page_title: Hanslope
section_title: Parish church
hierarchical_section_title: Hanslope / Landmarks / Parish church
caption_attribution_description: English: Church of England parish church of St James the Great, Hanslope, Buckinghamshire: looking east from the nave to the Norman chancel arch
context_page_description: Hanslope is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The village is about 4 miles west northwest of Newport Pagnell, about 4 miles north of Stony Stratford and 8 miles north of Central Milton Keynes. The northern parish boundary is part of the county boundary with Northamptonshire.
  The West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Glasgow passes through the western part of the parish, just over 1 mile west of the village.
context_section_description: 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 feet (61 m) high. In 1804 it collapsed after being struck by lightning and afterwards it was rebuilt to the slightly lesser height of 186 feet (57 m). 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 miles (35 km).
  William Newcome was ordained as a Church of England priest and became curate at Hanslope in Buckinghamshire until 1846, when he was appointed rector of Boothby Pagnell in Lincolnshire.
  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.
  The church is a Grade I listed building, the highest level of designation.
caption: The chancel arch of St. James the Great parish church is Norman. The five-light east window is 13th century but its present intersecting tracery is a modern replacement.
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