Minety
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Minety is a village in north
Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
, England, between
Malmesbury Malmesbury () is a town and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, which lies approximately west of Swindon, northeast of Bristol, and north of Chippenham. The older part of the town is on a hilltop which is almost surrounded by the up ...
– to the west – and
Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...
. It takes its name from the
water mint ''Mentha aquatica'' (water mint; syn. ''Mentha hirsuta'' Huds.Euro+Med Plantbase Project''Mentha aquatica'') is a perennial flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae. It grows in moist places and is native to much of Europe, northwest Africa ...
plant found growing in ditches around the village, and has previously been known as Myntey. It has a primary school and a successful rugby club.


Geography

The village is divided into Upper Minety, with St Leonard's church, and Lower Minety (or simply Minety) which grew after the railway arrived. The civil parish includes the hamlets of
Brandier Brandier is a hamlet in north Wiltshire, England, near Minety. Sometimes included as a part of 'Upper Minety'. Until the Counties Act of 1844, it was in Gloucestershire. Historically Brandier was the site of extensive Roman kilns and potteries w ...
, Lower Moor and the former hamlet of Sawyers Hill, now part of Minety village.
Swill Brook Swill Brook is the name of a number of streams in England, the most notable of which is the Swill Brook in Wiltshire. This stream flows for some 10 km or 6 miles in a generally easterly direction from its sources near the village of Crudwel ...
forms part of the northern boundary of the parish and joins the infant
River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...
a short distance outside the parish, near
Ashton Keynes Ashton Keynes is a village and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England which borders with Gloucestershire. The village is about south of Cirencester and west of Cricklade. At the 2011 census the population of the parish, which includes the ...
.
Acres Farm Meadow Acres Farm Meadow () is a 4.2 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Wiltshire, notified in 1989. It lies between the villages of Somerford Keynes and Minety. The SSSI is the former site of a mediaeval ridge and furrow s ...
is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest. The
Minety Battery Energy Storage Project Minety is a village in north Wiltshire, England, between Malmesbury – to the west – and Swindon. It takes its name from the water mint plant found growing in ditches around the village, and has previously been known as Myntey. It has a prima ...
, about west of the village, was the largest grid-connected battery in Europe when it began operation in 2021.


History

Fragments of an Anglo-Saxon carved stone cross shaft were found in the foundations of the church in the 1890s. An estate at Minety was granted to
Malmesbury Abbey Malmesbury Abbey, at Malmesbury in Wiltshire, England, is a religious house dedicated to Saint Peter and Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul. It was one of the few English houses with a continuous history from the 7th century through to the dissolution ...
by Æthelwulf in the 830s. This, together with the rectory estate, passed to
Salisbury diocese The Diocese of Salisbury is a Church of England diocese in the south of England, within the ecclesiastical Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers most of Dorset (excepting the deaneries of Bournemouth and Christchurch, which fall within the ...
in 1270 and financed the
Archdeacon of Wiltshire The Archdeacon of Wilts (or Wiltshire) is a senior cleric in the Diocese of Salisbury, England. The archdeacon is responsible for the disciplinary supervision of the clergy in five deaneries: Marlborough, Pewsey, Calne, Bradford and Devizes. Sue ...
. Apart from this, land around Minety was part of the royal manor of Cirencester in the 11th century, and the manor was given to
Cirencester Abbey Cirencester Abbey or St Mary's Abbey, Cirencester in Gloucestershire was founded as an Augustinian monastery in 1117 on the site of an earlier church, the oldest-known Saxon church in England, which had itself been built on the site of a Roman stru ...
in the early 12th century. Later owners included
George Pitt, 1st Baron Rivers George Pitt, 1st Baron Rivers (1 May 1721 – 7 May 1803) was an English diplomat and politician. Background and education He was born in Geneva, the eldest son of George Pitt of Stratfieldsaye (today rendered Stratfield Saye), Hampshire, an ...
. The local clay is suitable for firing, fuelled by timber from the surrounding
Forest of Braydon The Forest of Braydon (anciently Bradon) is an historic royal hunting forest in Wiltshire, England, the remnant of which lies about 6 miles north-west of Swindon. In medieval times it encompassed about 30,000 acres. History In the year 688 Caed ...
, and there is evidence of Roman tile-making. 'Minety ware' produced in the 14th and 15th centuries was sold in the nearby towns; A 1971 excavation at a former hamlet to the southeast of the church found ridge-tiles and many pans, jugs and pots. Other excavations have shown extensive Roman era ceramic material at
Brandier Brandier is a hamlet in north Wiltshire, England, near Minety. Sometimes included as a part of 'Upper Minety'. Until the Counties Act of 1844, it was in Gloucestershire. Historically Brandier was the site of extensive Roman kilns and potteries w ...
, particularly the fields surrounding Brandiers Farm. The settlement known today as Upper Minety developed around the parish church, where some 40 acres lay in Wiltshire. The rest of Minety lay in Gloucestershire, as a detached portion of Crowthorne-with-Minety hundred, until the whole parish became part of Wiltshire under the
Great Reform Act The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the 1832 Reform Act, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. IV c. 45) that introduced major changes to the electo ...
of 1832 and the Detached Parishes Act of 1844. Also in that century, a new settlement known as Lower Minety grew around the railway station. Minety Church of England Primary School opened in 1969 at Lower Minety, replacing St Leonard's School (c. 1847) and Silver Street School (1875). The earlier schools had educated children of all ages until the mid-1950s, when older pupils transferred to Malmesbury Secondary School.


