Strident noise made by loose stones in front of church (7)
I believe the answer is:
screech
'strident noise' is the definition.
'screech' can be an answer for 'noise' (screech is a kind of noise). I am not sure about the 'strident' bit.
'loose stones in front of church' is the wordplay.
'loose stones' becomes 'scree'.
'in front of' means one lot of letters go next to another (some letters go in front of others).
'church' becomes 'ch' (common abbreviation).
'scree'+'ch'='SCREECH'
'made by' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for screech that I've seen before include "High pitched shout" , "Cry raucously; type of owl" , "cry of horror" , "Outcry" , "Squawk" .)