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St Leonard's on Sea
Methodist Church Roof Works
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In St Leonards-on-Sea, Hastings, St Leonard’s Church, St Leonards-on-Sea rose as both a place of worship and a personal statement. It was the principal church serving the new seaside town developed by James Burton, and one he designed himself, completed just before his death. The building carried his architectural language clearly: confident, restrained, and purposeful, intended to anchor a growing community.
Though damaged during the upheaval of the Second World War, the church endured. More than a century on, its significance was formally recognised when it was designated a Grade II listed building by English Heritage, valued for both its architectural merit and its place in the town’s history.
Client
Pcc of St Leonard’s Church, Shoreditch
Dates
October 2018
—
December 2018
Location
St Leonards-on-Sea, England
Grade listing
Grade II
Fabric
Stone
Addressing a Vulnerable Feature
Among the church’s most prominent elements was its stone tracery window, a defining feature that had suffered from age, exposure, and earlier damage. The Bath stone tracery on the external face had deteriorated to the point where repair alone was no longer sufficient.
DBR Southern was appointed to carry out the masonry works, approaching the task with the understanding that this window was not just an opening, but a focal point of Burton’s design.
Replacing What Could No Longer Endure
On the exterior, the Bath stone tracery was fully replaced up to the glass line. This work required precision and restraint, ensuring that the new stonework followed the original profiles, proportions, and intent of the historic window. The replacement did not seek to improve upon the original design, only to restore its clarity and structural integrity.
Repairing from Within
Internally, a lighter touch was required. Rather than full replacement, the inner face of the tracery was repaired using mortar repairs and carefully cut stone indents. These localised interventions preserved as much original fabric as possible, reinforcing weakened areas while maintaining the window’s historic character.
To unify old and new, the entire tracery was finished with a lime-based shelter coat. This provided a more consistent appearance while offering additional protection against weathering, allowing the stone to breathe and age naturally.
Holding History in Balance
When the work was complete, the window read once more as a coherent whole, its structure secure, its surfaces calm, its presence restored. The intervention was clear to those who knew where to look, yet invisible in spirit.
At St Leonard’s Church, DBR Southern’s work ensured that James Burton’s final architectural legacy continued to face the light, strengthened by conservation, shaped by respect, and ready to endure the next chapter of its long life.
