Milverton - Minsterworth

Milverton (St. Michael)

MILVERTON (St. Michael), a market-town and parish, in the union of Wellington, hundred of Milverton, W. division of Somerset, 151 miles (W. by S.) from London; containing 2154 inhabitants. This place, the name of which is probably a corruption of Millford-town is of very great antiquity, and was once a royal borough. The town is delightfully situated, amidst woodland scenery, upon an eminence just above the western extremity of the vale of Taunton-Dean, over the whole of which it commands an uninterrupted view; it consists of three irregular streets. The inhabitants are well supplied with water. Here was formerly an extensive manufacture of serges, druggets, and flannels, but at present the chief employment is silk-throwing, and this has much declined of late years: many of the cottagers are employed in weaving baize by handlooms. The market is on Friday; and a fair is held on Oct. 10th, for broad-cloth and pedlery. A portreeve and subordinate officers are appointed, but the town is under the jurisdiction of the county magistrates, who hold petty-sessions here. The parish comprises by computation 5000 acres: there are some quarries of conglomerate limestone, and also of sandstone.

The living is a vicarage, with that of Langford-Budville annexed, in the patronage of the Archdeacon of Taunton as Prebendary of Milverton in the Cathedral of Wells, valued in the king's books at £21. 19. 2.; net income, £449. The church is a spacious edifice, supposed to be one of the numerous churches in this county which were built in the reign of Henry VII. There are places of worship for the Society of Friends, Independents, and Bryanites. In 1721, Mary Lamb devised £300 for the education of children, and the funds having accumulated for several years, the present income is £54 per annum. Mrs. Morgan, of Shepton-Mallet, bequeathed £1500, the interest to be paid for a Sundayevening lecture in the church. An old house here, called the parsonage, is said to have been erected by Cardinal Wolsey, whose arms are still visible over the door, and who had considerable property in the town. John de Milverton, a Carmelite friar in the fifteenth century, who distinguished himself by writing against Wycliffe, was a native of the place.

Milverton (St. James)

MILVERTON (St. James), a parish, in the union of Warwick, Kenilworth division of the hundred of Knightlow, S. division of the county of Warwick, ½ a mile (N. W.) from Leamington; containing 831 inhabitants. It comprises 1124 acres of rich land, and is situated on the left bank of the river Avon, near the road between Kenilworth and Warwick. The surface is undulated, and the scenery picturesque. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £58; patron, the Earl of Warwick. The church stands upon elevated ground. At New Milverton is a chapel, also in the Earl's gift. A national school is supported by subscription.

Milwich (All Saints)

MILWICH (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Stone, S. division of the hundred of Pirehill, N. division of the county of Stafford, 5 miles (E. S. E.) from Stone; containing 563 inhabitants. It comprises by admeasurement 2989 acres; the surface is varied, and the scenery of pleasing character. The hamlets of Coton, Garshall-Green, and Day-Hills, are in the parish. The village is small, and indifferently built, and occupies a low situation near a small brook, on the Uttoxeter road. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £4. 3. 4.; patron and impropriator, G. Lewis Dyve, Esq. The great tithes have been commuted for £132. 8., and the vicarial for £138. 13.; the glebe comprises 2 acres. The church is a small edifice, rebuilt in 1795, with the exception of the tower, which is of ancient date. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans. Several small sums have been left for distribution among the poor of the parish.

Mimms, North (St. Mary)

MIMMS, NORTH (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Hatfield, hundred of Dacorum, though locally in the hundred of Cashio, or liberty of St. Alban's, county of Hertford, 4 miles (S. S. W.) from Hatfield; containing 1118 inhabitants. The parish comprises by computation 4000 acres; the soil is rather light. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £10; patrons and impropriators, the family of Gaussen: the great tithes have been commuted for £284, and the small for £220. The church is built of flints, with a square embattled tower surmounted by a lofty spire, and contains many effigies, brasses with inscriptions in black letter, and other ancient memorials; on the north side of the chancel is the chantry chapel of St. Catherine, founded in 1323 by Simon de Swonlond, and the windows of which exhibit in stained glass various coats of arms, principally of the Coningsby family. An annual sum of £73. 16. 6., arising from property purchased with bequests by Sir Thomas Hide and others, is distributed among the poor.

Mimms, South (St. Giles)

MIMMS, SOUTH (St. Giles), a parish, in the union of Barnet, hundred of Edmonton, county of Middlesex, 3½ miles (N. N. W.) from Barnet; containing, with part of the town of Barnet, and the village of Potters-Bar, 2760 inhabitants. The parish comprises 6304a. 2r. 30p., of which 3821 acres are pasture, 959 arable, 97 woodland, and the remainder gardens, orchards, and common. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £12. 13. 4.; net income, £336; patron, W. P. Hamond, Esq.; impropriator, the Marquess of Salisbury. At Potters-Bar is a separate incumbency.

