5 Secret St Leonards Look Inside

Length: 2¼ miles. Time: It can be walked in 1 hour – but take your time - allow a little longer to stand, stare and imagine. Map: Included and full walk instructions are given. Transport: Train from Warrior Square. Refreshments: Bars and Cafés throughout the walk on the Promenade, Grand Parade, Marina, Norman Road and King’s Road. Pubs: Horse and Groom, The St Leonard. Walk Profile A Secret St Leonards Walking Trail Starting at Hastings Pier, this walk will take you away from the seafront to rummage amongst the antiques shops, look at the galleries, browse in bookshops or to just enjoy the walk to King’s Road, where the street market is held the first Saturday of the summer months but just check at www.facebook.com/stleonardsmarket before you walk. Finally, the walk ends at Warrior Square Station to catch the train back to Hastings or, if feeling energetic, you can retrace some of your steps down London Road and walk back to the promenade. No walk in St Leonards can be without its Burton connections and this walk will be no exception but, there is more to St Leonards than James and Decimus Burton and my aim is to walk you through some of the history and the legends that surround the town. I must point out that this is not a flat walk although the start is along the promenade. There are hills, both up and down, and steps which do make it unsuitable for wheel chairs and pushchairs for which I apologise. There is an alternative route that misses out the steps up to the ‘pyramid’, but

there are still hills to climb. A little effort is needed, whichever route you choose, but you will see another side to St Leonards on Sea. The return can be by a more modern method, the train back to Hastings. Reflections The idea of a walk around St Leonards was put into my head at the end of 2015. The walk would explore some of the hidden treasures that are tucked away out of sight, but it was only when I followed the ‘Hidden Hull Walking Trail’ that I started to put my thinking cap on. It would be another walk in the series of Short Walks in 1066 Country and an opportunity to share all that is good about St Leonards on Sea. Such a unique place, St Leonards on Sea was at the forefront of seaside design for over 100 years, from its founding father James Burton to that famous Borough Engineer Sidney Little, but its place in history goes back much further. St. Leonards takes its name from the old parish of St Leonard’s Church which had ceased to be used after 1428. The coastline was a series of headlands, secluded coves and smuggler’s beaches, ideal for landing contraband but by 1830 smuggling was in decline. At about the same time, James Burton was in the process of creating his terraces and promenades and his legacy is plain to see, all the way down to West St Leonards. ‘The Burtons’ concept was for a grand composition with the hotel in the centre, a bathhouse in front (now demolished), and villas set back and terminating the short views up the side streets and grand colonnaded terraces to either side of the hotel. Granville, writing in 1841, commented ‘We should look in vain on any other coast in England for such a range of buildings as those he (Burton) has raised below St Leonards Cliff; of a

superior order, though not so ornamented as some of his previous structures. None but the unrivalled crescents of Bath and Bristol is superior to the Marina of St Leonards’. (Spas of England and Principal Sea- Bathing Places A.B. Granville, 1841).’ (Hastings Borough Council, St Leonards on Sea Conservation Area Character Appraisal) It was the first new seaside resort for the wealthy and became instantly popular with royalty and aristocracy. Service areas for the new town included shopping, Mercatoria, and laundry, Lavatoria. The railway arrived in 1845 and St Leonards Gensing Road Station (now Warrior Square Station) was opened in 1852. St Leonards prospered and expanded until it merged with Hastings in 1875. The demolition of Burtons’ St. Leonard’s Arch in 1895 allowed the road to develop between Hastings and the new town and when The Hastings Tramways Company opened a new depot at Bulverhythe, a tramway was established along the seafront to Bexhill and Cooden, then called Kewhurst. So often, local walks and commentaries confine themselves to Burtons’ St Leonards, and they are all interesting in their own right, but there is more to explore and discover. Enjoy the walk and travel back into a little bit of history. The Secret St Leonards Walking Trail starts on the promenade at the newly restored Hastings Pier and continues westwards, first along the lower prom and then the upper prom, before exploring St Leonards on Sea. The walk finishes at Warrior Square Station at the top of Kings Road. The complete Guidebook to the walk contains history notes, maps and step by step walking instructions to make your life easier to enjoy the rich history of St Leonards on Sea

About the Author David lives in St Leonards on Sea, East Sussex, and walks, talks and writes about walking, local history and all things 1066. He is a member of the Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild and considers that his membership of CAMRA, The Inn Sign Society, The Ramblers and the Long Distance Walkers Association to be a perfect match for walking. He is the author and creator of 1066 Harold’s Way, a 100mile long distance walk inspired by King Harold’s epic march to the Battle of Hastings, 1066. Long Distance Walks 1. 1066 Harold’s Way 2. Three Castles and an Ironmaster’s House Books 1. The Saxon Times History Walks around 1066 Country 1. A Green St Leonards on Sea Walk 2. Battle Circular Walks 3. 1066 Bodiam Castle to Battle Abbey 4. Hastings to Rye 5. Secret St Leonards Walking Trail 6. Pub Walks in Hastings and St Leonards 7. 1066 William’s Way, Hastings to Battle 8. Rock a Nore to De La Warr 9. Pub Walks in 1066 Country 10. A Walk around Rye 11. A Walk around Winchelsea 12. More Walks around Rye

History Walks No.5 A Secret St Leonards Walking Trail and Quiz There is more to St Leonards on Sea than the Promenade. There is much to admire along the front but hidden away behind the houses in St Leonards on Sea, is a story of a dream to build a New Town which in 1841 was said that “None but the unrivalled crescents of Bath and Bristol is superior to the Marina of St Leonards”. The trail leads through the regency splendour for the rich and wealthy and on past Mercatoria and Lavateria, built to service the grand houses, with the finish at Warrior Square Station. There are lots of stories to tell on this History Walk that looks behind the scenes of a re-invigorated St Leonards on Sea. There are lots of places to eat and drink, buy ice creams, rummage amongst the antiques shops, look at the galleries, browse in bookshops or to just enjoy the walk on the Secret St Leonards Walking Trail. King Street Market is open the first Saturday in the month but just check at www.facebook.com/stleonardsmarket before you walk. ‘Secret St Leonards Walking Trail’ is published by: History Walks, Marine Court, St Leonards on Sea www.1066haroldsway.co.uk and printed by Instant Print www.instantprint.co.uk £3.00 Printed April 2016, Revised May 2018

For more information about this book and other walks in the series of ‘Short Walks in 1066 Country’, visit History Walks Books and Talks: www.1066haroldsway.co.uk History Walks books are available by mail order from History Walks and from the following stockists: Hastings • Hastings Tourist Information, Muriel Matters House • Old Hastings Preservation Society, History House, Courthouse Street • Hastings Fishermen's Museum, Rock-a-Nore, St Leonards on Sea • The Bookkeeper, 1A Kings Road • Studio 4 Frames, Marine Court Rye • Rye Heritage Centre • Adams of Rye, 8 High Street Battle • British Design British Made, High Street • AHA Stationers, Mount Street Bexhill • De La Warr Pavillion • Bexhill Museum