{"id":683555,"date":"2026-07-10T03:39:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T03:39:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/683555\/"},"modified":"2026-07-10T03:39:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T03:39:10","slug":"st-leonards-blaze-fire-breaks-out-at-former-catholic-convent-featuring-grade-ii-listed-chapel-as-crews-tackle-incident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/683555\/","title":{"rendered":"St Leonards blaze: Fire breaks out at former Catholic convent featuring Grade II-listed chapel as crews tackle incident"},"content":{"rendered":"

Emergency crews rushed to a disused convent in East Sussex on Thursday evening after a fire erupted at the site.<\/p>\n

East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service received the initial alert at 5.03pm regarding the blaze at the former College of the Holy Child Jesus on Magdalen Road in St Leonards.<\/p>\n

Dense smoke was visible across the town as flames took hold of the derelict building.<\/p>\n

By 5.30pm, six fire engines had been dispatched to the scene, accompanied by a water carrier and senior officers.<\/p>\n

Joint Fire Control received numerous calls from members of the public reporting the incident. No injuries have been reported.<\/p>\n

Firefighters equipped with breathing apparatus are using main jets to combat the blaze, which is concentrated on the building’s third floor.<\/p>\n

Police officers are on site assisting with traffic management and crowd control measures.<\/p>\n

UK Power Networks personnel have also attended the incident.<\/p>\n

\"Incident\"\/<\/p>\n

Dense smoke was visible across the town as flames took hold of the derelict building<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

HANDOUT<\/p>\n

An ESFRS spokesperson said: “Please avoid the area as roads are being closed.”<\/p>\n

Hastings Borough Council confirmed it is aware of the situation and coordinating with emergency services.<\/p>\n

The fire service has urged local residents to shut all doors and windows due to the thick black smoke billowing from the property.<\/p>\n

The former Catholic college ceased operations in 1976 after serving as an educational institution for many years.<\/p>\n

\"Crew\"\/<\/p>\n

Despite the site’s deterioration, its chapel retains Grade II listed status<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

HANDOUT<\/p>\n

Following its closure, the building was converted into a language school before eventually falling into a state of disrepair.<\/p>\n

Despite the site’s deterioration, its chapel retains Grade II listed status.<\/p>\n

Hastings Borough Council stated: “We are aware of the fire at the former Convent, Magdalen Road and are working closely with the emergency services.”<\/p>\n

Surrounding roads have been shut to allow crews to work safely.<\/p>\n

Residents in the vicinity have been advised to keep windows and doors closed as a precaution against the heavy smoke.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Emergency crews rushed to a disused convent in East Sussex on Thursday evening after a fire erupted at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":683556,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[35884,49,50,2331,18329,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-683555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-across-the-uk","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-sgg","tag-south-east","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=683555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683555\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/683556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=683555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=683555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=683555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}