Governance

The civil parish elects a parish council. It is in the area of
Wiltshire Council Wiltshire Council is a council for the unitary authority of Wiltshire (excluding the separate unitary authority of Swindon) in South West England, created in 2009. It is the successor authority to Wiltshire County Council (1889–2009) and the ...
unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...
, which is responsible for most significant local government functions. An
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 ...
in the same includes
Ashton Keynes Ashton Keynes is a village and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England which borders with Gloucestershire. The village is about south of Cirencester and west of Cricklade. At the 2011 census the population of the parish, which includes the ...
, Minety and
Crudwell Crudwell is a village and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England. The nearest towns are Malmesbury, about to the south-west, and Cirencester, Gloucestershire to the north-east. Also to the north-east is Cotswold Airport. Kemble village, abou ...
. The ward population taken at the 2011 census was 4,763.


Parish church

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 ...
Church of St Leonard was built in the 15th century at Upper Minety, on the site of an earlier church. It consists of a nave, chancel, north aisle, northwest tower and south porch. Fragments of 15th-century stained glass have been re-used in the choir vestry screen. Restoration took place in 1896 and piecemeal in the 20th century. Five of the six bells in the tower were cast in 1720 by Abraham Rudhall II. The church has been
Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
since 1959. The parish is within the Archdeaconry of Malmesbury, which became part of the
Diocese of Bristol The Diocese of Bristol is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Church of England in the Province of Canterbury, England. It is based in the city of Bristol and covers South Gloucestershire and parts of north Wiltshire, as far east ...
on the re-creation of that diocese in 1897. Today the parish is part of the Braydon Brook benefice, a group of six rural parishes.


Railway

From 1841 the village was served by Minety station (renamed "Minety & Ashton Keynes" in 1905) on the former
Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway The Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway was a railway company intended to link Cheltenham, Gloucester and Swindon, in England. It was authorised in 1836 but it found it very hard to raise money for the construction, and it opened only a p ...
line from
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 ...
to Swindon. Although the line remains open, the station closed in November 1964 and has been demolished.


Notable inhabitants

* Captain Giles Penn, Merchant Venturer out of Bristol and Jeanne Gilbert (of Yorkshire) – grandparents of the Quaker,
William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...
, Founder of Pennsylvania *
Ian Anderson Ian Scott Anderson (born 10 August 1947) is a British musician, singer and songwriter best known for his work as the lead vocalist, flautist, acoustic guitarist and leader of the British rock band Jethro Tull. He is a multi-instrumentalist w ...
of Jethro Tull


References


External links


Village website
{{authority control Villages in Wiltshire Civil parishes in Wiltshire