Town in Gloucestershire, England
Human settlement in England
Minchinhampton
is a
Cotswolds
market town
and a
civil parish
in the
Stroud District
of
Gloucestershire
, South West England. The town is located on a hilltop, 4 miles (6.4 km) south-east of
Stroud
. The common offers wide views over the
Severn Estuary
into Wales and further into the Cotswolds. It is an ancient town which was recorded in the
Domesday Book
.
Toponymy
[
edit
]
The place-name 'Minchinhampton' is first attested as
Hantone
in the
Domesday Book
of 1086. It appears as
Minchenhamtone
in the
Assize Rolls
of 1221. The name was originally the
Old English
Heatun
, meaning "high town or settlement". The additional element is the Old English
mynecen
, meaning a nun, which is related to the modern word "monk". Minchinhampton at one time belonged to the nunnery in
Caen
in
Normandy
, France. Thus the name means "the nuns' high town or settlement".
[1]
On a map of 1825 (published 1828) the town is labelled "Minching-Hampton" (see external links).
Amenities and features
[
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]
Minchinhampton Market House and War Memorial
The main square has a
war memorial
, and a 17th-century
Market House
, given to the town in 1919 by the
Lord of the Manor
, Lt Col. H. G. Ricardo, and restored in 1944.
[2]
A market is held on the first Saturday of each month.
[2]
There is a twice-yearly craft fair at Gatcombe and an annual summer visit by
Gifford's Circus
.
[3]
Minchinhampton Country Fayre is held every other year in the High Street.
[4]
The small high street includes Henry's Dairy,
[5]
The Kitchen coffee shop,
[6]
and a corner shop.
[7]
There is also a post office,
[8]
and Boots pharmacy.
[9]
Sports facilities
[
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]
Horse trials
[
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]
Minchinhampton is near to the main home of the
Princess Royal
,
Gatcombe Park
, which hosts the Gatcombe
Horse Trials
in late summer each year.
Rugby
[
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]
The Minchinhampton war memorial
The rugby club has three adult teams, minis and juniors from under 6 to under 16, and a large touch-rugby section. Minchinhampton RFC plays in the league
Gloucester 2
North.
[10]
In 2014, the club's players were joined by Gatcombe Park resident
Mike Tindall
, a 2003 Rugby World Cup winner and ex-England and
Gloucester RFC
rugby international married to Zara Phillips, the daughter of the
Princess Royal
.
[11]
Golf
[
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]
Minchinhampton Golf Club has three courses.
[12]
The Cherington and Avening courses lie near villages of the same names, south-east of Minchinhampton. The Old Course is on Minchinhampton Common.
Tennis
[
edit
]
The Minchinhampton Tennis Club is situated on the Stuart Playing Fields in Minchinhampton. The Team often competes in regional/national events.
Governance
[
edit
]
The Minchinhampton
electoral ward
stretches eastwards to Aston Down. It had a population of 4,357 according to the 2011 census.
[13]
The town is twinned with Nkokoto,
Tanzania
.
[14]
Churches
[
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]
Holy Trinity Church, Minchinhampton, with its unusual '
coronet
' tower
Minchinhampton has two places of worship: the
Anglican
parish church
of the Holy Trinity Church, and Minchinhampton
Baptist
Church.
The spire of the parish church was pulled down for safety reasons in 1563, after the nave arches supporting it were found to be failing. The stub was then surmounted by a coronet structure.
[15]
James Bradley
, the third
Astronomer Royal
, was buried in the churchyard of Holy Trinity in 1762.
Minchinhampton Baptist Church in Tetbury Street dates from 1834.
[16]
The original Chapel Lane Baptist chapel dating from 1765 is now a private house.
[16]
The Common
[
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]
Minchinhampton
Common
is a
Site of Special Scientific Interest
.
[17]
It offers an area of 580 acres (230 ha) for walkers and golfers. It has been owned by the
National Trust
since 1913, but only managed by it since 2000. The Common is also used as grazing for cows and horses from May to October. It has long, parallel ditches and mounds known as the Bulwarks, which formed part of a large
Iron Age
fort
.
[18]
There are wide views from the Common, west over the
Severn estuary
into
Wales
, and east to the
Golden Valley
and further into the
Cotswolds
.
The limestone
Longstone of Minchinhampton
is supposedly the burial site of a
Danish
leader. As a
standing stone
it more probably dates back to the
Bronze Age
.
[19]
[20]
Aston Down
[
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]
Minchinhampton is close to the former
Royal Air Force
airfield,
Aston Down
, formerly a major employer, but now closed and used only for
gliding
. In 2005, after a
Freedom of Information
request, the local newspaper revealed that Aston Down is contaminated with arsenic, hydrocarbons and radium.
