A Comerford family link brings me to Manor Farm in Old Wolverton and back to Castlethorpe

Manor Farm, Old Wolverton, the home of the Whiting family for over 40 years … Barbara Ruth Whiting married Herbert George Comerford in 1952 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Patrick Comerford

I have been researching two branches of the Comerford family in London in recent weeks and have visited some of the areas where they lived and the London churches where they were baptised, married and were buried from.

These two branches of the family (see here and here) share a common ancestor, Thomas Comerford, who came to London from Ireland and was a tobacconist in London from the mid-18th century. Although they went on to have contrasting social experiences and lives, they continued to share the same naming patterns when it came to naming patterns.

Now I have come across a third branch of the Comerford family in London that I believe may be closely related to them. But as I was putting together a family tree for this third London branch of the Comerford family, I found an unexpected connection with Old Wolverton, which is less than half an hour’s walk from Stony Stratford, and Castlethorpe and Hanslope, villages about three or four miles north of Stony Stratford, and in nearby Newport Pagnell.

When I moved to Stony Stratford four or five years ago, I found opportunities to visit a number of places within a short distance in both Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire associated with branches of the Comberford and Comerford families.

For ten generations, members of the Comberford family of Comberford Hall, between Lichfield and Tamworth in Staffordshire, and their ancestors in the Parles family owned large portions of land in north Northamptonshire. These families gave their name to the manor near Watford Gap that was known for centuries as the Cumberford Manor and, before that, the Parles Manor. When the heiress Joan Parles married John Comberford, she brought the fourth part of the manor of Watford once held by the Parles family to the Comberford family ca 1460, and from then on it was known as Comberford Manor or Cumberford Manor.

Joan and John Comberford owned the manor of Byfield, with extensive property there and in Watford, Murcott, Shutlanger, Stoke Bruerne, Shaw, Alderton and Wappenham, along with half an acre in Yelvertoft. The Comberford family sold the former Parles estates in Stoke Bruerne, Shutlanger, Alderton and Wappenham in 1504. But the family continued to hold on to the Cumberford Manor until Thomas Comberford sold his share of the manor in Watford to Sir John Spencer in 1563.

Quite separately, John Comberford’s father, Judge William Comberford, bought properties in Newport Pagnell and Tickford in 1470-1471.

Later, John Comberford’s grandson, Canon Henry Comberford (1499-1586), Precentor of Lichfield Cathedral, was the Rector of Yelvertoft in 1546-1560. One of his predecessors there was his first cousin, the Revd Professor Thomas Babington, who was the Rector of Yelvertoft in 1510, and was also the Rector of All Saints’ Church, Milton Keynes, briefly in 1560, as well as Rector of Adstock and Sherrington, Buckinghamshire (1557), and Rector of Twyford, Buckinghamshire (1560-1563).

One of the London branches of the Comerford family has a number of members who have lived in Northampton for four or more generations, where they have been involved in the boot industry and the trade union movement. Another branch of the family closer to home in Buckinghamshire, orginally from Rosenalis an Ballinakill, Co Laois, has given its name to Comerford Way, a street in Winslow.

Barbara Comerford’s parents, Charles and Gladys Whiting, are buried in the churchyard at Holy Trinity Church, Old Wolverton (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

My interest in the London branches of the Comerford family led me to another connection with these parts of Buckinghamshire. In July 1952, Herbert George Comerford (1928-2021) from Bierton near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, married Barbara Ruth Whiting (1929-2016), of Manor Farm, Wolverton.

Barbara Comerford was born in Potterspury, Northamptonshire. Her father, Charles Reginald Whiting (1886-1954), was born at Castlethorpe, Buckinghamshire, and later lived at Pottersbury, Hanslope, Newport Pagnell, and then at the Manor Farm, Old Wolverton. Charles and his wife Gladys died in Old Wolverton and are buried in Holy Trinity Churchyard, Old Wolverton.

So in recent days I went back to Castlethorpe and to Old Wolverton went in search of Manor Farm, where Barbara Comerford’s parents lived from 1929, to see their grave in the churchyard at Holy Trinity Church, to see the Whiting family graves in the churchyard at Saint Simon and Jude in Castlethorpe, and to find out more details of the history of the extended family Whiting family who had become intertwined with this branch of the Comerford family through the marriage of Barbara Whiting and Herbert Comerford.

The mediaeval village of Wolverton was divided east and west by the Grand Union Canal in 1800 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Manor Farm in Old Wolverton was managed by the Gleed and Wilkinson families for a long period before the Whiting family took over the farm in 1929 and they farmed the land for the next 41 years. Their time represents the last chapter of active agriculture on the property before the area was transformed with the development of Milton Keynes.

Historically, the expansive Wolverton Manor estate was divided into three main tenant farms: Warren Farm, Stacey Bushes Farm, and Manor Farm. The original village of Wolverton seems to have been founded in the early mediaeval era, with the name deriving from the Old English for ‘Wulfhere’s settlement’. The village is recorded as Wluerintone in the Domesday Book in 1086, with around 50 households. A small motte and bailey castle was built just east of the site of the church in the Norman period, with a manor house also probably located in the vicinity.

The extent of the village was divided by the Grand Union Canal in 1800, although its plan appears to have been fairly linear, with central trackways surrounded by housing plots, and surrounding fields of ridge and furrow.

By the late mediaeval period, the village was owned by the Longville family. Many deserted villages declined due to the Black Death, but Wolverton is thought to have declined due to the Longville family enclosing the land for more profitable sheep pasture, or for deer hunting, with the inhabitants forced off the land.

Manor Farm House in Old Wolverton stands on the site of the mediaeval Gilbertine monastic grange (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Manor Farm House is a Grade II* listed house dating back to the 13th century, when the Gilbertine monastic foundation had its grange there. Manor Farm includes a farmhouse range dating from ca 1700 with 19th century additions. In the early-to-mid 19th century, it was built into an extensive model farmstead arranged around five-fold yards, built of local brick and stone with a two-storey tower.

The early 19th century house is a two-storey limestone house with an attic and a cellar. It is basically ‘L’-shaped with steep pitched gabled roofs, red tiles, and brick chimney stacks with stone bases. The south front has three segmental headed dormers and there is a two-storey extension at both ends of the front.

