It is said that a church stood on this site in Noke (‘by
the oak trees’) in the time of William the Conqueror. The present church
dates from the thirteenth century, when a major evangelistic campaign was
taking place in the whole region, and many churches were built or repaired. It
is basically ‘Early English’ in style, though it has been extensively
restored over the centuries. The list of Rectors goes back to 1272, about the
same time as the church was built. But a priest was working here in 1191;
possibly Noke was then a chapel of Islip (with which it has been joined in a
single benefice since 1967). Traces of the foundations of an earlier building
on a slightly different alignment to the existing church have been revealed
recently in archaeological test pits dug close to the chancel wall.
Some land within the parish formed part
of Edward the Confessor’s gift to Westminster Abbey, and Noke has been
connected with the Dean and Chapter of Westminster at various periods in its
history. As late as 1800 the Dean and Chapter claimed the overlordship of Noke
and villagers were required to attend formal readings of documents in Islip,
mainly concerning tithes. The advowson was purchased by the Dean and Chapter in
1915. Islip comes under the same patronage and Noke is currently held in common
with Islip, as the parishes have been linked for many centuries.
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The church itself is a small but beautifully proportioned
stone building constructed in limestone rubble with ashlar dressings, under a
plain-tile roof. The chancel arch is part of the original 13th century
structure: so are the south wall, south door, porch, the plain double lancet
window in the south wall and the site of the east window. There are two 14th or
15th niches on either side of the arch. The nave roof with its curved
wind-braces was probably replaced in the Elizabethan period, when the church
was extensively repaired by Joan Bradshaw and her grandson Benedict Winchcombe,
and a family mortuary chapel was added to the north side, but this was pulled
down in 1745 and its doorway blocked.
Further repairs were carried out in
1758, with restoration work in the Victorian period by W. Wilkinson, at which
time the plaster was removed from the interior of the church, and the square
wooden belfry replaced by the present bell-turret, carrying two bells. The east
window is Victorian, though the site is original (as indeed is the window-sill
beneath it).
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