Church of St Leonard

The Church of St Leonard is a brick and stone building dating from 1953 to 1961, designed by Adrian Gilbert Scott and built by R Corben and Son Ltd. Its construction reflects a stripped Gothic style. The church is rectangular, oriented north to south, with a low-pitched hipped roof. The north end contains the liturgical east end, while the south side provides the entrance (liturgical west) and features a tower facing the sea. To the east of the main body of the church is a single-story vestry and offices.

The church plan incorporates a nave with passage aisles, and a gallery to the south above an enclosed entry hall, or narthex, with small rooms on either side. The altar is positioned against the north wall, with choir stalls in the chancel.

The exterior is characterized by buff brick and cream stone dressings, with a red pantile roof. The tower is a dominant feature, containing a high parabolic arch framing a tripartite entrance accompanied by a tall three-light window. The arch displays late Gothic mouldings that transition to rounded jambs. The entrance consists of three pairs of wooden doors, divided by moulded stone jambs, each pair having tripartite over-lights and a band of blind arcading with inflexed arches, accessed by a wide staircase. An illuminated cross set with glass blocks sits atop the tower. Side windows have inflexed arches and diagonally leaded lights. An open-air pulpit is located to the right of the tower, and the side walls feature two-light traceried windows with triangular arches.

Inside the church, parabolic arches are prominent architectural elements, including the chancel arch, two diminishing arches leading into the altar recess, and giant arcades linking the internal buttresses supporting the passage aisles. The ceiling is flat in the centre of the nave and canted to the sides. A wave-motif dado of Blue Hornton stone runs along the nave and chancel, extending into the narthex and side rooms, rising behind the altar and surmounted by an incised and painted cross. The chancel and sanctuary have a marble floor inlaid with depictions of loaves and fishes, scallop shells, and locally-caught fish. The sanctuary and altar are raised. The simple timber altar has a central pedestal that tapers towards its base, a design reflected in the elegant timber altar rail with pairs of balusters arranged in narrow V formations. Limed oak choir stalls, possibly incorporating some Victorian pieces, stand to the left of the altar, with organ pipes above. A pulpit resembling the prow of a Galilean fishing boat stands opposite the lectern, which is fashioned from a ship's binnacle. A font and cover, carved from elm by John Reid and in the shape of a ship's wheel, were not present during inspection in 2019.