Celebrating Christ Church

Restoring and Revitalising our Heritage

Celebrating Christ Church: restoring and revitalising our heritage at the heart of our community. The church was built in 1875 to Sir Arthur Blomfield’s designs, with the steeple dedicated in 1895. It was enlarged by an extension in 1926-27 designed by CG Hare. The building is impressive in scale and architecture and possesses a magnificent interior.

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Christ Church, St Leonards-on-Sea, is a Grade II* listed church on the Heritage At Risk Register. The church’s 2018 Quinquennial Report identified an urgent need for repairs to the external elevations of the Church. The PCC committed to addressing these repairs, and these works are the culmination of that task.

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We aim to restore Christ Church to her original glory, and protect the building from future environmental damage. Our plans will improve the external appearance of the building which is now showing its age as well as enhancing the local area.

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We will accompany the restoration works with a programme of events and activities, embracing Christ Church’s diverse communities and reaching out to new ones. Christ Church and its community will be able to celebrate the most ambitious restoration project in its history.

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Over the next year, live demonstrations will accompany the exterior repairs and a series of seasonal events will lead to regular heritage tours by volunteer guides. These will be part of an ongoing annual events  programme which will widen our reach to include those who do not currently interact with the church.

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Members of our community will be creators contributing to a unique ongoing vision of what Christ Church offers and represents to them. A series of co-created projects will be initiated by researching and recording the heritage and stories of our community, and making them accessible to all.

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We will work with young people, local school children and families, by developing educational activities in partnership with the local school. The Church will become known as a heritage hub, an indoor performance and events venue, a community resource and a major participant in the annual St Leonard’s Festival.

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The restored building, the buzz of engagement around this project, and a celebratory exhibition to display the outputs of our community co-productions, will act as a springboard for the celebrations of our 150th Jubilee in 2025.