Old St Stephen's Church, Fylingdales

Old St Stephen’s stands on a hillside above Robin Hood’s Bay in North Yorkshire. A redundant Anglican church, it replaced a medieval building in 1822 and was superseded by a new church in 1870. The old structure is now Grade I listed and cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust. Inside, part of the nave has been fitted for campers, a scheme known as Champing. The church’s exterior is built of sandstone with a purple slate roof in a simple Neoclassical style. The building’s history is visible in its fittings and fabric. Above the south porch sits a sundial marked with the years 1736, 1864 and 1919. Inside, the original Georgian fittings remain: a panelled gallery on north and west walls, a triple-decker pulpit with sounding board, and box pews. One pew bears the name and coat of arms of the Farsyde family, and memorial tablets to that family are on the walls. The font dates from the early 18th century. Visitors find a quiet hilltop setting with views over the surrounding countryside. The single-cell nave has six bays, a small sanctuary and a north vestry. Pointed-arched windows line the nave walls, and a square-headed door opens from the sanctuary’s south wall. The east window is flanked by diagonal buttresses, and the vestry contains a 15-pane window. Inside the porch are wooden benches, and the bell-cupola stands at the west end.