Minster-in-Thanet: Difference between revisions

Coordinates: 51°20′02″N 1°18′54″E / 51.334°N 1.315°E / 51.334; 1.315
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{{Infobox UK place
{{Infobox UK place
|country = England
|country = England
|official_name = Minster-in-Thanet
|official_name = Minster
|civil_parish = Minster-in-Thanet
|civil_parish = Minster
|coordinates = {{coord|51.334|1.315|display=inline,title}}
|coordinates = {{coord|51.334|1.315|display=inline,title}}
|label_position = left
|label_position = left
|static_image_name = St Mary the Virgin Church, Minster.jpg
|static_image_name = St Mary the Virgin Minster-in-Thanet 1.jpg
|static_image_caption = Church of St Mary the Virgin, Minster-in-Thanet
|static_image_caption = Church of St Mary the Virgin, Minster-in-Thanet
|population = 3,569
|population = 3,569
|population_ref = (2011)<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11126608&c=CT12+4AP&d=16&e=62&g=6439286&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=0&s=1443866356079&enc=1|title=Civil Parish population 2011|accessdate=3 October 2015}}</ref>
|population_ref = (2011)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11126608&c=CT12+4AP&d=16&e=62&g=6439286&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=0&s=1443866356079&enc=1|title=Civil Parish population 2011|access-date=3 October 2015|archive-date=7 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151007023640/http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11126608&c=CT12+4AP&d=16&e=62&g=6439286&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=0&s=1443866356079&enc=1|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|shire_district = [[Thanet]]
|shire_district = [[Thanet District|Thanet]]
|shire_county = [[Kent]]
|shire_county = [[Kent]]
|region = South East England
|region = South East England
|constituency_westminster = [[South Thanet (UK Parliament constituency)|South Thanet]]
|constituency_westminster = [[South Thanet (UK Parliament constituency)|North Thanet]]
|post_town = RAMSGATE
|post_town = RAMSGATE
|postcode_district = CT12
|postcode_district = CT12
Line 21: Line 21:
|dial_code = 01843
|dial_code = 01843
|os_grid_reference = TR308645
|os_grid_reference = TR308645
|module = {{Infobox mapframe|stroke-width=1|zoom=11|width=240}}
}}
}}
'''Minster-in-Thanet''', also known as '''Minster''', is a village and [[Civil parishes in England|civil parish]] in the [[Thanet]] District of [[Kent]], England. The village is situated to the west of [[Ramsgate]] and to the north east of [[Canterbury]]; it lies just south west of [[Kent International Airport]] and just north of the [[River Stour, Kent|River Stour]]. Minster is also the "ancient capital of Thanet".<ref name=FF>[http://www.francisfrith.com/search/england/kent/minster-in-thanet/ Minster-In-Thanet]; retrieved on 22 May 2008</ref> At the 2011 Census the hamlet of [[Ebbsfleet, Thanet|Ebbsfleet]] was included.
'''Minster''', also known as '''Minster-in-Thanet''', is a village and [[Civil parishes in England|civil parish]] in the [[Thanet District|Thanet]] District of [[Kent]], England. It is the site of [[Minster in Thanet Priory]]. The village is west of [[Ramsgate]] (which is the [[post town]]) and to the north east of [[Canterbury]]; it lies just south west of [[Kent International Airport]] and just north of the [[River Stour, Kent|River Stour]]. Minster is also the "ancient capital of Thanet".<ref name=FF>[http://www.francisfrith.com/search/england/kent/minster-in-thanet/ Minster-In-Thanet] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080410084718/http://www.francisfrith.com/search/england/kent/minster-in-thanet/ |date=10 April 2008 }}; retrieved on 22 May 2008</ref> At the 2011 Census the hamlet of [[Ebbsfleet, Thanet|Ebbsfleet]] was included.


==Toponymy==
==Toponymy==
The name comes from the Latin ''monasterium'' and denotes the historical presence of an [[abbey]] or [[monastery]].
The name ultimately comes from the [[Medieval Latin]] ''monasterium'', denoting the historical presence of an [[abbey]] or [[monastery]]; such names are common in England and indeed throughout [[Europe]].