[21]
Since the site lies above a vulnerable
aquifer
, local residents have formed an Aston Down Action Group aimed at persuading local and central government agencies to implement more stringent safety regulations.
Discoveries
[
edit
]
Holotype and only known specimen of
Proceratosaurus bradleyi
, collected from Minchinhampton Reservoir
One of the world's oldest
tyrannosaurs
,
Proceratosaurus
, was excavated from Minchinhampton reservoir.
[22]
The only known example of it is now in the
Natural History Museum, London
.
Notable residents
[
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]
In birth order:
- James Bradley
(1693?1762), astronomer and university professor, was buried here. His grave is marked by the James Bradley Monument in Minchinhampton Church.
- Mary Deverell
(1731?1805), religious writer and poet, was born and buried here.
- Jolly John Nash
(1828?1901), born here and became a
music hall
entertainer in London.
[23]
- Flora Annie Steel
(1847?1929), writer, died in Minchinhampton.
- Aubrey Mather
(1885?1958), actor who appeared in many British and American films, was born here.
- Jenny Joseph
(1932?2018), poet, lived in the town.
[24]
- Anne, Princess Royal
(born 1950), lives in
Gatcombe Park
.
- Keith Allen
(born 1953), actor, lives in the parish.
[25]
- Robert Addie
(1960?2003), actor ? his ashes are interred in Holy Trinity churchyard.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Eilert Ekwall
,
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names
, p. 327.
- ^
a
b
"Minchinhampton Country Market"
.
Minchinhamptoncountrymarket.co.uk
. Retrieved
7 March
2008
.
- ^
"Gifford's Circus - Dates"
. Archived from
the original
on 9 May 2008
. Retrieved
7 March
2008
.
- ^
"Stroud News, Views and Information - Gloucestershire Live"
. Archived from
the original
on 12 March 2014.
- ^
"Minchinhampton family merges dairy with its cafe business"
.
Stroud News and Journal
. Retrieved
8 February
2021
.
- ^
"The Kitchen | Cafe Tea Room | Minchinhampton | Stroud"
.
the-kitchen
. Retrieved
8 February
2021
.
- ^
"M & b Stores Stroud Minchinhampton"
.
Cylex UK
. Retrieved
8 February
2021
.
- ^
"Branch Finder | Post Office"
.
www.postoffice.co.uk
. Retrieved
8 February
2021
.
- ^
"Minchinhampton West End"
.
www.boots.com
. Retrieved
8 February
2021
.
- ^
"Minchinhampton RFC"
.
Pitchero.com
.
- ^
"Former England and Gloucester centre Mike Tindall plays for his local club Minchinhampton"
. BBC Sport. 27 October 2014.
- ^
"Home ? Minchinhampton Golf Club"
.
Minchinhamptongolfclub.co.uk
. Retrieved
11 May
2019
.
- ^
"Ward population 2011"
.
Ukcensusdata.com
. Retrieved
30 March
2015
.
- ^
"Stroud district twinning links"
. Archived from
the original
on 8 June 2008
. Retrieved
7 March
2008
.
- ^
"Welcome to Holy Trinity, Minchinhampton"
.
Minchchurch.org.uk
.
- ^
a
b
"Minchinhampton Baptist Church"
.
Minchbc.org.uk
.
- ^
"Natural England - SSSIs : SSSI information"
. Archived from
the original
on 12 November 2014
. Retrieved
8 September
2012
.
- ^
"The Bulwarks ? East 1 and 2 ? Minchinhampton"
.
The Megalithic Portal
. Retrieved
11 May
2019
.
- ^
Partridge, J. B. (1912). "Cotswold Place-Lore and Customs".
Folklore
.
23
(3): 339?341.
JSTOR
1255154
.
- ^
Darvill, Timothy (2013).
Prehistoric Gloucestershire: Forests and Vales and High Blue
. Amberley Publishing Limited.
ISBN
9781445619941
.
- ^
Toxic threat to water supply
,
Stroud News and Journal
. 17 August 2005.
- ^
"Oldest T. rex relative identified"
. 4 November 2009
. Retrieved
29 August
2020
.
- ^
Mary Atkins, "'Jolly' John Nash: A Forest 'Lion Comique'",
The New Regard: Journal of the Forest of Dean Local History Society
, No. 23, 2009, pp.60?64
- ^
"Jenny Joseph 'When I'm Old I Shall Wear Purple...'
"
.
Stroudcommunity.tv
. 3 March 2012
. Retrieved
11 May
2019
.
- ^
"Keith Allen loves life in Gloucestershire"
.
Archive.is
. 22 August 2008. Archived from
the original
on 15 September 2012.
External links
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