__NOTOC__ Whitminster is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, England, and on the A38 trunk road approximately south of

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

and north-west 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 parish population at the 2011 census was 881. The hamlet of Wheatenhurst is signposted from the A38 at Whitminster. Whitminster is close to the

M5 motorway The M5 is a motorway in England linking the Midlands with the South West England, South West. It runs from junction 8 of the M6 motorway, M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Brom ...

, with

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

and the south

Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...

all within an hour's drive. Wheatenhurst manor, with Whitminster House and the parish church of St Andrew, lies about to the west of the modern village. Plans for additional new housing were announced in Spring 2017. Whitminster has two

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

s: The Old Forge Inn, a traditional English pub, and The Whitminster Inn offering accommodation. There is a village shop, a chip shop, a Chinese restaurant and takeaway, and an Indian takeaway. The local school is the Whitminster Endowed C.O.E Primary School,

History

The manor was originally known as ''Wheatenhurst''—the name changed officially in 1945—and was recorded in the ''Domesday Book'' in 1086 as ''Witenhert''. The name means "white wooded hill", or possibly "wooded hill of a man named Hwita". The name was corrupted to ''Whitnester'' and then ''Whitmister'', and by the 17th century evolved by

popular etymology A false etymology (fake etymology, popular etymology, etymythology, pseudo-etymology, or par(a)etymology) is a popular but false belief about the origin or derivation of a specific word. It is sometimes called a folk etymology, but this is also a ...

to Whitminster. There was never a minster here. Either or both names were used of the parish until the 20th century, but the village on the A38 came to be known as Whitminster, whereas the smaller group of houses west of the main road in the centre of the parish came to be known as Wheatenhurst. The manor of Wheatenhurst was held by Brictric "of Newton Valence", at the time of

Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066. Edward was the son of Æth ...

and post-Conquest it was held by

Harding of Bristol Harding of Bristol (c. 1048 – c. 1125) was sheriff reeve of Bristol, with responsibility for managing a manorial estate and perhaps similar duties to those of a magistrate. He was the son of Eadnoth the Constable, an Anglo-Saxon thane who serve ...

in pledge from Brictric.''

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

'', Wheatenhurst, Gloucestershire It later passed to the de Bohun family, as part of their large landholdings in the west of England. Whitminster is used in the 1919 published short ghost story titled '' The Residence at Whitminster'', by

M. R. James Montague Rhodes James (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936) was an English author, Medieval studies, medievalist scholar and provost (education), provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), and of Eton College (1918–1936). He was List of ...

, in his third collection of ghost stories, ''

A Thin Ghost and Others ''A Thin Ghost and Others'' is a horror short story collection by British writer M. R. James Montague Rhodes James (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936) was an English author, medievalist scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905 ...

''. There appears to be no connection, apart from the name, with the real village, though the name of a major character in the story, the 16 year old Viscount Saul, is possibly inspired by Saul Junction, close to the parish church.

Notable people

Richard Owen Cambridge Richard Owen Cambridge (14 February 1717 – 17 September 1802) was a British poet. Life Cambridge was born in London. He was educated at Eton and at St John's College, Oxford. Leaving the university without taking a degree, he took up residen ...

, poet

References

External links

Victoria County History: Wheatenhurst or Whitminster

Whitminster Parish Council Website

Whitminster Cricket Club

OS Bench Marks in Whitminster

audio history referencing Whitminster
Villages in Gloucestershire Stroud District Civil parishes in Gloucestershire {{Gloucestershire-geo-stub