==History==
==History==
{{Refimprove section|date=September 2008}}
{{More citations needed section|date=September 2008}}
[[Archaeology]] has shown a [[Bronze Age]] settlement at Minster-in-Thanet.<ref>Jessup, Frank W., ''Kent History Illustrated'' (Kent County Council, 1966) ISBN 9780900947063</ref> The area became part of the [[Roman Empire]] under the [[Roman Emperor|emperor]] [[Claudius]] which four centuries later was ceded to the [[Saxon]]s around 450AD.{{citation needed|date=March 2014}}
[[Archaeology]] has shown a [[Bronze Age]] settlement at Minster-in-Thanet.<ref>Jessup, Frank W., ''Kent History Illustrated'' (Kent County Council, 1966) {{ISBN|9780900947063}}</ref> The area became part of the [[Roman Empire]] under the [[Roman Emperor|emperor]] [[Claudius]]. Around 450AD, the [[Jutes]] arrived in the Minster area and established a settlement.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.minster-in-thanet.org.uk/villagehistory.shtml |title="History", Minster-in-Thanet |access-date=15 January 2020 |archive-date=15 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200115061157/http://www.minster-in-thanet.org.uk/villagehistory.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref>


===Anglo-Saxon===
===Anglo-Saxon===
In 597 [[Augustine of Canterbury]] is said, by the [[Bede|Venerable Bede]], to have landed with 40 men at nearby [[Ebbsfleet, Thanet|Ebbsfleet]], in the parish of Minster-in-Thanet, before founding a [[monastery]] in [[Canterbury]]; a cross marks the spot of his landing.<br>
In 597 [[Augustine of Canterbury]] is said, by the [[Bede|Venerable Bede]], to have landed with 40 men at nearby [[Ebbsfleet, Thanet|Ebbsfleet]], in the parish of Minster-in-Thanet, before founding a [[monastery]] in [[Canterbury]]; a cross marks the spot of his landing.<br>
Minster itself originally started as a [[Monastery|monastic]] settlement in 670 AD. The buildings are still used as nunneries today.<ref name=FF/> The first abbey in the village was founded by St. [[Domneva]], a widowed noblewoman, whose daughter St. [[Mildrith|Mildred]], is taken as the first [[abbess]]. The tradition is that Domneva was granted as much land as a hind could run over in a day, the hind remains the village emblem, see also [[Thanet]]. The abbey was extinguished by [[Viking]] raiding. The next abbess after St. Mildred was [[Edburga of Minster-in-Thanet|St Edburga]] daughter of King [[Centwine of the West Saxons]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/boniface-letters.html | title=Medieval Sourcebook: The Correspondence of St. Boniface | accessdate=13 September 2008}}</ref><br>
Minster itself originally started as a [[Monastery|monastic]] settlement in 670 AD. The buildings are still used as nunneries today.<ref name=FF/> The first abbey in the village was founded by St [[Domneva]], a widowed noblewoman, whose daughter St [[Mildrith|Mildred]], is taken as the first [[abbess]]. The tradition is that Domneva was granted as much land as a hind could run over in a day, the hind remains the village emblem, see also [[Thanet District|Thanet]]. The abbey was extinguished by [[Viking]] raiding. The next abbess after St Mildred was [[Edburga of Minster-in-Thanet|St Edburga]] daughter of King [[Centwine of the West Saxons]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/boniface-letters.html | title=Medieval Sourcebook: The Correspondence of St. Boniface | access-date=13 September 2008 | archive-date=19 September 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080919230621/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/boniface-letters.html | url-status=live }}</ref><br>