The central entrance has a stone doorcase, two three-quarter columns supporting a plain entablature and a blocking course. Inside, there is a wide oak staircase with turned balusters and finials.

Castlethorpe Lodge in the early 1900s, one of the many homes of the Whiting family in North Buckinghamshire (Pat St John / Milton Keynes Heritage)

The Whitings who moved to Manor Farm House, Wolverton, in 1929, were a prominent family with widespread farming interests across North Buckinghamshire and south Northamptonshire. As well as Manor Farm in Wolverton, family members also farmed at nearby Lodge Farm or Home Farm in Castlethorpe, Lower Farm in Castlethorpe, and Cosgrove Lodge or Elms Farm.

The Whiting family can be traced back to at least the mid-18th century:

Richard Whiting (born 1759) from Horton, halfway between Northampton and both Roade in Northamptonshire and Hanslope in Buckinghamshire. He was the father of at least two sons and a daughter:

1, Benjamin Evans Whiting (1785-1863).
2, Elizabeth.
3, Henry Whiting.

The eldest son:

Benjamin Evans Whiting (1785-1863), was born in Horton, Northamptonshire, in 1785. He married Sarah Manton (1793-1871) in West Haddon, Northamptonshire, on 7 November 1814, and they were the parents of two daughters and a son:

1, Caroline (1817-1856), who married Thomas John Ashby (1817-1890) in Moulton, Northamptonshire, on 14 March 1839.
2, Joseph Evans Whiting (1820-1888), of whom next.
3, Eliza (1826-1911), who married George Everard from Naseby, Northamptonshire.

Benjamin Evans Whiting died in Hardingstone, Northamptonshire, on 1 April 1863, and his widow Sarah died in Castlethorpe on 7 November 1871. Their son:

Joseph Whiting (1849-1923), top, and two of his sons, Charles Whiting (1855-1914), below left, grandfather of Barbara (Whiting) Comerford, and George Whiting (1858-1920), below right

Joseph Evans Whiting (1820-1888), was born at Eakley Lanes, Stoke Goldington, Northamptonshire, in 1820. He married Caroline Higgins (1822-1913), who was born at Eakley Lanes in 1822. They were married in Saint John’s, Southwark, on 14 May 1848 and were the parents of eight children, six sons and two daughters:

1, Joseph Evans Whiting (1849-1923) of Caldecote. He was born at Eakley Lanes, 1 October 1849, and died in Newport Pagnell 7 June 1923. He bought Lathbury Manor in Newport Pagnell from Viscount Hood in 1904. He was married twice: (1), Elizabeth Tressler Manning (1842-1892), from Moulton, Northamptonshire, in Old Saint Pancras Church, London, 11 July 1870; (2) Elizabeth Syratt (1866-1935), from Soulbury, Buckinghamshire, in Saint John’s Church, Wembley, 23 June 1914; and he was the father of five daughters.
2, Henry William Whiting (1852-1918), born Eakley Lanes 25 February 1852, and died in London 29 December 1918. He bought Manor Farm, Willen, bought the Manor of Newport Pagnell in 1904, but sold it again in 1905, and bought the Manor of Caldecote in Newport Pagnell in 1908. He married Mary Elizabeth Thomason, eldest daughter of Bennett Thomason (1824-1878), of Beckerings Park Farm, Ridgmont, Bedfordshire, and Hannah Elizabeth Checkley (1817-1904), in Hanslope in May 1875, and they were the parents of seven sons and four daughters.
3, John George Whiting (born 1854), born in Stoke Goldington, may have died in childhood.
4, Benjamin Edwin Whiting (born 1854), born in Stoke Goldington, may have died in childhood.
5, Charles Evans Whiting (1855-1914), of Castlethorpe, of whom next.
6, George Benjamin Whiting (1858-1920), born Eakley Lanes, Stoke Goldington, 16 April 1858, baptised in Stoke Goldingham, 5 September 1858. He was married twice: (1) Catherine Francis Tipler (1867-1954), in Brixworth, Northamptonshire, in July 1891; and (2) Elizabeth Varney (1860-1889). George and Catherine were the parents of two sons.
7, Katherine Caroline (1861-1947).
8, Ellen (1864-1947).

Joseph Whiting died in Newport Pagnell on 18 April 1888; his widow Caroline (Higgins) died at Lathbury Manor, Buckinghamshire, in April 1913. When Joseph Evans died in 1888, three of his surviving sons – Joseph, George and Charles Whiting – went into partnership, while another son, Henry William Whiting, went out on his own.

Saint Simon and Saint Jude Church, Castlethorpe, where many members of the Whiting family were baptised, married or buried from (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The Whiting brothers farmed 3,600 acres and their farms included: the Green Farm, Newport Pagnell, 263 acres; Caldecote Farm (now Manor Farm), 90 acres; Lathbury, 550 acres; Mill Farm, Gayhurst, 320 acres; Home Farm, Gayhurst, 415 acres; Bunstay Farm, 150 acres; Stoke Goldington, 520 acres; Castlethorpe, 485 acres; Pindon End Farm, 240 acres; Home Farm, Moulsoe, 330 acres; Top Farm, Moulsoe, 220 acres.

Joseph Evans Whiting’s fifth but third surviving son was:

Charles Evans Whiting (1855-1914), farmer. He was born at Eakley Lanes in 24 June 1855. He had farms at Castlethorpe and Hanslope, for many years he was a Conservative member of Castlethorpe Parish Council, and he was the vicar’s churchwarden at Castlethorpe Church for a number of years.

In the late 19th century, the gallery at the west end of Saint Simon and Saint Jude Church in Castlethorpe was known with humour as the ‘Fishes Gallery’ because the leading families who sat there had the names Pike, Whiting and Eel.