Minchin-Hampton, in the county of Gloucester.—See Hampton, Minchin.

MINCHIN-HAMPTON, in the county of Gloucester.—See Hampton, Minchin.

Minchington

MINCHINGTON, with Gussage, a tything, in the parish of Handley, union of Wimborne and Cranborne, hundred of Sixpenny-Handley, Wimborne division of Dorset, 7 miles (W. by N.) from Cranborne; containing 163 inhabitants.

Mincingfield

MINCINGFIELD, a tything, in the chapelry of Durley, parish of Upham, union of Droxford, hundred of Bishop's-Waltham, Droxford and N. divisions of Hampshire; containing 109 inhabitants.

Mindrum-Mill

MINDRUM-MILL, a township, in the parish of Carham, union of Glendale, W. division of Glendale ward, N. division of Northumberland, 6 miles (S.) from Coldstream. It comprises about 2100 acres, of which 1320 are arable, and the remainder old pasture, mostly level land on the northern bank of the river Beaumont; the soil on the lower grounds is a gravelly loam, and on the higher inclined to moor: the scenery is in general beautiful. Here is a whinstonequarry; also two of the best fox-covers in the north of England. The tithes have been commuted for £394. The foundations of an ancient chapel were dug up in 1819, and there are remains of a cemetery. A spring here is strongly impregnated with iron.

Mindtown (St. John the Baptist)

MINDTOWN (St. John the Baptist), a parish, in the union of Clun, hundred of Purslow, S. division of Salop, 5 miles (E. N. E.) from Bishop's-Castle; containing 48 inhabitants. It comprises by measurement 930 acres, of which about 530 are inclosed, and in good cultivation; a part of the Longmind Hill is within the parish, and some threads of copper-ore are distinctly visible on the surface. An old mansion here, now a farmhouse, was the seat of the family of Mynde. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £4. 13. 4.; net income, £120; patron, the Earl of Powis. The church is a very ancient structure.

Minehead (St. Michael)

MINEHEAD (St. Michael), a market-town and parish, and formerly a representative borough, in the union of Williton, hundred of Carhampton, W. division of Somerset, 38½ miles (W. N. W.) from Somerton, and 160 (W. by S.) from London; containing, with the manor of Bratton, and the hamlets of Periton, Vineford, and Woodcombe, 1489 inhabitants. At the period of the Conquest, this town, then called Manheved, was given by William to William de Mohun. Between the years 1550 and 1654 it was repeatedly visited by the plague, and it has at various periods suffered from fires. It is situated on the shore of the Bristol Channel, and consists of the Church town, which is composed of mean irregular streets, on a sloping eminence called Greenaleigh; the Lower town, which is the principal part, comprising some respectable streets, and the townhall, erected at the expense of J. Fownes Luttrell, Esq.; and the Quay town, near the water's edge, including the custom-house. The quay is a solid piece of masonry, with a parapet towards the sea, into which it extends about a quarter of a mile, affording a tolerable shelter for small vessels. The inhabitants were formerly engaged in foreign commerce to a great extent, and even at the commencement of the last century, forty vessels from this harbour were in constant communication with Ireland alone. At present a few vessels only belong to the port; some of these trade with Bristol in grain, malt, bark, timber, flour, and leather, and are freighted back with grocery, iron, &c., and the rest convey commodities to Wales, and return with coal, culm, and limestone. Herrings are taken on the coast. The market, for fish and provisions, is held on Wednesday; and there is a chartered fair for pedlery, &c., on the Wednesday in Whitsun-week. The borough first sent members to parliament in the reign of Elizabeth; it was disfranchised by the act of the 2nd of William IV., cap. 45. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £18. 9. 7., and in the patronage of Mr. Luttrell, the impropriator: the vicarial tithes have been commuted for £200, and the impropriate for £104. 2. 3.; there are 26 acres of glebe. The church is a spacious and handsome building, with an embattled tower; in the chancel is an ancient monument, supposed to be that of Judge Bracton, chief justice of England in the reign of Henry III., and author of the earliest treatise on the Laws of England extant. There is a place of worship for Baptists. An almshouse for eleven persons was built and endowed by Robert Quirke, about 1648; and the poor generally have an estate producing about £30 per annum, together with the interest of £1197 three per cent. consols. A species of shell-fish is found at low water on the rocks off Minehead, which affords a peculiar fluid, having the property of communicating to linen a purple tint, supposed to be similar to the murex, which produced the Tyrian purple mentioned by Pliny. Dr. Brocklesby, the friend of Johnson and of Burke, distinguished as a physician and medical writer, was a native of the town.