The third known abbess was Sigeburh, who was active<ref>[[William George Searle]], onomasticon ([[Cambridge University Press]] Archive, 1879) [https://books.google.com/books?id=Q788AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA418&lpg=PA418&dq=Sigeburh+of+Thanet&source=bl&ots=qTkYHsUmsk&sig=X4kOfoenp47bzqIBtlqRlxFB-3c&hl=en&sa=X&ei=vpEzU6jGJIvKkQXzkoAg&ved=0CDEQ6AEwBDge#v=onepage&q=Sigeburh%20of%20Thanet&f=false page 418].</ref> around 762 [[Anno Domini|AD]] and is known from the [[Secgan]] [[hagiography]] and from [[Royal charter]]s.<ref>[[David Rollason]], ‘[[Mildrith]] (fl. 716–c. 733)’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', ([[Oxford University Press]],[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/18697 2004]).</ref> In 761AD [[Offa]], king of the [[Mercia]]ns, granted Sigeburh a toll-exemption which king [[Æthelbald of Mercia|Æthelbald]] had previously granted to [[Abbess]] [[Mildrith]]. Again in about 763 [[Anno Domini|AD]] [[Eadberht II]], [[king of Kent]], granted the remission of toll on two ships at [[Sarre, Kent|Sarre]] and on a third at [[Fordwich]].<ref>''Charters of the St Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury, and Minster-in-Thanet'', ed. S. E. Kelly, Anglo-Saxon [[Charter]]s 4 ([[Oxford]]: Published for The British Academy by [[Oxford University Press]], 1995), p. 179.</ref> It has been stated that in gaining these privileges, she may have been taking advantage of Æthelbald's political weakness.<ref>Johannes Hoops, ''Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde'', Vol. 24 (Walter de Gruyter, 1968) [https://books.google.com/books?id=yL99vdKCUhkC&pg=PA298&lpg=PA298&dq=Sigeburh+of+Thanet&source=bl&ots=B7NZHapTGn&sig=lp8SBvGWmmpz-RDAv2eOmRXUKTk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=P5AzU6C-NMbRkgWexYDoAQ&ved=0CB4Q6AEwADge#v=onepage&q=Sigeburh%20&f=false page 298].</ref><br>
The third known abbess was Sigeburh, who was active<ref>[[William George Searle]], onomasticon ([[Cambridge University Press]] Archive, 1879) [https://books.google.com/books?id=Q788AAAAIAAJ&dq=Sigeburh+of+Thanet&pg=PA418 page 418].</ref> around 762 [[Anno Domini|AD]] and is known from the [[Secgan]] [[hagiography]] and from [[Royal charter]]s.<ref>[[David Rollason]], ‘[[Mildrith]] (fl. 716–c. 733)’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', ([[Oxford University Press]],[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/18697 2004] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123221259/https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-18697;jsessionid=A9972AA64EB717EE116F52ECEA943C18 |date=23 January 2021 }}).</ref> In 761AD [[Offa]], king of the [[Mercia]]ns, granted Sigeburh a toll-exemption which king [[Æthelbald of Mercia|Æthelbald]] had previously granted to [[Abbess]] [[Mildrith]]. Again in about 763 [[Anno Domini|AD]] [[Eadberht II]], [[king of Kent]], granted the remission of toll on two ships at [[Sarre, Kent|Sarre]] and on a third at [[Fordwich]].<ref>''Charters of the St Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury, and Minster-in-Thanet'', ed. S. E. Kelly, Anglo-Saxon [[Charter]]s 4 ([[Oxford]]: Published for The British Academy by [[Oxford University Press]], 1995), p. 179.</ref> It has been stated that in gaining these privileges, she may have been taking advantage of Æthelbald's political weakness.<ref>Johannes Hoops, ''Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde'', Vol. 24 (Walter de Gruyter, 1968) [https://books.google.com/books?id=yL99vdKCUhkC&q=Sigeburh+&pg=PA298 page 298].</ref><br>
Vikings attacked the surrounding area in 850 AD.<ref>A. Forte, R. Oram, and F. Pederson. ''Viking Empires''. 1st. ed. (Cambridge: [[Cambridge University Press]], 2005), [https://books.google.com/books?id=_vEd859jvk0C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_navlinks_s&redir_esc=y#v=snippet&q=Thanet&f=false page 67].</ref>
Vikings attacked the surrounding area in 850 AD.<ref>A. Forte, R. Oram, and F. Pederson. ''Viking Empires''. 1st. ed. (Cambridge: [[Cambridge University Press]], 2005), [https://books.google.com/books?id=_vEd859jvk0C&q=Thanet page 67].</ref>


