St Mary the Virgin's Church, North Stoke

St Mary the Virgin
St Mary the Virgin church from the east
Location of the church in West Sussex
50°53′15″N 0°33′05″W / 50.8874°N 0.5514°W / 50.8874; -0.5514
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.