Plan of St James' church building sequence
Eastfield Drive, St. James Close and the church
Repair of the church roof after the 1904 lightening strike.
Source: HDHS archive
Church of St James the Great, Hanslope in 1912
The Bear and Ragged Staff insignia of the Earls of Warwick is carved on the exterior of the church.
Old beams remaining in St James' roof, photographed about 1950.
HDHS archive
The church clock repaired and ready to be raised to the tower in July 1904.
Left front row: Left front row: Harry Gregory (landlord of the Swan), Sammy Gibbs. Left back row: Jack Smith, Dick Rutter, Arthur Garrett (church warden), Mr Gregory (Harry Gregory's father). Right front row: Tom Nicholls (choir master), Tom Courtman (blacksmith), Harry Newbury (clockmaker). Right back row: Charles Garrett, Fred York (baker), Ted Ditum, Bill Ditum.
HDHS archive, source Moira Courtman July 1998.
Frank Brownsell and Robert Courtman in the church c.1971
Stranding in front of the new heating system they had just installed in the church.
HDHS archive
Robert Courtman with his display of iron and copper work in St James Church c.1970
HDHS archive. Photo from Moira Courtman July 1998.
Church weathervane, when taken down for repairs
Robert Courtman repaired the church weathervane in 1963.
HDHS archive. Photo given by Moira Courtman July 1998.
Church weathervane with Harry Wells in Park Road
In the background are Sid Garrett and Tommy Stimpson (his house)
The weathervane commemorates the occasion when the first Squire Watts Governor of Fort William in Bengal, was attacked by a wild dog and was saved by an arrow shot into the dog's paw.
HDHS archive
Sid Garrett and Alf Keeves with the church weathervane 1960s
Church steeple from Newport Road c.1912
HDHS archive
St James the Great church from the Square c.1946
HDHS archive
Horse pond and the church tower in the winter of 1977
HDHS archive
St. James' church, 1970s
The Horse Pond in Park Road and the church tower c.1997
HDHS archive
St James the Great from the Market Square c. 1908.
The church dates from the 12th century. Its impressive tower, the highest in Buckinghamshire, was added in the 15th century when Hanslope was part of the estates of the Earls of Warwick. On the right of the photo is Stafford House, thought to be of medieval origin and named for Sir Robert and Lady Jane Stafford who were buried in the church in the 16th century. During the 18th-19th centuries it was a workhouse.
HDHS archive
St. James the Great church c.1925
Source: Kitchener Collection
St James Church looking from the north. c.1920
HDHS archive.
The Green with church tower in the background c.1925
Kitchener Collection
St. James tower from the Square c. 1977
HDHS archive
Weavers End, off Park Road, with St. James' church in the background. 2006
HDHS archive
St. James Church interior c.1925.
Copyright: Kitchener Collection
Harvest Festival 1907
HDHS archive
Chancel before rearrangement of pews - pre-1980s
Nave of St. James' church
The grave of Alexander McKay in Hanslope churchyard
The inscription reads:
'Strong and athletic was my frame,
Far from my native home I came,
And bravely fought with Simon Byrne,
Alas! but never to return.
Stranger take warning by my fate,
Lest you should rue your case too late,
If you have ever fought before,
Determine now to fight no more.'
Edward Watts tomb in St. James' church
Watts family vault in St James Church
St. James the Great Church gates
Graves in the Churchyard
Kitchener postcard c.1925
Snapshots from Hanslope Kitchener Collection
c1925
Kitchener postcard c.1925
Source Kitchener Collection
Postcard views of Hanslope
Rev William Harkness, vicar of Hanslope 1892-1929
Eliza May Gregory Nee Woodland ('Nurse Gregory') in Hanslope churchyard
December 26th 1953
HDHS archive
Harvest festival at St. James' church
c.1950
HDHS archive
The Groocock family
c.1939
This is believed to be on the occasion of the hanging of the West door to the church which the family gave in memory of Alice Mabel Ada Groocock.
Robert Courtman is on the left and may have provided the ironwork for the door.
In front is Percy Tailor the vicar.
Source: Moira Courtman July 1998
Wedding of Sid Garrett and Joyce Carpenter, 6 July 1946
Freda Garrett, Albert Garrett, Gladys Asher, Camilla Fitzegibbons, Minne Garrett, Sid and Joyce Garrett, Doris carpenter, George Carpenter, Ann Fox, Margaret Wood, Bertha Carpenter, Clarence Wood.
Source Sid Garrett
Reg and Elsie Beeby wedding day, 24 October 1925
HDHS archive
Church fete on the vicarage lawn 1950s
HDHS archive
Tombola run by Mrs Jennings at the church fete on the vicarage lawn mid-1950s.
Mrs Jennings lived at 'Ancient Lights'Moira Courtman appears on the right, behind her is Nora Tebby.
HDHS archive
Gerald Keeves with school friends, 2013
Source Gerald Keeves (Centre of photo)
Parishioners paid for the third bell to be recast, and the sixth bell was donated by Stansfield Nicholson in memory of his father, Rev. M A Nicholson who had been Vicar of St James for 41 years.
Back row l-r: Joe Kerridge; Mr Yorke, Sexton;
Front row l-r: four men from the Ipswich bell foundry, Squire Watts with Miss Irene Watts, Tom Courtman, Rev William Jardine Harkness, Mrs Harkness, Miss Mabel Neal, Mr Robbins, Stansfield Nicholson, Percy Evan, Tommy Nichols, and the Curate.
Don and Margaret Hellings at the church wedding exhibit, 2013.
Don was the founder of the Hanslope and District Historical Society
Tom Courtman with the repaired church clock dial July 1904
Tom Courtman up the tower, fixing the hands in place, 1904