===Norman===
===Norman===
The parish church of [[St. Mary]]-the-Virgin is largely [[Norman architecture|Norman]] but with significant traces of earlier work, the problems of which are unresolved. The [[nave]] is impressive with five [[bay (architecture)|bay]]s, and the [[crossing (architecture)|crossing]] has an ancient chalk block [[Vault (architecture)|vaulting]]. The [[chancel]] is Early English with later [[flying buttress]]es intended to halt the very obvious spread of the upper walls. There is a fine set of [[misericord]]s reliably dated around 1400. The tower has a curious turret at its southeast corner that is locally referred to as a [[Saxon]] watch tower but is built at least partly from [[Caen]] stone; it may be that it dates from the time of the conquest but is built in an antique style sometimes called Saxo-Norman. A doorway in the turret opens out some two metres above the present roof line.
The parish church of [[St Mary]]-the-Virgin is largely [[Norman architecture|Norman]] but with significant traces of earlier work, the problems of which are unresolved. The [[nave]] is impressive with five [[bay (architecture)|bay]]s, and the [[crossing (architecture)|crossing]] has an ancient chalk block [[Vault (architecture)|vaulting]]. The [[chancel]] is Early English with later [[flying buttress]]es intended to halt the very obvious spread of the upper walls. There is a fine set of [[misericord]]s reliably dated around 1400. The tower has a curious turret at its southeast corner that is locally referred to as a [[Saxon]] watch tower but is built at least partly from [[Caen]] stone; it may be that it dates from the time of the conquest but is built in an antique style sometimes called Saxo-Norman. A doorway in the turret opens out some two metres above the present roof line.


The [[church building|church]] was used by both the brethren of the second [[abbey]], a dependency of [[St Augustine's Abbey|St. Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury]], and as a [[parish church]]. Socket holes in the piers of the crossing suggest that, as well as a [[rood screen]], there was a further screen dividing [[nave]] and [[transept|crossing]], such as still exists at [[Dunster]] in [[Somerset]]. This abbey surrendered during the [[dissolution of the monasteries|dissolution]] in 1534.
The [[church building|church]] was used by both the brethren of the second [[abbey]], a dependency of [[St Augustine's Abbey|St Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury]], and as a [[parish church]]. Socket holes in the piers of the crossing suggest that, as well as a [[rood screen]], there was a further screen dividing [[nave]] and [[transept|crossing]], such as still exists at [[Dunster]] in [[Somerset]]. This abbey surrendered during the [[dissolution of the monasteries|dissolution]] in 1534.

===Nineteenth century===
The 1876 [[Ordnance Survey Great Britain County Series]] map<ref>{{cite web |title=Ordnance Survey, Kent XXXVII (includes: Ash; Minster; Ramsgate; Sandwich; Worth.) - Ordnance Survey Six-inch England and Wales, 1842-1952 |url=https://maps.nls.uk/view/102343543 |website=maps.nls.uk |publisher=National Library of Scotland |access-date=5 May 2023}}</ref> shows a [[Wesleyan Church|Methodist (Wesleyan)]] chapel in St Mildred's Road; on the 1898 OS map<ref>{{cite web |title=Ordnance Survey, Kent XXXVII.NW (includes: Ash; Minster; Monkton.) - Ordnance Survey Six-inch England and Wales, 1842-1952 |url=https://maps.nls.uk/view/101429274 |website=maps.nls.uk |publisher=National Library of Scotland |access-date=5 May 2023}}</ref> it has become [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] and been renamed "St Mildred's R.C. chapel", also being referred to as "St Mildred's church and [[clergy house|presbytery]]". It later closed but as permission to demolish it and build houses on the site was denied in 2010,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Fray |first1=Pam |title=Geograph:: St. Mildred's church and presbytery |url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/4881254 |website=www.geograph.org.uk |access-date=5 May 2023}}</ref> it was converted into a private residence.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kessler |first1=P. L. |title=Gallery: Churches of Kent |url=https://www.historyfiles.co.uk/ChurchesBritain/SouthEast/Kent_Thanet18.htm |website=The History Files |access-date=5 May 2023}}</ref>


