Saint Leonards-on-Sea, United Kingdom

In addition he persuaded the Turnpike Commissioners to have the road leading to St Leonards included in the scheme, and arranged for the road through Silverhill to be built so as to give access. Before he died in 1837, St Leonards (Royal Victoria) Hotel, the South Colonnade, an archway marking the town boundary with Hastings, and tall seafront houses (as far as 71 Marina) had also been completed. His grave is marked by a pyramid in the churchyard above St Leonard's Church. In 1850 his son Decimus (1800–1881) started the second phase of building, by acquiring more land and extending the development westward. He lived in the town for the remainder of his life.

Decimus Burton became a Commissioner of the new town in 1833. He leased a triangle of land bounded by Mercatoria, St John's Church, Maze Hill and Kenilworth Road. Here he built The Cottage (now St Leonards Lodge), Maze Hill House (demolished), The Mount (13 houses), The Uplands (6), The Lawn (10), and six semi-detached houses which later became a school (later part of the college but now closed for redevelopment). Later, in Upper Maze Hill he built Baston Lodge, Tower House and Clone House (now Healey House). He gave some land in Mercatoria for a National School, and completed his father's seafront terrace by building 72 to 82 Marina. Modern (2006) photographs give a flavour of this development.

St Leonards became a fashionable seaside destination. Princess Sophia of Gloucester stayed at Gloucester Lodge on Quarry Hill in 1831. The building was formerly named the Castellated Villa but changed to Gloucester Lodge in honour of her. Princess Victoria and her mother the Duchess of Kent, stayed in the town for the winter of 1834–1835, occupying a residence since renamed Crown House. In 1837 Queen Adelaide passed the winter there.

The popularity of St Leonards, however, was not lost upon the town of Hastings. It had already begun to expand westwards, through Pelham Place and Wellington Square, and further building began. The Eversfield Estate, from whom the Burtons had bought land, saw the potential and it too began to sell off more space, having obtained an Act of Parliament opening the way for speculative builders beyond the Burton boundaries. As a result, the area between the two towns began to fill with properties. In 1875, the two towns merged into the County Borough of Hastings, and by then the total seafront had reached some three miles (4.8 km). Soon after that, the Warrior Square and Upper St Leonards areas were being developed.

By now the railways had arrived: the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway reached West Marina in 1845, although it was not until 1852 that the station later named St Leonards Warrior Square was opened by the South Eastern Railway.

Construction of the pier began in March 1888, and it was opened by Lord and Lady Brassey on 28 October 1891. Positioned almost opposite the Royal Victoria Hotel, the shore end had a pavilion constructed of intricate ironwork at the entrance so that visitors could drive straight to the door and avoid the seafront weather. There was also a tollhouse to the left of the entrance that was demolished by a storm on 12 February 1899. The far end of the pier had a building used for dancing, and later as a roller hockey rink. During the 1920s the pier was modernised and finally cut in half during the Second World War as protection against invasion. The remains were removed in 1951.

In 1901 the civil parish called Hastings St Leonards had a population of 7693. On 1 April 1909 the parish was abolished and merged with Hastings.

On the seafront stands an ocean liner shaped art-deco building known as Marine Court, which upon completion in 1937 was the tallest block of flats in the United Kingdom, comprising some 153 flats and 3 restaurants. Despite this claim to fame, entries to a competition to name the building show that it was not universally popular. Now a listed building, it has recently been bought by the residents after many years of neglect and is in the process of being fully restored.

St Leonards Golf Club, Hastings, (now defunct) was founded in 1902/3. The club closed in 1960.