Some of the Whiting family graves in the churchyard at Saint Simon and Saint Jude Church, Castlethorpe (Photographs: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Charles Whiting married Louisa Thomason (born 1858), daughter of Bennett Thomason (1824-1878), of Beckerings Park Farm, Ridgmont, Bedfordshire, and Hannah Elizabeth Checkley (1817-1904). She was born in Hanslope in 1858, and her sister Mary Elizabeth had married Henry William Whiting in Hanslope in 1875. Louisa and Charles were married in Woburn Sands, Bedfordshire, on 2 August 1883 and they were the parents of four sons and two daughters:

1, Dorothy Louisa (1885-1965), born Hanslope, 12 August 1885, married Alexander Edward Johnston (1889-1971) from Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, in Saint Mary’s Church, Church End, Finchley, London, 28 September 1935, died Highgate, 27 December 1965.
2, Charles Reginald Whiting (1886-1954), of whom next.
3, Kathleen Mary Whiting (1888-1958).
4, Joseph Evans Whiting MC (1890-1923), of Castlethorpe Lodge, Castlethorpe. During World War I, he was a lieutenant with the Royal Field Artillery in France. He was a county councillor, and represented Weston Underwood on Newport Pagnell Rural Council. He married Julia Elizabeth Nickson (1893-1984), and they were the parents of two daughters: Anne Elizabeth Whiting (1920-1940), who died at the age of 19; and Patricia (born 1921) married (Squadron-Leader) John Ramsey St John (1917-1959), DSO, DFC and Bar, RAF, of Wellington, New Zealand, in Castlethorpe Parish Church in July 1941. She later lived at Castle House, Castlethorpe, and bought it from Lord Carrington in 1961.
5, Benjamin Sydney Whiting (1893-1975), married Elsie Louise Adams (1902-1980) of Muswell Hill, at Broughton Manor Farm, Newport Pagnell, 17 September 1924, and they were the parents of two children.
6, Herbert George Whiting (1896-1969), born Castlethorpe, 18 April 1896, moved to the Cape, South Africa. He married Judith Vaughan Ingle (1898-1962) in Saint Barnabas Church, Cogh, Cape Town, 3 June 1931, and they were the parents of three children. He died in Cape Town, 8 February 1969.

Louisa died in Newport Pagnell on 30 January 1914, Charles was 58 when he died at Castlethorpe on 20 October 1914, and they are both buried in the churchyard in Castlethorpe. His funeral in Castlethorpe was conducted by the Revd WJ Harkness, Vicar of Hanslope, assisted by the Revd T Evans, curate.

Autumn colours in Castlethorpe in north Buckinghamshire in morning sunshine this week (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The eldest son of Charles and Louisa Whiting was:

Charles Reginald Whiting (1886-1954) of Castlethorpe, Cosgrove and the Manor Farm, Old Wolverton. He was born in Castlethorpe on 3 December 1886, and later took on Manor Farm, Wolverton, in the mid-20th century.

Charles Reginald Whiting farmed the Lodge Farm, Cosgrove, and owned gravel pits bordering the River Ouse and Broad Waters. He began working gravel from his land to supply the Canal Company, and ran a successful gravel business until he sold the farmhouse, 110 acres of farmland and the gravel pits to the Cosgrove Sand and Gravel Company. He then moved to the Manor House, Old Wolverton, where he and his son Philip farmed over 300 acres at Old Wolverton Manor. Together, they managed the land for the final 41 years of its active life as a working farm until the land was acquired by the Milton Keynes Development Corporation.

He married Gladys Mary Montgomery (1893-1974) in Potterspury, Northamptonshire, in April 1915. She was born at Long Buckby, Northamptonshire, on 24 March 1893. They were the parents of three sons and a daughter:

1, Maurice Charles Whiting (1916-2010), dentist, born in Hanslope 19 May 1916; he married Rosemary Noel Harris (1919-2000) from Loxley, Warwickshire, in Evenlode, Gloucestershire, 15 March 1946; he died 12 March 2010.
2, Phyllis Mary (1918-1963), married Edgar Peter Brockes (1916-1977) in Towcester in January 1944.
She died in Kettering, 18 May 1963.
3, Reginald Philip Theodore Whiting (1921-1990). He was born in Potterspury 19 December 1921 and died in Wolverton 28 August 1990.
4, Barbara Ruth (1929-2016), born in Pottersbury 29 March 1929. She married Herbert George Comerford (1928-2021) of Aylesbury, in Old Wolverton, July 1952, and they were the parents of three children.

Charles Reginald Whiting died at the Manor Farm, Old Wolverton, on 23 May 1954; his widow Gladys died at Old Wolverton, Buckinghamshire, 3 February 1974. They are buried in the churchyard at Holy Trinity Church, Old Wolverton.

The second daughter and youngest of four children of Gladys and Charles Reginald Whiting was:

Barbara Ruth Whiting (1929-2016), who married Herbert George Comerford. Barbara Comerford was born Barbara Ruth Whiting in Potterspury on 29 March 1929. Her husband Herbert George Comerford (1928-2021), was born in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, 2 January 1928, and at the age of 21 in 1949, he was living in Bierton, near Aylesbury. They were married in North Buckinghamshire, in July 1952.

Barbara and Herbert Comerford were the parents of a large family, including four sons and a daughter. They later lived in Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, where Barbara Comerford died on 21 August 2016, and Herbert Comerford died on 27 February 2021. I understand they have many descendants living today.

Today, the site at Manor Farm Court supports a modern working environment with the farm buildings preserved and converted into an office complex known as Manor Farm Court, while the surrounding agricultural land has been transformed by the Milton Keynes Parks Trust into the Floodplain Forest Nature Reserve.

As for Herbert George Comerford and his branch of the Comerford family, I hope to share my research on their family tree in the days to come. I have also found a Comerford grave in the London Road cemetery in Stony Stratford, but I need time to find out where those connections may lead to.

The grave in Holy Trinity Churchyard, Old Wolverton, of Gladys and Charles Whiting, parents of Barbara Whiting who married Herbert Comerford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2026: 79, Saturday 25 July 2026, Saint James the Apostle

Saint James the Apostle, or Saint James the Great … his statue among the apostles on the west front of Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church and tomorrow is the Eighth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity VIII, 26 July 2026). The Church Calendar today celebrates the Feast of Saint James the Apostle (25 July).

Saint James the Apostle is often known as Saint James the Great. He was called with his brother John as one of the first apostles. The two brothers were with Christ at the Transfiguration, they were with him again in Gethsemane, and were present for his resurrection appearances. He was put to death by the sword on the order of Herod Agrippa, said to have been in the year 44 CE.

