The historic Old St Stephen's Church – the name distinguishes it from a newer St Stephen's in the village – is one of a number of similar churches across the north of England, many of them listed buildings, which will be specially decorated for the festival, dubbed the Heaven Scent Flower Festival.

Old St Stephen's was built in 1821 and is particularly noted for its association with the sea and seamen.

Weathered tombstones in the graveyard bear witness to the large number of seafarers buried there and plaques in the church record those who failed to make it safely home.

The church is a smaller version of Whitby's historic St Mary's with a three-deck pulpit, box pews and a light and airy interior.

To mark the anniversary there will be a service of Evensong starting at 4.30pm with the Wolds Apart West Gallery Choir who will sing 18th Century hymns.

The Churches Conservation Trust cares for more than 340 historic churches, no longer used for regular worship across England, with 74 of them in the north.

Rosi Lister, the trust's regional manager said: " We want to raise the profile of our fabulous churches and encourage people to visit and enjoy them as places of great historic and artistic interest.

"There is no better way than by filling them with flowers for this special event. Church flower festivals are a traditional community activity often used to raise funds.

"We wanted to highlight this as a good example of how local people can get involved with our churches and if we can raise some much needed cash towards the conservation of this important heritage, all the better."