[1] After 5 years carefully and painstakingly renovating the building to its original glory, the lower church hall was finally re-opened to the public on 6 April 2024 as an indoor Saturday Market selling vintage and collectable items.

[2] James Burton, a London-based builder and speculator who had executed large-scale developments in North London[3] before moving to Tunbridge Wells in Kent,[4] saw the potential of the land immediately west of the growing town.

By the 1820s it consisted of a large area of flat land on top of some small cliffs leading to the beach, and a gently sloping tree-lined valley.

[7] A turnpike was built in 1836 connecting St Leonards-on-Sea to the main road to London (the present A21), cutting out the former indirect route via Hastings, Ore and The Ridge.

[11] James Griffin, a local Congregationalist, founded the church in 1863,[12] and building work started on 23 February 1864 when the foundation stone was laid.

[12] Over time, though, its exposed situation led to wind and sea-spray damaging the oak-shingled roof;[19] the shingles were replaced by tiles in the 20th century.

[15] The former church was listed at Grade II by English Heritage on 10 September 2003;[15] this defines it as a "nationally important" building of "special interest".

[26] Hastings Borough Council enacted a "fast-track" policy to get the building listed quickly by English Heritage, giving it some protection against alteration or demolition.

[11] The church at St Leonards-on-Sea, with its bold tower and spire, cross-gabling and pale sandstone exterior, was a departure from these typical forms, and has been described as both "one of the most ambitious"[15] and "one of the finest Nonconformist buildings in Sussex".

[15] The layout takes advantage of the steeply sloping site by incorporating a schoolroom and hall below the body of the church but still at ground level on the ritual south (London Road; geographical east) side.

The hall, which has an exterior wall only on the London Road side because of the slope of the land, also has arch-headed trefoil windows and stone dressings.

The main entrance is through the lowest stage of the tower, which leads into a lobby whose floor is laid in a "classic Gothic Revival form" with encaustic and geometric tiles.

Other timberwork includes the reredos between the body of the church and the vestry, a gallery with a balustraded staircase and built-in clock, box pews and a pulpit with some wrought ironwork.