Before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, for reflection, prayer and reading in these ways:

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a reflection on the Gospel reading;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.

Saint James the Apostle, or Saint James the Great … his statue in the shrine in the cathedral in Santiago de Compostella (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 20: 20-28 (NRSVA):

20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him [Jesus] with her sons, and kneeling before him, she asked a favour of him. 21 And he said to her, ‘What do you want?’ She said to him, ‘Declare that these two sons of mine will sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.’ 22 But Jesus answered, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?’ They said to him, ‘We are able.’ 23 He said to them, ‘You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left, this is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.’

24 When the ten heard it, they were angry with the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them to him and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. 26 It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; 28 just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’

Saint James (in the light green robes) with Saint Peter (white beard) and Saint John … a fresco of the Transfiguration in the Church of the Transfiguration in Piskopiano in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford; click on image for full-screen view)

This morning’s reflection:

When I was writing about the Chapel of King’s College, Cambridge, on Thursday evening (23 July 2026), I described how the foundation stone of the chapel was laid by King Henry VI 580 years ago, on the Feast of Saint James the Apostle, 25 July 1446.

The English name James comes from Italian Giacomo, a variant of Giacobo, which is derived from Iacobus in Latin and Ἰάκωβος in Greek; it is the same name as Jacob in the Hebrew Bible. In French, the name is Jacques, in Spanish it is Jaime, and in Catalan it is Jaume. Variations include Diego in Spanish, giving us San Diego and Santiago, and Diogo in Portuguese.

This Saint James, traditionally regarded as the first of the apostles to be martyred, is said to have been a son of Zebedee and Salome, and brother of Saint John the Evangelist. He is also called Saint James the Great to distinguish him from Saint James, son of Alphaeus, and Saint James, the Brother of the Lord, or Saint James the Just.

His father Zebedee was a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee, and probably lived in or near Bethsaida in present Galilee, perhaps in Capernaum. His mother Salome was one of the pious women who followed Christ and ‘ministered unto him of their substance.’ But James and John are also known as ‘the Sons of Thunder’ (see Mark 3: 17).

This Saint James is one of the first disciples. The Synoptic Gospels say James and John were with their father by the seashore when Christ called them to follow him (see Matthew 4: 21-22; Mark 1: 19-20). James was one of the three disciples, along with Saint Peter and Saint John, who witnesses to the Transfiguration, which we celebrate on Saturday 6 August.

Saint James and Saint John, or their mother, ask Christ to be seated on his right and left in his glory. They also want to call down fire on a Samaritan town, but they are rebuked for this (see Luke 9: 51-6).

The Acts of the Apostles records that Herod (probably Herod Agrippa) had Saint James executed by sword, making him the only apostle whose martyrdom is recorded in the New Testament (see Acts 12: 1-2).

Saint James is linked with the Camino, a mediaeval pilgrimage that has become popular in recent decades with people seeking spiritual rootings that are relevant to the demands of modern life. The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain is the reputed burial place of Saint James the Great.

According to Spanish legends, Saint James spent time preaching in Iberia, but returned to Jerusalem after seeing a vision of the Virgin Mary on the bank of the Ebro River. One version says that after his death, his disciples shipped his body to the Iberian Peninsula, to be buried in what is now Santiago. Off the coast of Spain, a heavy storm hit the ship, and the body was lost in the ocean. After some time, however, it washed ashore undamaged, covered in scallops.

A second version of the legend says that after Saint James died his body was transported by a ship piloted by an angel, back to the Iberian Peninsula to be buried in Santiago. As the ship approached land, a wedding was taking place on the shore. The young groom was on horseback, and on seeing the ship approaching, his horse took fright and horse and rider were plunged into the sea. Through miraculous intervention, both horse and rider emerged from the water alive, covered in seashells.

Saint James became the patron saint of Spain, and Santiago de Compostela became the end point of the popular pilgrim route known as the Camino. The emblem of Saint James is the scallop, which has become a general symbol of pilgrims and pilgrimage. The name Santiago is a local Galician form of the late Latin name Sancti Iacobi, Saint James.

The history of the Camino de Santiago dates back to the early ninth century and the discovery of the tomb of Saint James in the year 814. Since then, Santiago de Compostela has been a destination for pilgrims from throughout Europe.

The Way of Saint James became one of the most important pilgrimages in the Middle Ages, alongside those to Rome and Jerusalem. With the Muslim occupation of Jerusalem and later during the Crusades, the Camino became a safe and popular alternative to pilgrimages to the Holy Land.

The flow of people along the Camino brought about a growth in the number of hostels and hospitals, churches, monasteries and abbeys along the pilgrim route.

The scallop shell has long been the symbol of the Camino de Santiago. Along the Camino, the shell is seen frequently on posts and signs to guide pilgrims, and the shell is commonly worn by pilgrims too. Most pilgrims receive a shell at the beginning of the journey and either sew it onto their clothes, wear it around their necks or keep it in their backpacks.

I am reflecting this morning on where I am in my own pilgrimage in life, asking questions about the role am I playing in the Kingdom of God, and wondering how I might truly serve God’s kingdom rather than serving my own interests in life.

A window depicting Saint James the Great at the west end of the north aisle of Saint James the Great Church in Hanslope, Buckinghamshire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Saturday 25 July 2026, Saint James the Apostle):

In Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), the theme this week, from 19 to 25 July 2026 (pp 20-21), is ‘Flood Relief in Mozambique’. This theme was introduced last Sunday with a programme update from the Revd Mauricio S Mugunhe, Executive Director Anglican Social Action, Igreja Anglicana de Moçambique e Angola (the Anglican Church of Mozambique and Angola).

The USPG prayer diary today (Saturday 25 July 2026, Saint James the Apostle) invites us to pray:

Lord of the pilgrim Church, strengthen us to walk together in faith and perseverance. Inspire us to serve with courage and compassion.

