Minster Lovell

Minster Lovell is a village and civil parish on the River Windrush about west of Witney in Oxfordshire.

Minster Lovell village has three parts: Old Minster, Little Minster and New Minster. Old Minster includes St. Kenelm's Parish Church, Minster Lovell Hall and the Old Swan Inn and Minster Mill Hotel. A large part of New Minster is the Charterville Allotments, which were founded by the Chartists in 1846-50.

History

The dedication of the Church of England parish church to the Saxon Saint Kenelm and the name "Minster" in the toponym suggest that the village may have had a Saxon minster, possibly associated with a Mercian royal vill.

The suffix "Lovell", from the main landowning family, was added to the name from the 13th century. In 1197 a William Lovel (d.1213) held land here, probably granted in 1124 to his father William by Henry I.

The Norman Ivry Abbey had a priory at Minster Lovell by 1226. Because it was an alien priory, the Crown repeatedly seized its property between 1330 and 1441, until in the...
Read More