Hanslope

Hanslope is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Milton Keynes. The village is about 4 mi WNW of Newport Pagnell, about 4 mi north of Stony Stratford and 8 mi north of Central Milton Keynes. The northern parish boundary is part of the county boundary with Northamptonshire.

Hanslope was historically part of Buckinghamshire, and remains so for ceremonial purposes.

The West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Glasgow passes through the western part of the parish, just over 1 mi west of the village.

History
The toponym has evolved over the centuries. In the 11th century it was variously spelt Hammescle, Hanslepe or Anslepe. In the 13th century it was Hameslepe or  Hamslape, and the latter form continued in use into the 14th century. 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 and Hanslape was used in the 19th century. The toponym's etymology is from the Old English for a muddy place or slope belonging to a man called Hama.

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 chartered to have 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).

In the middle ages the parish was part of Salcey Forest and Hanslope Park was originally a medieval deer park. Much later the park was landscaped by Humphry Repton before 1794.

Hanslope is conveniently close to quarries for Great Oolite limestone, 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, acquiring Green End Farm with a total of about 230 acre of land. Despite his retirement he continued at Hanslope to make clocks, some of which survive. His will, proved in 1712 left his Hanslope property to his younger brother John Knibb (1650–1722), who was a notable clockmaker in Oxford. However, John kept his business in Oxford and only one clock marked "John Knibb Hanslapp" is known.

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

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.

Parish church
The Church of England parish church of St. James the Great was originally a Norman building, established as a dependent chapelry of Castlethorpe. Later St. James the Great became the parish's principal church, with Castlethorpe as its dependent chapel.

The Perpendicular Gothic church spire is a prominent feature of the village and surrounding landscape. It was originally built early in the 15th century and was 200 ft high. In 1804 it collapsed after being struck by lightning and afterwards it was rebuilt to the slightly lesser height of 180 ft. However, it is still the tallest in Buckinghamshire. 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...". This is a distance of just over 22 mi.

One notable incumbent was James Mayne MA who was rector from 1841 to 1851, previously curate of St Matthew's, Bethnal Green. In series 5 of the Who Do You Think You Are? television programme, Patsy Kensit discovered that he was one of her ancestors and was shown his grave during a visit to the church.

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 UK 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. 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 "scambling", 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 1 mi 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.