===Twentieth century===
===Twentieth century===
Minster Abbey is a house incorporating remains of the [[Anglo-Saxon]] abbey and alleged to be the oldest continuously inhabited house in England. It now houses the village's third religious community, a [[priory]] of [[Roman Catholic]] [[Benedictine]] sisters that is a daughter community of [[Eichstätt]] in [[Bavaria]]. It was settled in 1937 by [[refugee]]s fleeing [[Nazi Germany]] and continues to flourish as an international community.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.minsterabbeynuns.org/history-modern.html | title=Minster Abbey | accessdate=13 September 2008}}</ref> The Priory has the care of a relic of St. Mildred that had been in the care of a church in [[Deventer]] in the [[Netherlands]] since the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://monasticmatrix.usc.edu/monasticon/?function=detail&id=963 | title=Monasticon: Community: Minster in Thanet | work=Monastic Matrix | publisher=[[University of Southern California]] | accessdate=14 September 2008 }}</ref>
[[Minster in Thanet Priory|Minster Abbey]] is a house incorporating remains of the [[Anglo-Saxon]] abbey and alleged to be the oldest continuously inhabited house in England. It now houses the village's third religious community, a [[priory]] of [[Roman Catholic]] [[Benedictine]] sisters that is a daughter community of St. Walburg, [[Eichstätt]] in [[Bavaria]]. It was settled in 1937 by [[refugee]]s fleeing [[Nazi Germany]] and continues to flourish as an international community.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.minsterabbeynuns.org/history-modern.html |title=Minster Abbey |access-date=13 September 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907205105/http://www.minsterabbeynuns.org/history-modern.html |archive-date=7 September 2008 }}</ref> The Priory has the care of a relic of St Mildred that had been in the care of a church in [[Deventer]] in the [[Netherlands]] since the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://monasticmatrix.usc.edu/monasticon/?function=detail&id=963 |title=Monasticon: Community: Minster in Thanet |work=Monastic Matrix |publisher=[[University of Southern California]] |access-date=14 September 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927174045/http://monasticmatrix.usc.edu/monasticon/?function=detail&id=963 |archive-date=27 September 2011 }}</ref>


==Landscape==
==Landscape==
[[File:Fred C Palmer 020.jpg|thumb|right|The [[forge|smithy]] ca.1903, by [[Frederick Christian Palmer|Fred C. Palmer]]]]
[[File:Fred C Palmer 020.jpg|thumb|right|The [[forge|smithy]] ca.1903, by [[Frederick Christian Palmer|Fred C. Palmer]]]]
Generally a flat landscape, the area's main features include [[marsh]]es, [[farm]]s and [[river]]s. [[Thanet District Council]] has, however, assessed Minster Marshes, south of the village, as being unstable,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.planet-thanet.fsnet.co.uk/local_plan/thanet_plan_13.htm | title=Thanet Plan 13 | accessdate=22 May 2008}}</ref> and some areas of Minster, particularly in the south of the village, have suffered from flooding.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.thanet.gov.uk/pdf/LocalplanOct06v3.pdf | title=Thanet Local Plan 2006 | accessdate=22 May 2008}}</ref>
Generally a flat landscape, the area's main features include [[marsh]]es, [[farm]]s and [[river]]s. [[Thanet District Council]] has, however, assessed Minster Marshes, south of the village, as being unstable,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.planet-thanet.fsnet.co.uk/local_plan/thanet_plan_13.htm |title=Thanet Plan 13 |access-date=22 May 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080514011500/http://www.planet-thanet.fsnet.co.uk/local_plan/thanet_plan_13.htm |archive-date=14 May 2008 }}</ref> and some areas of Minster, particularly in the south of the village, have suffered from flooding.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thanet.gov.uk/pdf/LocalplanOct06v3.pdf |title=Thanet Local Plan 2006 |access-date=22 May 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716142939/http://www.thanet.gov.uk/pdf/LocalplanOct06v3.pdf |archive-date=16 July 2011 }}</ref>


[[Land reclamation]] has had a strong history in Minster and Monkton, where the original reclamation was done by the monks themselves.<ref>[http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:RwVjjOczW04J:www.thanetarch.co.uk/Virtual%2520Museum/2_Galleries/G8%2520Content/Virtual_Museum_Gallery_8.html+Minster+Thanet+land+reclamation&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&client=safari Curators Introduction]; retrieved on 22 May 2008</ref>
[[Land reclamation]] has had a strong history in Minster and Monkton, where the original reclamation was done by the monks themselves.<ref>[http://www.thanetarch.co.uk/Virtual%20Museum/2_Galleries/G8%20Content/Virtual_Museum_Gallery_8.html Curators Introduction] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304100645/http://www.thanetarch.co.uk/Virtual%20Museum/2_Galleries/G8%20Content/Virtual_Museum_Gallery_8.html |date=4 March 2016 }}; retrieved on 22 May 2008</ref>