Minety, or Mynty (St. Leonard)

MINETY, or Mynty (St. Leonard), a parish, in the union and hundred of Malmesbury, N. division of Wilts, 7 miles (S. by W.) from Cirencester; containing 736 inhabitants. The parish comprises by measurement 2717 acres, of which a small portion only is arable: the soil is generally a strong clay; the surface is level, and the lands are watered by a stream called Swill-Brook. Here is a station of the railway between Swindon and Gloucester; it is 8¼ miles from the former town. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £7. 7. 6.; net income, £166; patron, the Archdeacon of Wilts. The church is in the southwestern part of the parish. A mineral spring was discovered some years since.

Miningsby (St. Andrew)

MININGSBY (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union of Horncastle, W. division of the soke of Bolingbroke, parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln, 6 miles (S. E. by S.) from Horncastle; containing 498 inhabitants, and comprising 1311a. 2r. 10p. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £9. 8. 6½., and in the patronage of the Crown, in right of the duchy of Lancaster; the income arises from 170 acres of land, valued at £280 per annum. The church is very ancient. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans.

Minley

MINLEY, a tything, in the parish of Yately, hundred of Crondall, Odiham and N. divisions of the county of Southampton, 3 miles (E. by N.) from Hartford-Bridge; containing 32 inhabitants.

Minshull, Church (St. Bartholomew)

MINSHULL, CHURCH (St. Bartholomew), a parish, in the union and hundred of Nantwich, S. division of the county of Chester, 5½ miles (N. by E.) from Nantwich; containing 467 inhabitants. The parish is situated on the river Weaver, and comprises by admeasurement 2086 acres, of which about 24 are woodland, and the remainder chiefly pasture. Its soil is in some parts sandy, in others a stiff clay; the surface is generally level, and the prevailing trees oak and ash, with some poplar. Cheese is made in great quantities. The living is a donative; net income, £131; patron, H. Brooke, Esq. The impropriate tithes have been commuted for £120, and the incumbent's for £50. The church is a plain structure of brick, with quoins and cornices of stone, and a tower. There is a place of worship for Independents; also a school endowed with about £15 per annum.

Minshull-Vernon

MINSHULL-VERNON, a township, in the parish of Middlewich, union of Nantwich, hundred of Northwich, S. division of the county of Chester, 4 miles (S. S. W.) from Middlewich, on the road to Nantwich; containing 403 inhabitants. The manor belonged anciently to the Vernons, from whom it passed to the family of Aldeton, sometimes called Oldington and Oulton; it was subsequently divided among the Starkies, Newtons, and Minshulls. In the reign of Elizabeth, the whole manor was purchased by Thomas Aston, Esq., of Aston, whose descendant, Sir Willoughby Aston, Bart., was possessed of it in 1701. It afterwards became the property of Henry Newport, Earl of Bradford; at a later period the Pulteney family had the estate, and on the death of Sir William Pulteney, Bart., in 1806, it passed to the Earl of Darlington. The township comprises 2628 acres: three-fourths of the soil are clay; one-fourth is sand. The surface is level, the air mild and salubrious, and the scenery pretty near the river Weaver, which separates the township from ChurchMinshull. Facility is afforded by canal for the conveyance of coal and stone; and here is a station on the line of the Liverpool and Birmingham railway. Lord Mansfield, J. F. France, Esq., of Bostock Hall, and Edward Loyd, Esq., are now proprietors of land. The Independents and Wesleyans have places of worship; and a national school is supported by subscription. There is a moat near a farm called the Mote Farm.

Minskip

MINSKIP, a township, in the parish of Aldborough, Lower division of the wapentake of Claro, W. riding of York, 1½ mile (S. by W.) from Boroughbridge; containing 234 inhabitants. The township is on the south side of the river Ure, and comprises by computation 1395 acres. The village lies on the road from Boroughbridge to Knaresborough. The vicarial tithes have been commuted for £50; and the appropriate for £260, payable to the Dean and Chapter of York.

