Trust helps Grade 1 listed church in South Stoke undertake major roof project

A £6,000 grant awarded to the ancient parish church has helped  to fund a major project to re-tile the entire roof. 

St Leonard’s in South Stoke, near Arundel, was built in the 11th century and has been a sacred place for almost a thousand years. Described on Visit Arundel website as a “hidden gem”, the tiny flint church is situated in one of the most stunning parts of the South Downs National Park overlooking the River Arun. The church has no electricity or water and is lit by dozens of candles for the two regular services every month, along with weddings, baptisms and funerals throughout the year.

For much of its history, St Leonard's stood on its own as a parish church, celebrating the sacraments and preaching the gospel to nearby farm workers and their families. Since the 1920s, however, the parish has been joined with the neighbouring parish church of Arundel and became part of the Benefice of Arundel. 

The church’s chronic roof issues came to a head four years ago when damp caused some serious internal plaster falls. It became clear that the only solution was extensive retiling.

Canon David Twinley, Rector at St Leonard, said that the roof had been "patched up, when necessary, over the years" but that an entire re-tile has been necessary since 2021.

As always with roofing projects in old buildings, a bat survey was required and church representatives also met up with experts from AEWC Ltd, an animal ecology and wildlife consultancy. Once St Leonards had acquired the necessary Bat Licence, work got underway in early September, carried out by Lion Roofing of Chichester. 

Roof repairs underway at St Leonards, South Stoke

Huge progress was made in the early weeks of the project, thanks to clement weather conditions. Now, with the scaffolding down, the work has been expertly completed in time for Christmas. New roof battens have been put in place. Old, damaged and broken tiles have been removed and the completed retiling  special access points for bats.

Both slopes of the Nave and Chancel roofs were re-weathered using salvaged replacement tiles along with new lead flashings. The roofers also installed a new felt underlayer to help provide a second barrier to water ingress and obviating the need for an expensive temporary roof.

The £6,000 grant from the Sussex Historic Churches Trust went a long way towards meeting the £11,000 shortfall in church funds. The entire project is costing close to £80,000. Churchwarden Colin Stepney said: “The grant from the Sussex Historic Churches Trust was enormously helpful. We could not have completed the project without it. “Delighted’ understates how we felt and how grateful we are to the Trust. To use an expression from the world of sport, it’s fair to say we were “over the moon!”

The Sussex Historic Churches Trust awarded a total of nearly £100,000 in grants in 2025 including St Mary the Virgin, Warbleton, St Mary’s Bepton, St Giles in Graffham, St Peter’s Westhampnett, St Peter & St Paul in Wadhurst and St Mary the Virgin, Ninfield.

Grant dates for 2026 The grant meetings in 2026 will take place on April 10 and September 18; applicants are advised to apply at least two weeks in advance. Please see our Grants page for more information.