==Education==
==Education==
The [[Primary School]] is called "Minster Church of England Primary School", which caters for the village's population.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.minster-ramsgate.kent.sch.uk/keyinfo_detail.asp?Section=3&Ref=10 | title=Minster CE Primary School | accessdate=21 June 2008 }}</ref> As of 2007, there are 410 pupils attending the school.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.schools.gov.uk/cgi-bin/performancetables/school_07.pl?Mode=Z&No=8863182&Type=P&Num=p420&Phase=p&Year=07&Base=v | title=Minster Church of England Primary School | publisher=[[Department for Children, Schools and Families]] | accessdate=21 June 2008 }}</ref>
The [[Primary School]] is called "Minster Church of England Primary School", which caters for the village's population.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.minster-ramsgate.kent.sch.uk/keyinfo_detail.asp?Section=3&Ref=10 |title=Minster CE Primary School |access-date=21 June 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203125053/http://minster-ramsgate.kent.sch.uk/keyinfo_detail.asp?Section=3&Ref=10 |archive-date=3 February 2009 }}</ref> As of 2022, there are 383 pupils attending the school.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.schools.gov.uk/cgi-bin/performancetables/school_07.pl?Mode=Z&No=8863182&Type=P&Num=p420&Phase=p&Year=07&Base=v |title=Minster Church of England Primary School |publisher=[[Department for Children, Schools and Families]] |access-date=21 June 2008 }}{{dead link|date=June 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>


==Transport==
==Transport==
[[Minster railway station]] lies to the south of the village, on the line from [[Canterbury West railway station|Canterbury West]] to [[Ramsgate railway station|Ramsgate]] and on the junction to the [[Kent Coast Line]].
[[Minster railway station]] lies to the south of the village, on the line from [[Canterbury West railway station|Canterbury West]] to [[Ramsgate railway station|Ramsgate]] and on the junction to the [[Kent Coast Line]].


Bus services are provided by [[Stagecoach]].
Bus services are provided by [[Stagecoach Group|Stagecoach]].


==Military==
==Military==
Line 65: Line 69:


==Notable residents==
==Notable residents==
*St. [[Augustine of Canterbury]] is said by the Venerable [[Bede]] to have landed with 40 men at [[Ebbsfleet, Thanet|Ebbsfleet]], within the [[parish]] of Minster, before beginning his mission in [[Canterbury]], commemorated by [[St Augustine's Cross]] near [[Cliffsend]].
*St [[Augustine of Canterbury]] is said by the Venerable [[Bede]] to have landed with 40 men at [[Ebbsfleet, Thanet|Ebbsfleet]], within the [[parish]] of Minster, before beginning his mission in [[Canterbury]], commemorated by [[St Augustine's Cross]] near [[Cliffsend]].
*[[Richard Culmer]], the infamous Puritan minister known locally as Blue Dick Culmer, was presented to the living but the people rejected him and his name - to this day - is still omitted from the role of incumbents in the church porch.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.kentresources.co.uk/bdick1.htm | title=Blue Dick Culmer | accessdate=13 September 2008}}</ref>
*[[Richard Culmer]], the infamous Puritan minister known locally as Blue Dick Culmer, was presented to the living but the people rejected him and his name - to this day - is still omitted from the role of incumbents in the church porch.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kentresources.co.uk/bdick1.htm |title=Blue Dick Culmer |access-date=13 September 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100327104050/http://www.kentresources.co.uk/bdick1.htm |archive-date=27 March 2010 }}</ref>


==References==
==References==
Line 72: Line 76:


==External links==
==External links==
{{Commons category|Minster in Thanet}}
{{Commons category|Minster in Thanet|Minster}}
* [http://www.minster-in-thanet.org.uk/index.shtml Village website]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20201130172029/http://minster-in-thanet.org.uk/index.shtml Village website] (archive)


{{Thanet}}
{{Thanet}}

{{authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Minster-In-Thanet}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Minster-In-Thanet}}
[[Category:Villages in Kent]]
[[Category:Villages in Kent]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Kent]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Kent]]
[[Category:Burial sites of the House of Icel]]

Latest revision as of 06:18, 11 December 2023

Not to be confused with Minster, Swale.

