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.
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.