The church, which was declared redundant in 2008, has been listed at Grade II by English Heritage for its architectural and historical importance.

Stanmer's recorded history goes back to 765, when the village and its lands were given to the South Malling monastery in nearby Lewes by the King of Sussex.

[3] The Grade I-listed Stanmer House was built for them in 1722, and the family became an earldom in 1801 when Thomas Pelham had the title Earl of Chichester bestowed upon him.

[9] The Diocese of Chichester declared the church redundant from 29 December 2008, meaning it was no longer open for regular public worship.

[7] It has a simple cruciform layout, with a chancel, nave, north and south transepts and a tower at the west end topped with a thin shingled spire.

His son, Francis Jude Jones, succeeded him in his roles in the Stanmer Estate and was also a capable carpenter, designing a new set of entrance doors as a memorial to the 7th Earl of Chichester.

[5] The churchyard contains an unusual wellhouse, rebuilt at the same time as the church,[13] with a rare vertically mounted donkey-wheel[14] dating from the 18th century or possibly earlier.

The animal walks a circular path around the well, turns a wheel attached to a pump, and thereby draws water from the ground.

The churchyard's sole CWGC registered war grave is to the 8th Earl of Chichester, Captain Scots Guards, who was killed in a road accident in 1944.

The church at Falmer is dedicated to St Laurence, but it lies across the border in the adjoining local government district of Lewes rather than in the city of Brighton and Hove.

The parish covers a mostly rural area, including Stanmer and Falmer villages, the main campuses of the Universities of Sussex and Brighton, and the Falmer–Woodingdean road (B2123) to the edge of the Woodingdean estate.