Minster
Church of St Mary the Virgin, Minster-in-Thanet
Minster is located in Kent
Minster
Minster
Location within Kent
Population3,569 (2011)[1]
OS grid referenceTR308645
Civil parish
  • Minster
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townRAMSGATE
Postcode districtCT12
Dialling code01843
PoliceKent
FireKent
AmbulanceSouth East Coast
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Kent

51°20′02″N 1°18′54″E / 51.334°N 1.315°E / 51.334; 1.315

Map

Minster, also known as Minster-in-Thanet, is a village and civil parish in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is the site of Minster in Thanet Priory. The village is west of Ramsgate (which is the post town) and to the north east of Canterbury; it lies just south west of Kent International Airport and just north of the River Stour. Minster is also the "ancient capital of Thanet".[2] At the 2011 Census the hamlet of Ebbsfleet was included.

Toponymy[edit]

The name ultimately comes from the Medieval Latin monasterium, denoting the historical presence of an abbey or monastery; such names are common in England and indeed throughout Europe.

History[edit]

Archaeology has shown a Bronze Age settlement at Minster-in-Thanet.[3] The area became part of the Roman Empire under the emperor Claudius. Around 450AD, the Jutes arrived in the Minster area and established a settlement.[4]

Anglo-Saxon[edit]

In 597 Augustine of Canterbury is said, by the Venerable Bede, to have landed with 40 men at nearby Ebbsfleet, in the parish of Minster-in-Thanet, before founding a monastery in Canterbury; a cross marks the spot of his landing.
Minster itself originally started as a monastic settlement in 670 AD. The buildings are still used as nunneries today.[2] The first abbey in the village was founded by St Domneva, a widowed noblewoman, whose daughter St Mildred, is taken as the first abbess. The tradition is that Domneva was granted as much land as a hind could run over in a day, the hind remains the village emblem, see also Thanet. The abbey was extinguished by Viking raiding. The next abbess after St Mildred was St Edburga daughter of King Centwine of the West Saxons.[5]
The third known abbess was Sigeburh, who was active[6] around 762 AD and is known from the Secgan hagiography and from Royal charters.[7] In 761AD Offa, king of the Mercians, granted Sigeburh a toll-exemption which king Æthelbald had previously granted to Abbess Mildrith. Again in about 763 AD Eadberht II, king of Kent, granted the remission of toll on two ships at Sarre and on a third at Fordwich.[8] It has been stated that in gaining these privileges, she may have been taking advantage of Æthelbald's political weakness.[9]
Vikings attacked the surrounding area in 850 AD.[10]

Norman[edit]

The parish church of St Mary-the-Virgin is largely Norman but with significant traces of earlier work, the problems of which are unresolved. The nave is impressive with five bays, and the crossing has an ancient chalk block vaulting. The chancel is Early English with later flying buttresses intended to halt the very obvious spread of the upper walls. There is a fine set of misericords reliably dated around 1400. The tower has a curious turret at its southeast corner that is locally referred to as a Saxon watch tower but is built at least partly from Caen stone; it may be that it dates from the time of the conquest but is built in an antique style sometimes called Saxo-Norman. A doorway in the turret opens out some two metres above the present roof line.

The church was used by both the brethren of the second abbey, a dependency of St Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury, and as a parish church. Socket holes in the piers of the crossing suggest that, as well as a rood screen, there was a further screen dividing nave and crossing, such as still exists at Dunster in Somerset. This abbey surrendered during the dissolution in 1534.

Nineteenth century[edit]

The 1876 Ordnance Survey Great Britain County Series map[11] shows a Methodist (Wesleyan) chapel in St Mildred's Road; on the 1898 OS map[12] it has become Roman Catholic and been renamed "St Mildred's R.C. chapel", also being referred to as "St Mildred's church and presbytery". It later closed but as permission to demolish it and build houses on the site was denied in 2010,[13] it was converted into a private residence.[14]

Twentieth century[edit]

