Hanslope

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Hanslope
Buckinghamshire

St James the Great parish church
Location
Grid reference: SP8046
Location: 52°7’1"N, -0°49’41"W
Data
Population: 2,238  (2011)
Post town: Milton Keynes
Postcode: MK19
Dialling code: 01908
Local Government
Council: Milton Keynes
Parliamentary
constituency: 		Milton Keynes North
Website: Hanslope Village

Hanslope is a pretty village in northern Buckinghamshire, close by the Northamptonshire border. The village is about 4 miles west of Newport Pagnell and 4 miles north of Stony Stratford, and 8 miles north of Central Milton Keynes.

The West Coast Main Line between London (Euston) and Glasgow passes through the western part of the parish, just over a mile west of the village, and the M1 motorway slices its path through the meadows less than that to the east, while the swelling bulk of Milton Keynes looms to the south, but in spite of all this, Hanslope survives on its own as a rural delight, its meadows well grazed and knotted with footpaths to allow much wandering in this northern march of Buckinghamshire.

Name

The name of the village is of uncertain origin, the name taking many forms over the centuries, but it is most likely to be the Old English meaning "pasture slope" or similar.

In the 11th century the name appears as Hammescle, Hanslepe or Anslepe.[1] In the 13th century it was Hameslepe or Hamslape, and the latter form continued in use into the 14th century.[1] It was Hanslopp in the 15th century and Hanslap or Anslope in the 16th century. Anslap, Anslapp and Hanslapp were used early in the 18th century[2][3] and Hanslape was used in the 19th century.[1]

Parish church

The parish church is St James the Great. It was built in the Norman period and much of the Norman style remains in its structure. St James was first established as a dependent chapelry of Castlethorpe.[4] Later it became the parish's principal church, and Castlethorpe was demoted to be its dependent chapel.[4]

The Norman chancel arch of St. James the Great

The Perpendicular Gothic[5] church spire is a prominent feature of the village and surrounding landscape. It was originally built early in the 15th century and was 200 feet high.[5] In 1804 it collapsed after being struck by lightning and afterwards it was rebuilt to the slightly lesser height of 186 feet,[6] though it remains the tallest in Buckinghamshire.[6] The church has an open day each summer, when the tower is open to the public.

The spire can be seen for long distances across the low-lying countryside. In 1722, when the spire was 200 feet high, the antiquarian Thomas Hearne, who was a friend of John Knibb, wrote that Knibb:

"...told me he hath seen Anslapp spire in Bucks from Brill..."
—[2]

From Brill to Hanslope is a distance of just over 22 miles.

One notable incumbent was James Mayne MA who was rector from 1841 to 1851,[7] previously curate of St Matthew's, Bethnal Green.

History

There was once a castle in the parish (that later became Castlethorpe), that was the seat of the Maudit family. In 1215 William Maudit had started a rebellion against King John and was defeated in battle by the king's men. After King John's death, Maudit reclaimed his seat and founded a great park in the parish, remnants of which still survive in Hanslope. The castle building has been lost but the grassy mounds of the motte and bailey earthworks survive.

Isabel Mauduit was the mother of William de Beauchamp, 9th Earl of Warwick (1237–98). From 1293 the Earl was granted a charter to hold a weekly market in Hanslope on Thursdays and a three-day annual market on the eve, day and morrow of the feast of St James the Great (24, 25 and 26 July).[1]

In the Middle Ages the parish was part of Salcey Forest[8] and Hanslope Park was originally a mediæval deer park.[9] Much later the park was landscaped by Humphry Repton before 1794.[10]

Hanslope is conveniently close to quarries for Great Oolite limestone,[11] which has been used in the parish's traditional vernacular architecture.

In 1697 the distinguished clockmaker Joseph Knibb (1640–1711) retired from London to Hanslope,[12] acquiring Green End Farm with a total of about 230 acres of land.[13] Despite his retirement he continued at Hanslope to make clocks, some of which survive.[12] His will, proved in 1712 left his Hanslope property to his younger brother John Knibb[2] (1650–1722),[14] who was a notable clockmaker in Oxford.[15] However, John kept his business in Oxford and only one clock marked "John Knibb Hanslapp" is known.[3]

Green End Farmhouse predated the Knibbs' ownership of the farm and was a scheduled monument under the Town and Country Planning Act 1947.[13] Despite this protection its last owner demolished the historic house in 1954.[13]

In the 19th century Hanslope was a centre of Buckinghamshire lacemaking. Early in the 19th century Hanslope lace was noted as being particularly fine, and in 1862 about 500 women and children in the parish were employed making pillow lace.[1]

Hanslope Park

About half a mile south-east of the village is Hanslope Park. Once the manorial estate of the village, it is now owned by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and home to Her Majesty's Government Communications Centre. HMGCC researches, designs, develops and produces communications systems, equipment and related hardware and software.[16] In the Second World War the Radio Security Service was based here. The mathematician and cryptologist Alan Turing worked here in the latter part of the War on secure speech "scrambling", [17] and developing ideas that led to his design of the Automatic Computing Engine, one of the World's first detailed computer designs.

Hanslope Junction

The West Coast Main Line passes just over a mile south-west of the village and it divides at Hanslope Junction. Two tracks go directly to Rugby and the other two form the Northampton Loop Line. The tracks actually diverge a few miles further north, at Roade.

Outside links

 ("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about Hanslope)

References

The Green Man Inn and the steeple of St James the Great in the 1950s
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Page 1927, pp. 348–362.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Beeson & Simcock 1989, p. 118.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Beeson & Simcock 1989, p. 122.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Reed, Hoskins & Millward 1979, p. 136.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Pevsner 1966, p. 155.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Reed, Hoskins & Millward 1979, p. 159.
  7. ↑ "Clergy of Hanslope". Hanslope & District Historic Society. Hanslope & District Historic Society. http://www.mkheritage.co.uk/hdhs/vicars/rectors&vicars.html. Retrieved 2009-11-29. 
  8. ↑ Reed, Hoskins & Millward 1979, p. 125.
  9. ↑ Reed, Hoskins & Millward 1979, p. 130.
  10. ↑ Pevsner 1966, p. 156.
  11. ↑ Reed, Hoskins & Millward 1979, p. 190.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Beeson & Simcock 1989, p. 123.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Beeson & Simcock 1989, p. 185.
  14. ↑ Beeson & Simcock 1989, p. 117.
  15. ↑ Beeson & Simcock 1989, pp. 117–122.
  16. ↑ HM Government Communications Centre
  17. ↑ Andrew Hodges (1992) [1983], Alan Turing: The Enigma, London: Vintage, p. 270, ISBN 978-0099116417 

Sources

  • Beeson, C.F.C. (1989) [1962]. Simcock, A.V. ed. Clockmaking in Oxfordshire 1400–1850 (3rd ed.). Oxford: Museum of the History of Science. pp. 8, 118, 120, 122–125, 184–186. ISBN 0 903364 06 9. 
  • Page, W.H., ed (1927). A History of the County of Buckingham, Volume 4. Victoria County History. pp. 346–362. 
  • Pevsner, Nikolaus (1960). Buckinghamshire. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 155–156. ISBN 0 14 071019 1. 
  • Reed, Michael (1979). Hoskins, W.G.; Millward, Roy. eds. The Buckinghamshire Landscape. The Making of the English Landscape. London: Hodder & Stoughton. pp. 125, 130, 136, 159, 190. ISBN 0-340-19044-2. 
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