The Stokes of West Sussex

In the Arundel valley lie North and South Stoke, two tiny ancient villages respectively on the east and west sides of the River Arun. They are merely a half mile apart as the crow flies, but if you’re not a crow there is a footpath. However, if you wish to drive from one to the other you have to drive a circuitous route that passes through the town of Arundel.
Both North and South Stoke are lovely little villages out in the quiet countryside. I was glad to finally take the opportunity to visit them after several times passing through Amberley and up through Houghton on the B2139 road heading for southwest England. There’s a very nice viewpoint not far past Houghton from which one could see both villages. It looked so idyllic down there, and that impression proved quite true.
Credits:
Music - "Art of Silence - by Uniq" is under a Creative Commons license (Creative Commons - International Recognition 4.0 - CC BY 4.0)

[@geoffw8565]

Lovely video with great information !

[@lawrieflowers8314]

Absolutely fascinating!
Sweet little villages tucked away in lovely surroundings and, whilst on my doorstep (well, almost), I’ve never visited them.
But I will now…

[@mehitabel6564]

I've been meaning to make a proper visit to Arundel, having only motored past on the A27 en route to Worthing and Brighton. Including a visit to the Stokes and a stroll between the two sounds ideal.

[@RonSeymour1]

Another very interesting video but I did notice one curious error. I am not sure whether it is your error or the eatery. The sign for what you said was the Boathouse Restaurant clearly says Boathoise. What an odd name if genuine. (I decided to Google, you are correct, the sign isn't.)

[@ricktownend9144]

Thank you so much for that! - I've never visited either of these Stokes, but will do so now: the churches sound charming. I'd always assumed that the name 'Stoke' was something to do with charcoal burning, but in view of the widespread use of the name, I think you must be right. The view over the Arun from the A29 just north of Whiteways Lodge roundabout is rather special. Do you have anything on why 'Whiteways'? - maybe just because the Arun cuts through the chalk hills there? - there is a nice walk south of Houghton to what may have been a lime quarry beside the Arun, about half a mile from the roundabout.
Look forward to your next video - Happy Christmas

[@tonym480]

Not mentioned in the video, the Church in South Stoke does not have an electricity supply. If you look back at the interior shots in the video you can clearly see the old style candelabra that is used to light the Church with actual candles. There are many pleasant walks around these villages, although they can be quite soggy underfoot after heavy rain, this is especially true of the path between the two villages that crosses the 'Gurkha Bridge'.
A favourite area of mine that I have walked many times over a period of more than 50 years. 😃

[@SussexYank]

I was wondering about the Whiteways name, too, but haven't been able to track the origin down. When I was collecting drone footage for this video I did see that lime quarry from the air. That didn't make it into the finished video, but it looked interesting!

[@SussexYank]

@@tonym480 - I wanted to take that walk between the villages, but at the time I was dealing with a sore knee, and couldn't.