Minster Abbey is a house incorporating remains of the Anglo-Saxon abbey and alleged to be the oldest continuously inhabited house in England. It now houses the village's third religious community, a priory of Roman Catholic Benedictine sisters that is a daughter community of St. Walburg, Eichstätt in Bavaria. It was settled in 1937 by refugees fleeing Nazi Germany and continues to flourish as an international community.[15] The Priory has the care of a relic of St Mildred that had been in the care of a church in Deventer in the Netherlands since the Reformation.[16]

Landscape[edit]

The smithy ca.1903, by Fred C. Palmer

Generally a flat landscape, the area's main features include marshes, farms and rivers. Thanet District Council has, however, assessed Minster Marshes, south of the village, as being unstable,[17] and some areas of Minster, particularly in the south of the village, have suffered from flooding.[18]

Land reclamation has had a strong history in Minster and Monkton, where the original reclamation was done by the monks themselves.[19]

Education[edit]

The Primary School is called "Minster Church of England Primary School", which caters for the village's population.[20] As of 2022, there are 383 pupils attending the school.[21]

Transport[edit]

Minster railway station lies to the south of the village, on the line from Canterbury West to Ramsgate and on the junction to the Kent Coast Line.

Bus services are provided by Stagecoach.

Military[edit]

Minster has a war memorial dedicated to those lost in World War I and World War II and this is located in St Mary's church.

In 2013, Minster hosted a memorial for Jean de Selys Longchamps, a Belgian fighter pilot who is buried in Minster cemetery. This event was hosted by Minster & Monkton Royal British Legion in conjunction with Minster Parish Council and was attended by such dignitaries as The Lord Lieutenant of Kent and the Chief of the Belgian Air Defense.[citation needed]

Notable residents[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Civil Parish population 2011". Archived from the original on 7 October 2015. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  2. ^ a b Minster-In-Thanet Archived 10 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine; retrieved on 22 May 2008
  3. ^ Jessup, Frank W., Kent History Illustrated (Kent County Council, 1966) ISBN 9780900947063
  4. ^ ""History", Minster-in-Thanet". Archived from the original on 15 January 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  5. ^ "Medieval Sourcebook: The Correspondence of St. Boniface". Archived from the original on 19 September 2008. Retrieved 13 September 2008.
  6. ^ William George Searle, onomasticon (Cambridge University Press Archive, 1879) page 418.
  7. ^ David Rollason, ‘Mildrith (fl. 716–c. 733)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, (Oxford University Press,2004 Archived 23 January 2021 at the Wayback Machine).
  8. ^ Charters of the St Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury, and Minster-in-Thanet, ed. S. E. Kelly, Anglo-Saxon Charters 4 (Oxford: Published for The British Academy by Oxford University Press, 1995), p. 179.
  9. ^ Johannes Hoops, Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde, Vol. 24 (Walter de Gruyter, 1968) page 298.
  10. ^ A. Forte, R. Oram, and F. Pederson. Viking Empires. 1st. ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), page 67.
  11. ^ "Ordnance Survey, Kent XXXVII (includes: Ash; Minster; Ramsgate; Sandwich; Worth.) - Ordnance Survey Six-inch England and Wales, 1842-1952". maps.nls.uk. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  12. ^ "Ordnance Survey, Kent XXXVII.NW (includes: Ash; Minster; Monkton.) - Ordnance Survey Six-inch England and Wales, 1842-1952". maps.nls.uk. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  13. ^ Fray, Pam. "Geograph:: St. Mildred's church and presbytery". www.geograph.org.uk. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  14. ^ Kessler, P. L. "Gallery: Churches of Kent". The History Files. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  15. ^ "Minster Abbey". Archived from the original on 7 September 2008. Retrieved 13 September 2008.
  16. ^ "Monasticon: Community: Minster in Thanet". Monastic Matrix. University of Southern California. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 14 September 2008.
  17. ^ "Thanet Plan 13". Archived from the original on 14 May 2008. Retrieved 22 May 2008.
  18. ^ "Thanet Local Plan 2006" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 22 May 2008.
  19. ^ Curators Introduction Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine; retrieved on 22 May 2008
  20. ^ "Minster CE Primary School". Archived from the original on 3 February 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2008.
  21. ^ "Minster Church of England Primary School". Department for Children, Schools and Families. Retrieved 21 June 2008.[permanent dead link]
  22. ^ "Blue Dick Culmer". Archived from the original on 27 March 2010. Retrieved 13 September 2008.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Minster.
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