Minstead (All Saints)

MINSTEAD (All Saints), a parish, in the union, and N. division of the hundred, of New-Forest, Romsey and S. divisions of the county of Southampton, 2¾ miles (N. N. W.) from Lyndhurst; consisting of the tythings of Cadnam, Canterton with Fritham, LondonMinstead, and Minstead; and containing 1155 inhabitants, of whom 926 are in the tything of Minstead. The parish comprises 12,800 acres, of which 725 are common or waste; the soil is chiefly clay. The living is a rectory, with that of Lyndhurst annexed, valued in the king's books at £7. 12. 6., and in the gift of H. C. Compton, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £399. 15., and the glebe comprises 3 acres. Near Malwood Castle Lodge, and within the parish, stands a triangular stone about 5 feet in height, erected in 1745, by John, Lord De la Warre, commemorating the site of the tree from which Tyrrell's arrow glanced, and killed William II., in the year 1100: the spot was visited by George III. and his royal consort, June 27th, 1789.

Minster (St. Metherian)

MINSTER (St. Metherian), a parish, in the union of Camelford, hundred of Lesnewth, E. division of Cornwall, 3¼ miles (E. N. E.) from Bossiney; containing 573 inhabitants. This parish, which is situated on the shore of the Bristol Channel, and includes a portion of the small sea-port of Boscastle, was distinguished for a castle built by the family of Bottreaux in the reign of Henry I., of which nothing but the site remains. It comprises by computation 3000 acres, the greater portion good pasture land; the surface is generally flat. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £22. 17. 11., and in the gift of W. Kirkness, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £255, and the glebe comprises 40 acres. The church contains some interesting monuments. There are remains of an ancient chapel dedicated to St. John. The Wesleyans have a place of worship in that part of Boscastle which is within the parish. In the grounds of Worthyvale is a stone bearing some rudely-sculptured characters, brought from Slaughter Bridge, in the neighbourhood, and supposed to commemorate a battle fought near that place, in 525, between the Britons and the Saxons, in which King Arthur is said to have been mortally wounded. In the vicinity of this spot, where the river Camel has its source, a memorable battle is said to have occurred between the Britons and the Saxons under Egbert, in 820. On Waterpit Downs, in the parish, is an ancient cross, beautifully embellished with sculpture and elegant tracery.

Minster (St. Mary)

MINSTER (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of the Isle of Thanet, hundred of Ringslow, or Isle of Thanet, lathe of St. Augustine, E. division of Kent, 5 miles (S. W. by S.) from Margate; containing 1380 inhabitants. This parish, anciently called Mynstre and Meustre, derives its name from the Saxon word Minstre, a church or monastery. It is bounded on the south by the river Stour; and formerly vessels or barges came up to the village, near the church, where is a little creek, once called Minstre-fleet. About half a mile south-east of the village is Ebbes-fleet, which seems to have been the usual place of landing from the ocean in the Isle of Thanet; here, it is said, Hengist and Horsa landed in 449, St. Augustine in 596, and subsequently, from France, St. Mildred, who became the first abbess of a convent of 70 nuns, founded here about 670 in honour of the Virgin Mary, by her mother Domneva, niece of King Egbert. In 980 and 1011, this convent was pillaged and burned, and its inmates murdered, by the Danes; after which, only a few secular priests occupied the remains, its possessions being given to the monks of St. Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury, who removed the body of St. Mildred to their own church. About a mile eastward of the church, St. Eadburgha in 740 built another convent in honour of St. Peter and St. Paul, but the Danes landed in 978, and entirely destroyed it by fire. Minster once possessed a charter for a market and a fair. The parish comprises 5568a. 35p., of which 3305 acres are arable, 1746 pasture, 31 woodland and plantations, and about 290 waste: the prospect on the downs is not exceeded in this part of the county. Here is a station of the Canterbury and Ramsgate railway, 12 miles from the Canterbury station, and 4 from that of Ramsgate. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £33. 3. 4., and in the patronage of the Archbishop of Canterbury: the tithes have been commuted for £265 payable to the Archbishop, £966. 10. to the Dean and Chapter, and £740 to the vicar; the Dean and Chapter have 113, and the vicar 28, acres of glebe. The church is a handsome cruciform structure, in the early English style, with a lofty steeple; in the choir are eighteen stalls. When the Danes burnt the abbey, they spared the two chapels of St. Mary, and St. Peter and St. Paul; the former chapel was converted into the parochial church, and has since been enlarged. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans. The Rev. John Lewis, author of a History of the Isle of Thanet, was buried here. Minster gives the inferior title of Baron to the Marquess Conyngham.

