St Mary the Virgin | |
---|---|
Location of the church in West Sussex | |
50°53′15″N 0°33′05″W / 50.8874°N 0.5514°W | |
Location | North Stoke Church, North Stoke, Amberley, West Sussex BN18 9LS |
Country | United Kingdom |
Denomination | Church of England |
History | |
Former name(s) | North Stoke Church (no dedication) |
Founded | 11th century |
Dedication | Mary the Virgin |
Dedicated | 8 December 2007 (rededication) |
Architecture | |
Functional status | Redundant |
Heritage designation | Grade I |
Designated | 15 March 1955 |
Style | Norman; Early English Gothic |
Closed | 1 March 1992 |
Administration | |
Diocese | Chichester |
Archdeaconry | Horsham |
Deanery | Storrington |
Parish | Amberley with North Stoke |
North Stoke Church, rededicated in 2007 to St Mary the Virgin after its medieval dedication was unexpectedly rediscovered, is a former Church of England parish church in the riverside hamlet of North Stoke in the Horsham District of West Sussex. The partly 11th-century cruciform building, set in an almost deserted village in a loop of the River Arun, is mostly unrestored and stands on an ancient earthwork which has pre-Christian origins. The building has architectural features and internal fittings spanning hundreds of years, including some very old stained glass and wall paintings, although there are few memorials compared with other Sussex churches of a similar age. The church, "movingly eloquent of centuries of remote Sussex agricultural life",[1] is no longer used for worship: it was declared redundant in 1992, after which it was entrusted to the Churches Conservation Trust. English Heritage lists the church at Grade I for its architectural and historical importance.