Former St Ethelburga's Mission Hall, Glyne Gap)	Anglican	D !–	St Ethelburga's Church established a mission chapel and church hall at nearby Glyne Gap in 1932. A loan from the Board of Charity Commissioners in 1938 helped to fund it. The building, on the Bexhill Road, was acquired for use as a nursery school in 1997.	[238][239]
Christ Church (original building)		St Leonards-on-Sea 50°51′13″N 0°33′35″E / 50.8535°N 0.5596°E / 50.8535; 0.5596 (Former Christ Church, St Leonards-on-Sea)	Anglican	D !–	Built in 1860 as a working-class church, this Early English-style building used sandstone from an adjacent quarry, which then became the site of the new Christ Church in 1875. The original church then became the parish hall, hosted some activities for the nearby Christ Church School and was later turned into a theological centre.	[19][57] [58][240]
St Wilfrid's Church		St Leonards-on-Sea 50°51′15″N 0°33′30″E / 50.8542°N 0.5584°E / 50.8542; 0.5584 (Former St Wilfrid's Church, St Leonards-on-Sea)	Anglican	D !–	This was always an unparished mission church, and is no longer in religious use. For many years after its closure it housed the Chichester Diocesan Association for the Deaf. The Classical-style building is gabled, stuccoed and has a porch and pediment, and dates from the mid-1860s.	[17][114]
Bohemia Primitive Methodist Chapel		Bohemia 50°51′47″N 0°33′40″E / 50.8630°N 0.5611°E / 50.8630; 0.5611 (Former Bohemia Primitive Methodist Chapel, Bohemia)	Methodist	D !–	This small Italianate chapel was built in the late 19th century for the Primitive Methodist community. A schoolroom was built during improvement work in 1895. It closed in 1939 and became Newgate Hall, which now houses a British Red Cross office.	[117][241] [242]
Bourne Street Wesleyan Methodist Church		Old Town 50°51′25″N 0°35′34″E / 50.8570°N 0.5927°E / 50.8570; 0.5927 (Former Bourne Street Wesleyan Methodist Church, Old Town)	Methodist	D !–	The popular Hastings Theatre, in the heart of the Old Town, was sold to the Methodist community in 1834 after nine years of use. They demolished the Neoclassical structure in 1939 in favour of a plain red-brick building, which opened the following year. As Bourne Hall, it now houses a café and arts centre.	[114][117] [242][243] [244]
St Leonards Methodist Church		St Leonards-on-Sea 50°51′08″N 0°33′32″E / 50.8522°N 0.5589°E / 50.8522; 0.5589 (Former St Leonards Methodist Church, St Leonards-on-Sea)	Methodist	D !–	J. Weir's Gothic Revival-style stone church of 1901, with a large tower topped by a spire, replaced an 1836 building on the same site. This was extended in 1862 but burnt down in 1900. The South East District of the Methodist Church authorised the closure of the church in April 2008, although its marriage registration had already been cancelled in October 2005.	[117][245] [246]
Gospel Mission Hall		St Leonards-on-Sea 50°51′10″N 0°33′27″E / 50.8527°N 0.5576°E / 50.8527; 0.5576 (Former Gospel Mission Hall, St Leonards-on-Sea)	Non-denominational	D !–	This building on Kenilworth Road was registered for marriages between March 1920 and June 1982.	[247]
Mission Chapel		Ore 50°52′30″N 0°36′28″E / 50.8750°N 0.6077°E / 50.8750; 0.6077 (Former Mission Chapel, Ore)	Non-denominational	D !–	A mission hall on Grove Road in the Redlake area of Ore was recorded on maps of various ages and by The London Gazette as a registered place of worship between May 1893 and April 1971, when its certification was cancelled.	[248][249]
Railway Mission Hall		Hastings 50°51′25″N 0°35′01″E / 50.8570°N 0.5836°E / 50.8570; 0.5836 (Former Railway Mission Hall, Hastings)	Non-denominational	D !–	Tucked into one of the steep, staircase-flanked twittens that characterise inner Hastings, this chapel was built by the Railway Mission in 1891 to serve the religious needs of the town's railway workers. It later became the parish hall of St Mary-in-the-Castle Church, but is now disused. The red brick and stone building is in the Perpendicular Gothic style.	[114][117] [250]
St Michael's Chapel (Holy Child Jesus Convent)		St Leonards-on-Sea 50°51′16″N 0°34′00″E / 50.8545°N 0.5667°E / 50.8545; 0.5667 (Former St Michael's Chapel (Holy Child Jesus Convent), St Leonards-on-Sea)	Roman Catholic	B !II*	The convent was founded in about 1846, and Augustus Pugin started building this chapel in its grounds in 1848. His son Edward completed it. It was used (under the dedication St Michael and All Angels Church) for public Roman Catholic worship until 1868, when arguments over its ownership led to a new church being founded. The Gothic Revival building reverted to convent chapel status, and closed with the rest of the convent in 1974.	[19][25] [251][252] [253][254]