Minster-in-Sheppy (St. Mary and St. Sexburgh)

MINSTER-in-Sheppy (St. Mary and St. Sexburgh), a parish, in the union of Sheppy, liberty of the Isle of Sheppy, lathe of Scray, county of Kent; containing, with the port of Sheerness, which is a vill having independent jurisdiction, 8684 inhabitants, This place is celebrated as the site of a convent founded in 675, by Sexburga, mother of Egbert, King of Kent, for seventy-seven nuns, who suffered greatly during the invasion of England by the Danes, by whom the house was eventually destroyed. It was re-established in 1130, for Benedictine nuns, and dedicated to St. Mary and St. Sexburgh, by William, Archbishop of Canterbury, and continued to flourish till the Dissolution, when its revenue was returned at £122. 14. 6.: the remains have been converted into a farmhouse. The parish comprises by admeasurement 6500 acres, of which 4138 are pasture, 1850 arable, 466 meadow, and 46 wood; the lands are generally marshy, and the soil clay. The navigable river Hoale intersects the parish, and, in connexion with the pier at Sheerness, where is a commodious wharf, gives facilities for the conveyance of produce in that direction; while the King's Ferry affords communication with the main land. The village is situated on high land, commanding extensive views; a fair is held in it on Palm-Monday and Tuesday. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £169, with a glebe-house; patron, T. Mitchell, Esq.; impropriator, W. Hopson, Esq., whose tithes have been commuted for £1602. 11. The church, an ancient structure, with a massive square tower crowned by a turret, appears to have been formerly much larger than at present. At Sheerness is a separate incumbency. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, Primitive Methodists, and Wesleyans; and a Roman Catholic chapel.

Minster, Lovell (St. Kenelm)

MINSTER, LOVELL (St. Kenelm), a parish, in the union of Witney, hundred of Chadlington, county of Oxford, 2¾ miles (W. N. W.) from Witney; containing 316 inhabitants. This place derives its name from the establishment of a religious house, and from the family of Lovell. The village is situated on the declivities of two hills, between which runs the river Windrush, dividing the parish into two nearly equal parts, called Great and Little Minster. The estimated number of acres is 2000; the soil is light, and the scenery is enriched with extensive woods. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £8. 9. 7., and in the patronage of Eton College: the impropriate and vicarial tithes have each been commuted for £119, and the glebe comprises 62 acres. The church is a spacious and handsome cruciform structure, chiefly in the later Norman style, with a square embattled tower rising from the centre: the internal arrangement is unique and strikingly beautiful; in the south transept is an altar-tomb, with a recumbent effigy of one of the Lovell family, clad in complete armour of the time of Edward IV. An alien priory of Benedictine monks, a cell to the abbey of St. Mary de Ibreio, was founded here in the reign of John, and its revenue was granted at the suppression to Eton College; its site was subsequently occupied by a mansion called the Priory, of which there are considerable remains.

Minster, South (St. Leonard)

MINSTER, SOUTH (St. Leonard), a parish, in the union of Maldon, hundred of Dengie, S. division of Essex, 3 miles (N. by E.) from Burnham; containing 1444 inhabitants. This parish, which comprises by measurement 6066 acres, is bounded on the south-east by the river Crouch, and on the east by the sea; the lands are in a good state of cultivation, and of a mixed quality of loam and gravel. The village consists of two small streets; fairs are held in it on the third day before Easter, the ninth day before Whit-Sunday, and the 29th of September. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £21; patrons and impropriators, the Governors of the Charter-House, London. The great tithes have been commuted for £1414, and the vicarial for £418. 10.; there are 10 acres of glebe. The church, a spacious and handsome cruciform structure with a square embattled tower, was enlarged about twenty or thirty years since, by a rate, aided by the Charter-House, and the Society for Building Churches. Some slight remains exist of a chapel at South Minster Hall. The Independents have a place of worship.

Minsterley

MINSTERLEY, a chapelry, in the parish of Westbury, union of Atcham, hundred of Ford, S. division of Salop, 9¼ miles (S. W.) from the town of Shrewsbury; containing 914 inhabitants. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £96; patron, the Marquess of Bath; impropriators, the rectors of Westbury, and J. and T. Lovett, Esqrs.: the tithes have been commuted for £433. The chapel is dedicated to the Holy Trinity. There are places of worship for Baptists and Independents.

Minsterworth (St. George)

MINSTERWORTH (St. George), a parish, in the union of Westbury, duchy of Lancaster, W. division of the county of Gloucester, 4½ miles (W. by S.) from Gloucester; containing 498 inhabitants. It is situated on the road from Gloucester to Newnham, and comprises 1827 acres, of which 157 are common or waste. The soil is rich, and chiefly in meadow and pasture, with a moderate portion of arable, and numerous orchards. A great quantity of cider is made, and there is a salmonfishery in the Severn at this place. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £10. 13. 4.; net income, £125; patron and appropriator, the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol, whose tithes have been commuted for £597. 18., and whose glebe comprises 6 acres. A school was built in 1808.