The Collect:

Merciful God,
whose holy apostle Saint James,
leaving his father and all that he had,
was obedient to the calling of your Son Jesus Christ
and followed him even to death:
help us, forsaking the false attractions of the world,
to be ready at all times to answer your call without delay;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion Prayer:

Almighty God,
who on the day of Pentecost
sent your Holy Spirit to the apostles
with the wind from heaven and in tongues of flame,
filling them with joy and boldness to preach the gospel:
by the power of the same Spirit
strengthen us to witness to your truth
and to draw everyone to the fire of your love;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect on the Eve of Trinity VIII:

Almighty Lord and everlasting God,
we beseech you to direct, sanctify and govern
both our hearts and bodies
in the ways of your laws
and the works of your commandments;
that through your most mighty protection, both here and ever,
we may be preserved in body and soul;
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Yesterday’s reflections

Continued tomorrow

The spire of Saint James the Great Church in Hanslope, at 57 metres, is the tallest church spire in Buckinghamshire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2026: 42, Thursday 18 June 2026

The Lord’s Prayer in the Greek of Saint Matthew’s Gospel

Patrick Comerford

Patrick Comerford

We are in Ordinary Time and this week began with the Second Sunday after Trinity (14 June 2026). The calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today remembers Bernard Mizeki (1896), Apostle of the MaShona, Martyr.

Later this evening, I hope to be part of the play reading group that meets in the Library in Stony Stratford, and I expect to stay up late tonight, waiting for the Makerfield byelection result to come in. But before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, to reflect, to pray and to read in these ways:

1, reading today’s Gospel reading;

2, a short reflection;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.

‘Give us this day our daily bread’ … bread in a shop window in Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 6: 7-15 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said:] 7 ‘When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

9 ‘Pray then in this way:

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And do not bring us to the time of trial,
but rescue us from the evil one.

14 ‘For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; 15 but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.’

The words of the Lord’s Prayer on a board on the north wall of Saint James the Great Church, Hanslope, Buckinghamshire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

The Gospel reading today (Matthew 6: 7-15) continues our readings from the Sermon on the Mount and provides the verses that we missed in our Gospel reading yesterday (Matthew 6: 1-6, 16-18).

We are all so familiar with the Lord’s Prayer, that we often recite it by rote without noticing the significance and intention of each petition. Have you noticed this in your own prayer life?

The Lord’s Prayer in the Gospel reading this morning is the more familiar version, but there is another, shorter and slightly different version in Saint Luke’s Gospel (see Luke 11: 2-4).

In Saint Matthew’s Gospel, Christ teaches the Lord’s Prayer within the context of the Sermon on the Mount. But in Saint Luke’s Gospel, immediately after visiting the home of Mary and Martha in Bethany, Christ finds a private place to pray. It is then that the disciples ask him to teach them ‘to pray, as John taught his disciples.’

The disciples are already familiar not only with the prayers of Saint John the Baptist, but also with traditional Jewish prayers in the home, in the synagogue and in the Temple in Jerusalem.

So why did they ask Jesus to teach them how to pray?

As a rabbi and a religious leader, Jesus was responsible for teaching his followers how to fulfil Jewish religious commandments, including the obligation to pray at certain times and in certain forms.

Then and now, a religious community has a distinctive way of praying; for Anglicans and most other Christian traditions, it is exemplified by the Lord’s Prayer, which is a communal rather than individual prayer, expressed in the plural and not the singular:

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not bring us to the time of trial,
but rescue us from the evil one.

We approach God in a personal way, as Father. We then bring before him petitions that are not on behalf of me personally, but on behalf of us, on behalf of all.

Sometimes we miss out on the impact of the Lord’s Prayer because we are so familiar with it. But in the public worship of the Church we often facilitate people missing out on the impact of the Lord’s Prayer when we privatise it.

Many of us were taught to pray the Lord’s Prayer as a private personal prayer as children, perhaps even saying it kneeling by our bedside, hands joined together, fingers pointing up.

So often, in our churches, we encourage people to kneel for the Lord’s Prayer, as if this was now both the most sacred and the most personal part of the Liturgy, rather than asking them to remain standing and to continue in collective prayer.

Or, at great public events, such as synods and mission conferences, we invite everyone present to say the Lord’s Prayer in their own first language. In this way, a collective, public prayer becomes a private, personal prayer, detached from and ignoring where everyone else is at each stage in the petitions.

As someone with English as my first language, I often notice how others finish a lot later than we do – the Finns in particular, but even the Germans too. Each language has its own rhythms and cadences. And the cacophony and conflicting rhythms mean it sounds as if we are in Babel rather than praying together, collectively and in the plural.

The first two petitions place us in God’s presence (‘hallowed be your name’ and ‘your kingdom come’). The next two then ask to control of our lives and of life around us: ‘Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’ The next two bring our needs before God, both physical (‘daily bread’) and spiritual (forgiveness, verse 4). The final petitions have an eschatological dimension, looking forward to the fulfilment of all God’s promises, in God’s own time (‘the time of trial’ and being rescued from evil).

The ‘time of trial’ is the final onslaught of evil forces, before Christ comes again, but also refers to the temptations we experience day-by-day.

So there is a temporal and an eternal dimension to these petitions, even when we pray for ourselves in the here and now.

The privatisation of the Lord’s Prayer, even on Sundays, takes away from its impact and from the collective thrust of each of the petitions.

Jesus, when he is teaching us to pray, is responding not to one individual but to the disciples as the core, formative group of the Church. God is addressed not as my Father, but our Father, and each petition that follows is in the plural: our daily bread, our forgiveness, our sins, our debts, how we forgive, and do not ‘bring us’ to trial or temptation.

When we say ‘Amen’ at the end, are we really saying ‘Amen’ to the holiness of God’s name, to the coming of Kingdom, to the needs of each being met, on a daily basis, to forgiveness, both given and received, to being put on the path of righteousness and justice, to others not falling into evil or into any harm.

If we privatise the Lord’s Prayer, we leave little room for its collective impact to grab a hold of those who are praying, and we leave little room for our own conversion, which is a continuing and daily need.

And so, let the kingdom, the power and the glory be God’s, both now and for ever, Amen.

A selection of morning bread in the local bakery in Platanias, near Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Thursday 18 June 2026):

In Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), the theme this week, from 14 to 20 June 2026 (pp 10-11), is ‘Rooted in Compassion’. This theme was introduced on Sunday by the Ven Titus Oluwalusi, the Anglican Chaplain at Saint John’s Church in Casablanca, Morocco.

