Though slightly later than the mid seventeenth-century, it is recorded that over 1000 seamen perished on the Goodwin Sands and the Downs (the bit of water between the sands and the coast) in the Great Storm of 26 November 1703 (modern Gregorian calendar: 7 December). Despite causing widespread damage to buildings and landscapes across southern England as reported by Daniel Defoe, Rear Admiral Beaumont's Squadron of Observation was lost. Other ships lost included HMS Restoration, HMS Northumberland, HMS Mary and HMS Stirling Castle. Between these few ships, of which there were numerous others, it is recorded that over 1099 men drowned, including Rear Admiral Beaumont. Daniel Dafoe notes that the following morning that the beaches between Walmer Castle and Sandown Castle were awash with the bodies of dead sailors.
Its also worth noting that during the seventeenth and early eighteenth-century, St Leonard's Church was regarded as the principal church of Deal, then known as Upper Deal, to distinguish it from the lower coastal settlement. It was not until the mid eighteenth-century that Deal (present coastal town) got its own church and the focus of settlement moved from on top of the hill to the sea front.