Information about this web site

The web site

The site is about the history of Hanslope and the surrounding district.  It contains stories and articles about events and aspects of that history.

The most popular feature is the section devoted to family history which provides enquiry facilities to a index of records of past residents drawn from the census and church records, wills, inscriptions in the churchyard, references to people in maps and surveys of the village, and pictures in the archives which depict people.  This section is still growing as more sources of information are explored.

Information is being added about historic buildings in the parish.  The information is accessed from maps of the parish as it was in 1900 and include old and new photographs of each building and, where available, links to people who have been associated with the building.  A survey began in 2008 of the older buildings to provide more information on the development of the village, with the emphasis on what could be learnt from architectural analysis of the features of the buildings including interior features such as fireplaces, doors and roof structures.

Also starting in 2008, copies of photographs in the Society's archives are being added to the web site and indexed to facilitate searching.  Less than a third of the available photographs have been added as at April 2009.

A discussion forum added in early 2009 is beginning to attract interest, mainly for exchanging family history information.

Of the earlier sections, the one that attracts most attention is the story of the murder of the last squire of Hanslope by his gamekeeper.  This is not so much a 'who done it' as a 'why did he do it'  There has been speculation ever since, but no-one will ever know for sure.

Another popular story is of the prize fight which took place in 1830 and ran for 47 rounds.

There are also the usual features of a village web site including a village tour, a church tour, a pieces on the Lords of the Manor, several maps and surveys of the village, and list of clergy.  For much of the 18th and 19th centuries, lace making was the major employment for women in the district, and an article on this is included.  Over the years there have been many schools in the village; these are remembered in page on the history of education.

Hanslope & District Historic Society

The Hanslope and District Historical Society, has been in existence since 1990 and has a membership of approximately 85 with a standing committee of around 10 of its members.

We undertake research into the history of Hanslope and surrounding District and hold open meetings on a variety of historical subjects.

Various publications relating to Hanslope are available either by post (for which a charge is made) or at society meetings.

Temporary exhibitions have been mounted and newly acquired items are displayed at open meetings.

Open meetings are held on the third Thursday every month (except December, April, July and August) at Hanslope Combined School.

We have a growing archive consisting of maps, pictures, models and an increasing number of A4 binders containing assorted photographs, newspaper cuttings, documents and other memorabilia. The committee has begun the task of, computerising the archive not only to preserve documents but also to assist in research and give access to the wealth of information held.

Usage of the web site

The method of collecting usage data changed in July 2007 

Data since then indicates that the number of visitors peaked in August 2008 and has been declining slowly ever since.

The number of pages each visitor chooses to look at increased significantly in the first half of 2009, but has since dropped back.  This may be partly due to changes in the design as many pages now contain much more information than in the past.

The peak in mid-2009 may be due to several additions in early 2009: first images of church records; first tranch of pictures from the archives; transcriptions of wills; more property information.  The jump in May 2010 may be due to the increasing number of images now indexed, and the release of more images of the first volume of church records.

The jump in pages viewed at the end of 2010 is probably result of the release of information from the 1910 Inland Revenue Survey.

Throughout, the time users spend on site has remained fairly constant.