The USPG prayer diary today (Thursday 18 June 2026) invites us to pray:

Gracious God, we give thanks for 120 years of faithful ministry at St John’s Church in Casablanca. Bless the congregation and its leaders as they celebrate this milestone and all you have done.

The Collect of the Day:

Lord, you have taught us
that all our doings without love are nothing worth:
send your Holy Spirit
and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of love,
the true bond of peace and of all virtues,
without which whoever lives is counted dead before you.
Grant this for your only Son Jesus Christ’s sake,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

Loving Father,
we thank you for feeding us at the supper of your Son:
sustain us with your Spirit,
that we may serve you here on earth
until our joy is complete in heaven,
and we share in the eternal banquet
with Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Faithful Creator,
whose mercy never fails:
deepen our faithfulness to you
and to your living Word,
Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

The words of the Lord’s Prayer (left) on a board in the chancel of Saint Peter’s Church in Lingwood, Norfolk (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

The Methodist Church and former Baptist chapel and the publican who decided to close his pub in Hanslope

The Methodist Church on the High Street, Hanslope … John Wesley first preached in Hanslope 250 years ago on 7 November 1775 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Patrick Comerford

I was writing and extensively on Sunday afternoon about Saint James the Great Church in Hanslope and its spire which is the tallest church spire in Buckinghamshire. But in my recent stroll around Hanslope, I also visited the two other churches or religious buildings in Hanslope: the Methodist Church on the High Street, and the Gospel Hall, a former Baptist chapel on Gold Street, are both listed buildings.

There is some evidence of a small non-conformist presence in Hanslope in the early 18th century. Two families of Quakers and five or six families of Baptists were living in the parish in 1706, but by 1709 there was only one family of Quakers and four or five Baptist families.

Hanslope Methodist Church on the High Street was built in 1828 and the church is part of the Northampton District and Milton Keynes Circuit in the Methodist Church. The Northern Churches Council within the Milton Keynes Circuit includes Hanslope, Stony Stratford and Deanshanger.

Methodism in Hanslope dates back 250 to the 1770s, when John Wesley preached on at least three occasions when he visited Hanslope: 7 November 1775, 20 October 1778 and 11 October 1779.

John Wesley’s visits to Hanslope are linked with the story of the Cock Inn on the High Street (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Wesley’s early visits to Hanslope are associated with the story of the Cock Inn on the High Street. The first Cock Inn stood on a site that would become nos 16 and 18 High Street. When Wesley visited Hanslope, the landlord of the Cock underwent a conversion, closed the pub, and changed the use of the premises to two shops, a draper’s and a grocery.

Since then, the building has housed a number of premises, including a butcher’s, which had its own slaughter house at the back. The original building was demolished, and the Cock Inn moved to its present premises in the 1930s.

Before 1828, Methodists in Hanslope met in a room in the building that was later the old, thatched Cock Inn, owned by a Mr Panter.

The Wesleyan Chapel was built in the 1828 and later enlarged. The join can be seen on the side wall. The schoolroom was then added, and the pulpit had a back that could be pulled down, so that the congregation could overflow into the schoolroom.

Records show that in 1851 two services were held on Sundays, with 100 people attending in the afternoon and a congregation of 105 in the evening.

Plans were drafted in the early of 20th century to build a new, larger chapel on the site of Hanslope Treasures Shop, the building next to chapel. John Rose, who owned the property, sold it to the chapel at low cost for this purpose. However, the plans were abandoned when a number of Methodists in Hanslope people moved north to Derbyshire for employment. The kitchen and water toilets were added in the 1950s.

The rear of the Methodist Church in Hanslope … the church celebrated its 150th anniversary in 1978 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The church celebrated its 150th anniversary in 1978. After the anniversary celebrations, a restoration scheme was undertaken, when a solid floor was put in and the pews were sold and replaced by chairs, some bought with a legacy from Mrs Winifred McTavish. Later the floor was carpeted thanks to a legacy from Miss Lottie Hawkes enabled.

The Garden of Prayer and Remembrance behind the church was opened on 27 May 2018, thanks to a bequest from the Revd Phyllis Brock (1931-2014).

The Methodist minister in Hanslope is the Revd Dr Kofi Tekyi-Ansah, and other ministers serving the church include the Revd Margaret Goodall, the Revd Barbara Winner and the Revd Stephanie Hibberd. Sunday services are at 10:30 am, with Holy Communion on the first Sunday of the month.

The Garden of Prayer and Remembrance behind the Methodist Church opened in 2018 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The Gospel Hall on Gold Street, Hanslope, faces onto Market Square and was originally built in 1809 as a Strict and Particular Baptist Chapel. The Baptist Chapel was founded by Thomas Hindes, who donated the site for the chapel stands. He died on 10 July 1844. The building continued to be used as a Baptist chapel into the 20th century.

The present Brethren group using the Gospel Hall can be traced back to 1883, when John Orr-Ewing from Weston-Super-Mare hired a small room in a Church of England Mission Hall in Long Street, Hanslope. Because the room was small, his supporters decided to find a site to pitch a Gospel tent. Joseph Gregory, who lived near to what is now the entrance to Saint James’ Close, agreed to a tent being pitched in his orchard in June 1883, and for ten weeks a group of four men preached in the ten night after night: John Orr-Ewing, Edward Stack, John Brunton and Charles Moreton.

The tent was taken down at the end of 1883 and weekly meetings continued to be held at 43 High Street until 1914. Other visiting preachers at this time included Walter E Willey of Ealing, London, and a Mr Horton who travelled by train from Berkhamstead to Castlethorpe each Sunday morning and made the return journey each Sunday evening. Other visiting preachers included Arthur Lawes (1851-1928), Luther Rees who was once a heavyweight boxer, and JM Shaw.

On Bank Holiday Monday, August 1908, the assembly held its first all-day conference in a tent belonging to Arthur Lawes opposite Green End Farm, Hanslope, the home of the Slade family.

