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| The exterior walling of the body of the church is composed of limestone rubble, the tower is faced with ashlar, straight-edged stone blocks. A walk around the outside of the church reveals a number of interesting features. |
 Over the door of the north porch entrance there is a carved stone, believed to be a symbol indicating that the church was connected with pilgrimage in the medieval period. As the church is dedicated to St James the Great it is possible that there was some now-lost connection with his cult.
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On the north side, toward the east end, there is a remarkable gargoyle, or waterspout, in the form of a man laying on his side, with the spout over his shoulder, and wearing an embossed belt and a short apron. |
There are interesting carvings on the north exterior windows.
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 East End
The east wall of the chancel was rebuilt at the same time as the north chapel
was added in the late 13th century.
The stained glass was made in 1893 by Percy Bacon of London.
(Click on the image to see enlaged image of window) |
Chancel - south wall
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On the south side of the church is the 'priest's door' into the chancel, with its ornate stone carving. This doorway is a glorious example of late Norman work, consisting of an arch with moulded bases and decorated capitals, flower and leaf motifs and a bold chevron pattern. The pillars along the the chancel walls are an unusual feature in a Norman church. |
Two very faint 'scratch dials' can be seen carved in the stonework at about eye-level on the south-facing walls. One is next to the priest's door and the other at the south porch door. These were a medieval method of indicating the hours of masses in the church. |
On the south side, above the aisle roof, there is a large gryphon-like carving. |
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The west oak doors, under the tower, were provided in memory of the Groocock family of Hanslope in 1939 and a plaque to that effect is near them.  |
The Tower
The impressive tower at the west end of the church has a crocketed spire, pinnacles and flying buttresses. Thomas Knight, rector from 1395 to 1414, left money in his will for its construction, so the tower presumably was built sometime after that date. The stone was brought from Ketton, Rutlandshire. It was originally 69m (200ft 6in) high, but after being destroyed by lightning in 1804 was rebuilt 6m (20ft) shorter.
The spire is topped by a weather vane of a hound with an arrow through its foot, depicting an incident in India when William Watts, later the first Watts squire of Hanslope, was saved from a dog attacking him. The weather vane was repaired and covered with gold leaf by Robert Courtman in 1963.
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On the northwest corner of the tower is a carving of a bear with ragged staff. This emblem of the Earls of Warwick is evidence of their connection with the building St James. |
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Collapse of the Tower
On Sunday 23 June 1804 the church spire was struck by lightning and fell onto the west end of the south aisle of the church during 'the most tremendous storm of thunder and lightning ever remembered by the oldest inhabitant'.
The octagonal spire was rebuilt the following year. Its original height of 63m (206ft) was reduced by 6m (20ft) in the rebuilding. The spire tapers, from about halfway up, to accommodate this.
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Drawing of the church shortly after the great storm which caused the spire to collapse (source: accompanied a letter by the vicar, William Singleton published in the Gentleman's Magazine in May 1805, volume 75, part 1, page 401.
The appearance of the church in this drawing is markedly different from its
appearance today, particularly the south wall of the Chancel (see above) |
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The following story about the repair of the weather vane
is recorded, though the date is not known.
Robert Cadman, a steeplejack, was engaged to repair the weather vane. He climbed the steeple without ladders or scaffolding, but with a drum, with which he amused himself by beating at the top of the steeple. When he came down, he left it behind. In the evening, having become intoxicated, he could scarcely be restrained from going up for it as he was afraid somebody might steal it in the night! However, it remained there safely until the morning, when he climbed, again unaided, and brought it down without accident. Rather unsurprisingly, he eventually died falling from another church steeple.
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In the early 1960s the spire was found to be deteriorating and about 4m of the top was replaced, along with repairs to the pinnacles and flying buttresses. The buttresses were completely rebuilt in 1979 and now have a base of reinforced concrete. |
The Clock
The original steeple clock dated from about 1700 -1720. It was driven by weights and had to be wound by hand every day, which necessitated a climb up to the bell room. The iron mechanism and copper clock face are still in the church, stored at the west end of the north aisle. The clock was replaced in 1953 by an electrically wound turret clock made by Cope of Nottingham and donated by Henry Thomas Geary of Tathall End. In about 1999 the electric mechanism was replaced by an electric clock by Smith of Derby. |
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The repaired clock face ready to be put back in 1904 |
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The churchyard
The churchyard has been a burial ground for the village since Norman times.
Among those buried here is Joseph Knibb, the famous clockmaker. He retired to Hanslope in 1697, possibly through ill-health, after a career in Oxford and London. He was buried on 14 December 1711, but the site of his grave is not known.
To the northwest of the church, adjacent to the pathway and churchyard wall, is a gravestone marking the burial site of Alexander (Sandy) M'Kay, the British prize fight champion of 1830, who died at the Watts Arms after a fight at Salcey Green.
At the far edge of the graveyard is the gravestone of William Farrow, the gamekeeper who shot and killed Squire Watts on his way home from the church in July 1912. Intriguingly, the inscription reads:
'In Loving memory of William Farrow The dearly beloved husband of Annie Farrow who died July 21st 1912 aged 45 years Waiting till all shall be revealed'
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