Church of the Holy Apostles		Ore 50°52′24″N 0°36′37″E / 50.8732°N 0.6103°E / 50.8732; 0.6103 (Former Church of the Holy Apostles, Ore)	Roman Catholic	D !–	This short-lived church was last listed in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Arundel and Brighton's annual directories in 1994, and in April of that year a planning application to convert the building into a doctor's surgery was approved. Its registration for worship was formally cancelled in January 1998.	[255][256] [257]
Church of the Holy Ghost		Bulverhythe 50°51′05″N 0°31′34″E / 50.8514°N 0.5260°E / 50.8514; 0.5260 (Former Church of the Holy Ghost, Bulverhythe)	Roman Catholic	D !–	Designed by B. Stevens and Partners, architects from Eastbourne, this church cost £40,000 and opened in 1964. It was registered for marriages in 1965 and was last used in 1994; it was later sold and is now a car parts centre. Early photographs show a deep porch along the whole façade.	[114][256] [258][259] [260]
Our Lady of Missions Convent Chapel		Clive Vale 50°51′50″N 0°35′53″E / 50.8639°N 0.5980°E / 50.8639; 0.5980 (Former Our Lady of Missions Convent Chapel, Clive Vale)	Roman Catholic	D !–	Like St Michael's Chapel at St Leonards-on-Sea, this convent chapel was used for public Roman Catholic worship for a time (under the name St Joseph's Chapel). John Hicks designed the stuccoed building in the Baroque style in 1924; the convent was founded in 1903 on the site of Frederick North MP's house. It is now the centrepiece of a sheltered housing complex.	[69][261] [262]
St Leonards-on-Sea Congregational Church		St Leonards-on-Sea 50°51′17″N 0°33′33″E / 50.8548°N 0.5591°E / 50.8548; 0.5591 (Former St Leonards United Reformed Church, St Leonards-on-Sea)	Congregational Federation	C !II	To Robert Elleray, this is "one of the finest Nonconformist buildings in Sussex", but it lost its tall copper spire in the Great Storm of 1987 and was finally closed in 2008 after six years of disuse. The firm of Habershon and Brock designed it in 1863 for its Congregationalist founder James Griffin. The sandstone for it was quarried at Ore.	[17][240] [263][264] [265][266] [267]
Bethel Full Gospel Church		Halton 50°51′54″N 0°35′27″E / 50.8649°N 0.5909°E / 50.8649; 0.5909 (Former Bethel Full Gospel Church, Halton)	Pentecostalist	D !–	This Pentecostalist group used this late 19th-century building, in the middle of a terrace of houses on St George's Road, before moving to Priory Road in Halton. Its worship registration was cancelled in October 2001.	[114][155]
St Mary's Chapel		Bulverhythe 50°50′49″N 0°30′37″E / 50.8469°N 0.5102°E / 50.8469; 0.5102 (Former St Mary's Chapel, Bulverhythe)	Pre-Reformation	C !II	Norman-era stones were incorporated into the rebuilt 13th-century parish church of Bulverhythe, which was a prebend of the original St Mary-in-the-Castle Church. The last record of worship taking place in the building was in 1372, after which it became derelict and collapsed. Parts of the flint and stone walls and foundations of the chancel survive. The parish existed in name only until the 19th century.	[268][269]
Ebenezer Particular Baptist Chapel		Old Town 50°51′31″N 0°35′46″E / 50.8585°N 0.5961°E / 50.8585; 0.5961 (Former Ebenezer Particular Baptist Chapel, Old Town)	Strict Baptist	C !II	Successor to a Strict Baptist chapel called Cow Lodge near the beach at Rock-a-Nore, this chapel was founded nearby in 1817 by a member of its congregation. It grew in popularity throughout the 19th century, and regular extensions were made; but it closed by the end of the 20th century and has been converted into a house. The Neoclassical structure retains its stuccoed façade, pilasters, pediment and cornice.	[17][129] [16][270] [271]
Bulverhythe United Reformed Church		Bulverhythe 50°51′06″N 0°31′45″E / 50.8518°N 0.5293°E / 50.8518; 0.5293 (Former Bulverhythe United Reformed Church, Bulverhythe)	United Reformed Church	D !–	J. Elworthy's Congregational mission church of 1895 was registered for marriages in 1936 and closed in the late 1970s. The Renaissance-style hall, of red brick with stuccoed dressings, is now called Hastleon Hall and is owned by an amateur dramatics group.	[17][114] [272][273]

See also

• List of demolished places of worship in East Sussex

References

Notes

Bibliography