Gold Street Gospel Hall was built as a Baptist chapel in 1809 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The Baptist Chapel was in an empty and derelict state by 1913, when was sold at auction in the Watts Arms, Hanslope, to William Slade for £150. His brother Richard Slade bought the pews for the hall for £5. The first gathering in the Gospel Hall was a conference on Saturday 4 August 1914, the same day that World War I started.

William Slade sold the hall in 1923 to a trust, and the assembly continues to meet in the same building in Gold Street to this day. Its external appearance remains largely unchanged, although the old vestry and external lavatory at the rear were demolished in the late 1970s to make way for a large ante-room with a kitchen area.

There was further restoration and refurbishment in 1984-1985 when five new windows were installed, the entrance area was redesigned, new toilets installed, the wooden floor in the main hall was replaced with a concrete floor and a new pulpit was installed. The front doors were subsequently replaced in 1987.

The chapel or hall celebrated its bicentenary in 2009, when a new separate kitchen was installed, as well as new toilet facilities, a new heating system, new lighting and new chairs.

The Baptist chapel was in an empty and derelict state when it was bought by William Slade in 1913 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Saint James the Great Church, the parish church in Hanslope, has the tallest spire in Buckinghamshire

The spire of Saint James the Great Church in Hanslope, at 57 metres, is the tallest church spire in Buckinghamshire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Patrick Comerford

I was writing yesterday about my stroll around the village of Hanslope in Buckinghamshire, about 6.4 km (4 miles) north of Stony Stratford. I particularly wanted to see the parish church in Hanslope, Saint James the Great, with its tall church spire. The spire is the most prominent feature of the village and the tallest in Buckinghamshire, and it can be seen for many miles across the surrounding countryside.

Saint James the Great is an unusual building, with external arcading. It is a Grade I listed building and is very large for a village church, probably because of the area’s links with the Earls of Warwick.

The tower at the west end has a crocketed spire, pinnacles and flying buttresses. It was built with a bequest from Thomas Knight, Rector of Hanslope in 1395-1414 and was originally 61 metres (200 ft) high. But it was destroyed by lightning in 1804 and was rebuilt to the slightly lesser height of 57 metres (186 ft). The spire is topped by a weather vane of a hound with an arrow through its foot, recalling an incident when William Watts was saved from an attacking dog when he was India.

The present Church of Saint James the Great in Hanslope dates from 1160 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Hanslope may have had an earlier church, and one sources suggests the Saxon church was to the south of the village, east of the present Park Road, near Ivy Farm. The present church dates from 1160 when William Maudit, lord of the manor of Hanslope and a royal treasury official, applied to the Bishop of Lincoln for permission to pull down an earlier church and build a new one.

Through marriage, the manor continued to be held by the Earls of Warwick until the last earl, ‘Warwick the Kingmaker,’ was killed at the Battle of Barnet in 1471. During those years, the church was added to and rebuilt, including the aisles, tower and spire, making it exceptionally large for a mediaeval village church. But there is little evidence of further building after the manor reverted to the Crown.

The church is dedicated to Saint James the Great, one of the 12 apostles, who was reputedly buried at Santiago de Compostela. By the 12th century, Santiago ranked alongside Rome and Jerusalem as one of the great destinations of mediaeval pilgrimage, and many of the churches dedicated to Saint James the Great and may have been along the pilgrim routes or the Camino.

A mark in the stonework over the entrance at the north porch is said to be a symbol indicating the church was connected with these mediaeval pilgrimages.

A mark on the north porch is said to be a symbolise the mediaeval pilgrimages to the shrine of Saint James the Great in Santiago de Compostela (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The parishes of Castlethorpe and Hanslope were combined in the 14th century, when Castlethorpe was no longer able to support its own priest.

Henry VIII sold the advowson or the right to appoint the rector or vicar, along with the glebe lands and tithes in 1546 to the mayor, sheriffs, citizens and commonality of Lincoln.

Inside Saint James the Great, looking towards the chancel and the east end (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The main body of the church in Hanslope, from the east window to the west door, is 41.5 metres (136 ft) long, and it is 18.5 m (61 ft) wide, and the spire is 57 m (186 ft) high. The architectural historian Sir Niklaus Pevsner says that both aisles are remarkably wide for their date, as was the Norman nave before the aisles existed.

The 12th century church was probably about the same size as the present chancel and nave, from the east window to the tower, without the aisles. The rounded Norman arch between the chancel and nave suggests that the original building included the nave. However, the only remaining parts of a Norman building are in the chancel, and it too has seen much rebuilding.

There is evidence of rebuilding the east and north walls of the chancel as early as the 13th century. The north and south aisles were added in the 13th century, along with the chapel dedicated to Our Lady and Saint Benedict, the east wall was rebuilt, and the north aisle was extended to meet the chapel.

An extra bay was added to the west end of the south aisle in the 14th century.

The tower and spire were built in the 15th century, the north aisle and nave were rebuilt, and the nave arcades and clerestory and the north and south porches were added.

After lightning destroyed the spire in 1804, it was rebuilt, though some 6 metres shorter. The west end of the south aisle may have been rebuilt at that time, and other changes introduced at then included an organ and candle-light in the brass chandeliers. New pews were introduced in 1810-1811 and the Watts gallery and vault were built at that time.

The internal walls were once covered with mediaeval biblical paintings and other decorations (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The church was in poor repair by the 19th century when it was heavily restored by the architect George Edmund Street (1824-1881) in 1864-1865.

More repairs and rebuilding were carried out by John Oldrid Scott (1841-1913) in 1904-1905. The floors were lifted, and wall paintings, believed to date from the 15th to 17th centuries, were removed from the north and south aisles and over the chancel arch. The finds during this work included the holy water stoup by the north entrance, which was unblocked, and the piscina near the altar in the south aisle.

The internal walls were once covered with mediaeval biblical paintings and other decorations. Some may have been vandalised during the Cromwellian period, and much of the remaining painting was removed when plaster was taken from the walls during refurbishments in 1904-1905.

They included three paintings over the east window in the south aisle, traces of a painting over the chancel arch, traces of a painting above the entrance to the rood loft, a cross in blue on a white ground on the north side of the chancel arch, a large wall painting over the Easter sepulchre arch in the south aisle, and a large painting of angels and other figures on the north aisle wall over the sepulchral arch.

