Minster is a town on the north coast of the

Isle of Sheppey The Isle of Sheppey is an island off the northern coast of Kent, England, neighbouring the Thames Estuary, centred from central London. It has an area of . The island forms part of the local government district of Swale. ''Sheppey'' is deriv ...

in the

Minster-on-Sea Minster-on-Sea is a civil parish in the English county of Kent. It is on the Isle of Sheppey and thus forms part of the borough of Swale. It was created in 2003. The main populated area is the seaside town of Minster on the north coast. The ...

civil parish and the Swale district of

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, south-east England. In 2019 it had an estimated population of 21,319.

Toponymy

The name of the town derives from the monastery founded in the area. There is some variation in the use of the name, with the local parish council being named Minster-on-Sea, while other sources, such as the local primary school, use Minster-in-Sheppey, in order to distinguish it from

Minster-in-Thanet 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 Cant ...

, also in the county of Kent. Both places are listed in the

Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was a ...

gazetteer as Minster. Royal Mail identifies a locality of Minster on Sea in the ME12 postcode district. Minster-on-Sea is a location mentioned in Dickens's ''

The Old Curiosity Shop ''The Old Curiosity Shop'' is one of two novels (the other being ''Barnaby Rudge'') which Charles Dickens published along with short stories in his weekly serial ''Master Humphrey's Clock'', from 1840 to 1841. It was so popular that New York r ...

''.

Geography

The coast here consists of

London Clay The London Clay Formation is a marine geological formation of Ypresian (early Eocene Epoch, c. 56–49 million years ago) age which crops out in the southeast of England. The London Clay is well known for its fossil content. The fossils from ...

, and many fossil remains can be found along the beach after the waves have brought down the cliffs.

Religious sites

In around AD 670 King

Ecgberht of Kent Ecgberht I (also spelled Egbert) (died 4 July 673) was a King of Kent (664-673), succeeding his father Eorcenberht. He may have still been a child when he became king following his father's death on 14 July 664, because his mother Seaxburh wa ...

gave land at Minster for his mother Seaxburh of Ely to establish a Benedictine nunnery which was burnt down by the

Danes Danes ( da, danskere, ) are a North Germanic ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural. Danes generally regard t ...

in 855. At some point before the

Norman invasion The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the C ...

the church was rebuilt and refounded as a Benedictine nunnery, incorporating elements of the original construction in the north chancel and nave. Between 1123 and 1139 Archbishop Corbeil (Corbeuil) refounded it as an Augustinian nunnery. Corbeil is thought to be responsible for the unusual "semi-detached" arrangement of two churches next to each other, the Saxon church of the convent to the north and a parish church to the south for the villagers. They share a wall containing pointed arches and are now used as a single building. The abbey was dissolved in 1539 and along with

Davington Priory Davington Priory was a priory on the north Kent coast of England. It sits on Davington Hill, now a northern suburb of Faversham but then an isolated rural location. History A Benedictine nunnery was built at Davington in 1153. It managed to av ...

near Faversham it came into the possession of Sir Thomas Cheney (Cheyney/Cheyne), a favourite of

Anne Boleyn Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and of her execution by beheading for treason and other charges made her a key f ...

. He died in 1558 and was first buried in the chapel of Saint Katherine, which was demolished to allow construction of the east end of the chancel in 1581. Today the remains of the old abbey gatehouse are a museum and the remaining tower is being restored.

Burials at the abbey

Roger Northwode Sir Roger de Northwode (c. 1230 – 9 November 1286) held the posts of Warden of the Cinque Ports and Baron of the Exchequer. He was a son of Sir Stephen de Northwode, Knight and his wife, Joan. Both parents were born before 1178. He may ha ...

* Sir Robert de Shurland * Thomas Cheney

History

In the early 20th century the island was hit by speculative builders and Minster suffered equally with

Sheerness Sheerness () is a town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 11,938, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby tow ...

. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

the population of the village had swollen "from about 250 people in 100 homes to 5,500 people in 1,800 homes". (''taken from the external link'') During the Second World War the

Shoeburyness Boom The Shoeburyness Boom (also known as the Sheerness Boom, Thames Boom or Thames Estuary Boom) refers to two successive defensive barriers across most of the Thames Estuary in the mid-20th century. As to the part perpendicular to the north shor ...

, which ran across the Thames Estuary to protect shipping from submarine attack, ran from Royal Oak Point (near Minster) to Shoeburyness in Essex. A similar structure was built along the same alignment in the early 1950s to protect against Soviet submarines. The Royal Oak Point end of the boom was demolished in the 1960s.

Education

Oasis Academy Isle of Sheppey Oasis Academy Isle of Sheppey is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form with academy status, located over two sites in Minster-on-Sea on the Isle of Sheppey in the English county of Kent. It is currently managed by the Oasis Communit ...

is located over two sites in the area, and is the only secondary school on the Isle of Sheppey. In 2009 eleven pupils were hurt by the collapse of a heating duct during an exam at its predecessor, Minster College.

Minster Cricket Club

Minster Cricket Club play at Gilbert Hall near St. George's Primary School. The club was established in 1931 and is the largest on the Isle of Sheppey, fielding four senior teams for Saturday league cricket. The club also have a junior section with U16, U14, U12. Also U1 & U8 soft ball teams, two midweek cricket teams and a Sunday team. www.minstercricket.co.uk

Amenities

In January 2014 a Micropub, The Heritage, opened in the High Street of Halfway Houses, near Minster, in premises previously used as a post office.

References

External links

*
Abbey website
{{authority control Towns in Kent Populated coastal places in Kent Beaches of Kent Isle of Sheppey