After wartime damage, occupation by the military and subsequent disuse, the building (an unconsecrated mission chapel) was leased from the local council by a preservation society, which modified it and established a museum in it.

The building, a simple Gothic Revival-style stone chapel, has been listed at Grade II by English Heritage for its architectural and historical importance.

[1] Until the Victorian era, when the area's good climate and seaside location were exploited for tourism, Hastings' fortunes were dependent on the success or failure of the fishing port's activities and the associated boatbuilding industry.

[4][7] Gant, who had worked with architect Sir William Tite in London, had moved to Hastings in 1852 and was primarily a house and estate designer.

[4][5] When World War II started, the church's strategic location on The Stade made it attractive to the military, who requisitioned it and turned it into an ordnance store.

It suffered damage, and its future as a church was endangered when Hastings Council (into whose ownership it had passed) only offered a short-term lease.

It is built of pale Kentish ragstone[5] laid in courses, with a gabled slate roof and quoins faced with stucco.