The chancel is the oldest part of the church, dating from the 12th century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The chancel is the oldest part of the church, dating from the 12th century, with many later additions. The east window has fine 14th century intersecting tracery. The stained glass made in 1893 by Percy Bacon of London commemorates Diana Caroline Monk, and the five lights depict the Nativity, Christ with the elders in the Temple, the Crucifixion, Christ before Pontius Pilate, and the baptism of Christ by Saint John.

The sedilia on the south wall are the dominant feature of the chancel. Beside them is an aumbry once used to hold the Communion elements and the sacred vessels.

There is a 12th century priest’s doorway into the chancel in the south wall. The two-light stained-glass window in the south wall depicting the Sermon on the Mount was made by William Worrall (1831-1911) of London in 1884.

The east window with 14th century intersecting tracery (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The Chapel of Our Lady and Saint Benedict is a 13th century addition on the north side of the chancel. It has been a vestry, but now is used as a Sunday school room. Pevsner dates a north window there and in the room to the west to the late 13th century. In the south-east corner is a richly carved piscina with a fluted basin.

A doorway has been inserted into the north chapel and there is an aumbry to the west of it. Over the doorway to the chapel is a 12th century window in round-headed Romanesque style, with an external lintel carved with radial leaf motifs.

A chantry was founded in 1324 to say masses in the Chapel of Our Lady for the soul of Thurstan Keswick or de Hanslap, who was the vicar of Hanslope in 1300, but was abolished in 1547 during the Tudor Reformations.

Troughton’s Chapel takes its name from the Troughton family who held the manor of Castlethorpe in the early 17th century. The north wall in the chancel also has a late 13th century arch opening into Troughton’s Chapel, the extended east end of the north aisle, now cut off by the Watts tomb. A new oak screen and doors were installed in 2010.

The only remaining part of the original 12th century nave is preserved in the Norman Romanesque chancel arch (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The only remaining part of the original 12th century nave is preserved in the Norman Romanesque chancel arch. The stair turret at the south-east angle of the nave dates from the later 15th century. It provided access to a rood screen above the chancel arch, of which the only trace now is the loft doorway in the south side of the arch.

The last traces of wall paintings can be seen near the rood screen door above the south side of the arch, where there is a remnant of a painting of the Warwick badge with a bear and ragged staff.

The pulpit is probably 18th century, and Pevsner dates it to ca 1800. During the refurbishments in 1905, an older font was reworked to form a pedestal for the pulpit.

The memorial to Lewis Rees and his two wives, Elizabeth and Agnes, in front of the chancel arch (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Above the chancel arch two hatchments of the Watts family flank the coat of arms of King William IV. In front of the chancel arch, a grave slab with the figures of a man and two women is a memorial to Lewis Rees who died in 1523 and his two wives, Elizabeth and Agnes. The words coming from the mouths of the women say: Sancta Trinitas unus Deus, Miserare nobis, ‘Holy Trinity one God, have mercy on us.’

The altar at the east end of south aisle is a memorial to the dead of two World Wars. The stained glass window (1921) over the altar by Percy Bacon (1860-1935) shows Saint George, Saint Michael and Saint Alban. The arched piscina in the north wall beside to the altar was excavated during the 1904-1905 works.

The stone arch with a symbolic tomb chest inserted into the wall of this aisle is thought to be an Easter sepulchre, where the Resurrection would have been re-enacted in mediaeval times. The Communion Host would have been ‘buried’ on Good Friday and removed at the first Mass of Easter.

The 15th century south porch is now used as a kitchen. In the west window of the south aisle is a group of encaustic, or inlaid, tiles, made in the late 15th century.

The window over the altar in the south aisle shows Saint George, Saint Michael and Saint Alban (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

A window depicting Saint James the Great at the west end of the north aisle (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The east end of the north aisle is dominated by the 18th century burial vault of the Watts family, landlords of Hanslope for 150 year. William Watts, who made his fortune in India, bought the manor in 1764. His grandson, Robert Jenkinson (1770-1828), 2nd Earl of Liverpool, was Prime Minister in 1812-1827.

The west end of the north aisle has a stained glass window depicting Saint James the Great. The gilt-framed Lord’s Prayer, Creed, and Ten Commandments nearby were originally placed on each side of the rood screen, although it is not known when the rood screen was removed.

The box pews were replaced in the early 20th century and oak pews were installed in 1929. More new oak pews were installed in 1958-1959 and the pews were moved in 1998 from a conventional aisle arrangement to the present central altar configuration.

The 19th century font was moved to its present position in 1999 from a central position at the rear of the nave.

The etched glass internal door at the north porch was designed by David Peace and executed by Sally Scott in 1999, who also completed glass work at Christ the Cornerstone in Milton Keynes. It was a bequest from two parishioners, Frank and Edith Brownsell.

There are eight bells in the tower, regularly rung by a team of Hanslope bellringers.

The ‘priest’s door’ into the chancel on the south side has ornate stone carving (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Outside, the church has many interesting features, including a carving of the bear and ragged staff of the Earls of Warwick on the north-west corner of the tower.

The ‘priest’s door’ into the chancel on the south side has ornate stone carving. This doorway is an example of late Norman work, with an arch with moulded bases and decorated capitals, flower and leaf motifs and a bold chevron pattern. The pillars along the chancel walls are an unusual feature in a Norman church.

On the north side, toward the east end, is a gargoyle 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. On the south side, above the aisle roof, is a large gryphon-like carving.

The Old Rectory beside Saint James the Great Church in Hanslope (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

• The Parish Priest is Father Gary Ecclestone SSC, who is supported by Father Robin Carter SSC. The Sunday services in Saint James the Great, Hanslope, and Saint Simon and Saint Jude, Castlethorpe, are: 9:30, Sung Mass, Castlethorpe; 11:15, Sung Mass, Hanslope; 5 pm, Evening Prayer, Castlethorpe, second and fourth Sundays. Mid-week Masses are at 5 pm in Castlethorpe on Wednesdays and 9:30 in Hanslope on Thursdays.

Autumn colours at Saint James the Great Church on a rain-soaked morning in Hanslope (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)