Minchinhampton is an ancient

Cotswolds The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Jur ...

market town in the

Stroud District Stroud District is a district in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, South West England. The district covers many outlying towns and villages. The towns forming the district are Dursley, Minchinhampton, Nailsworth, Painswick, Stonehouse, ...

in Gloucestershire, South West England. The town is located on a hilltop, south-east of

Stroud Stroud is a market town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is the main town in Stroud District. The town's population was 13,500 in 2021. Below the western escarpment of the Cotswold Hills, at the meeting point of the Five ...

. The common offers wide views over the Severn Estuary into Wales and further into the Cotswolds.

Toponymy

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 Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

''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 Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Normandy, France. Thus the name means "the nuns' high town or settlement". . On a map of 1825 (published 1828) the town is labelled "Minching-Hampton" (see external links).

Amenities and features

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. A market is held on the first Saturday of each month. There is a twice-yearly craft fair at Gatcombe and an annual summer visit by Gifford's Circus. Minchinhampton Country Fayre is held every other year in the High Street. The small high street includes Henry's Dairy, The Kitchen coffee shop, and a corner shop. There is also a post office, and Boots pharmacy.

Sports facilities

Horse trials

Minchinhampton is near to the main home of the Princess Royal, Gatcombe Park, which hosts the Gatcombe

Horse Trials Eventing (also known as three day eventing or horse trials) is an equestrian event where a single horse and rider combine and compete against other competitors across the three disciplines of dressage, cross-country, and show jumping. This e ...

in late summer each year.

Rugby

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 Gloucester 2 North and Gloucester 2 South are English rugby union leagues which sits at the tenth level of league rugby union in England for teams primarily based in Gloucestershire as well as some teams from Bristol. Promoted clubs move into G ...

North. In 2014, the club's players were joined by Gatcombe Park resident

Mike Tindall Michael James Tindall, (born 18 October 1978) is an English former rugby union player. Tindall played outside centre for Bath and Gloucester, and won 75 caps for England between 2000 and 2011. He was a member of the England squad which won ...

, a 2003 Rugby World Cup winner and ex-England and Gloucester RFC rugby international married to Zara Phillips, the daughter of the Princess Royal.

Golf

Minchinhampton Golf Club has three courses. The Cherington and Avening courses lie near villages of the same names, south-east of Minchinhampton. The Old Course is on Minchinhampton Common.

Tennis

The Minchinhampton Tennis Club is situated on the Stuart Playing Fields in Minchinhampton. The Team often competes in regional/national events.

Governance

The Minchinhampton

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...

stretches eastwards to Aston Down. It had a population of 4,357 according to the 2011 census. The town is twinned with Nkokoto, Tanzania.

Churches

Holy Trinity Church as seen from Bell Lane, Minchinhampton

Minchinhampton has two places of worship: the

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

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. 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. The original Chapel Lane Baptist chapel dating from 1765 is now a private house.

The Common

Minchinhampton

Common Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally com ...

is a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

. It offers an area of 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. There are wide views from the Common, west over the Severn estuary into Wales, and east to the Golden Valley and further into the

. The limestone

Longstone of Minchinhampton The Longstone of Minchinhampton () is a standing stone on Minchinhampton Common, Minchinhampton in Gloucestershire, England. The stone is clearly visible in a field accessible via the southeast road out of the village. The stone is high, made of ...

is supposedly the burial site of a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

leader. As a

standing stone A menhir (from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large human-made upright rock (geology), stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. T ...

it more probably dates back to the Bronze Age.

Aston Down

Minchinhampton is close to the former Royal Air Force airfield, Aston Down, formerly a major employer, but now closed and used only for

gliding Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sport in which pilots fly unpowered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to remain airborne. The word ''soaring'' is al ...

. In 2005, after a Freedom of Information request, the local newspaper revealed that Aston Down is contaminated with arsenic, hydrocarbons and radium. 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

One of the world's oldest tyrannosaurs, '' Proceratosaurus'', was excavated from Minchinhampton reservoir.

Notable residents

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 Mary Deverell (born 4 February 1731 near Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire, England, died early September 1805, Nailsworth, Gloucestershire), was a moral and religious essayist, born into the family of a clothier. Samuel Johnson and other London fig ...

(1731–1805), religious writer and poet, was born and buried here. *

Jolly John Nash John Nash (7 March 1828 – 13 October 1901), often billed as 'Jolly' John Nash, was an English music hall singer and comedian who was noted for his "laughing songs". Biography He was born in Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire, the son of Martha ...

(1828–1901), born here and became a

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...

entertainer in London.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 *

Flora Annie Steel Flora Annie Steel (2 April 1847 – 12 April 1929) was a writer who lived in British India for 22 years. She was noted especially for books set in the Indian sub-continent or connected with it. Her novel ''On the Face of the Waters'' (1896) desc ...

(1847–1929), writer, died in Minchinhampton. *

Jenny Joseph Jenny Joseph (7 May 1932 – 15 April 2018) was an English poet, best known for the poem "Warning". Early life and education Jennifer Ruth Joseph was born on 7 May 1932 in South Hill, Carpenter Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham to Florence (née ...

(1932–2018), poet, lived in the town. * Anne, Princess Royal (born 1950), lives in Gatcombe Park. * Keith Allen (born 1953), actor, lives in the parish. * Robert Addie (1960–2003), actor – his ashes are interred in Holy Trinity churchyard.

References

External links

*
Minchinhampton Parish websiteMinchinhampton Market House Stroud Voices (Minchinhampton filter) – oral history sitebritishlibrary.georeferencer.com/compare# 1825 map showing "Minching-Hampton"
{{authority control Towns in Gloucestershire Market towns in Gloucestershire Stroud District Civil parishes in Gloucestershire