Minster, Swale

The name of the town derives from the monastery founded in the area.{{cite book| title=The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Vol 6| url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=62961| last=Hasted| first=Edward| year=1798| pages=216–229| publisher=Victoria County History Series| access-date=13 July 2008| archive-date=26 May 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526025303/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=62961| url-status=live}} There is some variation in the use of the name, with the local parish council being named Minster-on-Sea,{{Cite web|url=http://www.minster-on-seapc.kentparishes.gov.uk/|title=Minster-on-Sea Parish Council|accessdate=2008-07-13|publisher=Kent County Council|year=2008|work=Kent Parish Councils website|archive-date=5 May 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080505020959/http://www.minster-on-seapc.kentparishes.gov.uk/|url-status=live}} while other sources, such as the local primary school, use Minster-in-Sheppey,{{Cite web|url=http://www.eisite.co.uk/webs/2235MINS/ |title=Minster-in-Sheppey Community Primary School |accessdate=2008-07-13 |year=2008 |work=School website |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070218070352/http://www.eisite.co.uk/webs/2235MINS/ |archivedate=February 18, 2007 }} in order to distinguish it from Minster-in-Thanet, also in the county of Kent. Both places are listed in the Ordnance Survey gazetteer as Minster.{{cite web | url=http://leisure.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/search/all/minster | title=Gazetteer Search Results: Minster | publisher=Ordnance Survey | accessdate=6 June 2010 | archive-date=23 January 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123221128/https://shop.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/ | url-status=live }} Royal Mail identifies a locality of Minster on Sea in the ME12 postcode district.{{citation|title=Address Management Guide|year=2004|author=Royal Mail|edition=4|publisher=Royal Mail Group}} Minster-on-Sea is a location mentioned in Dickens's The Old Curiosity Shop.

The coast here consists of London Clay, and many fossil remains can be found along the beach after the waves have brought down the cliffs.

Image:MinsterSheppy.jpg

In around AD 670 King Ecgberht of Kent gave land at Minster for his mother Seaxburh of Ely to establish a Benedictine nunnery, but this was burnt down by the Danes in 855.{{cite web|author1=D. Stuart Hammond|title=Kent Post Roman History Timeline|url=http://www.family-threads.org.uk/Kent_Post_Roman_History.html|website=Family Threads|accessdate=23 September 2015|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923224429/http://www.family-threads.org.uk/Kent_Post_Roman_History.html|archivedate=23 September 2015}} At some point before the Norman invasion the church was rebuilt and refounded as a Benedictine nunnery, incorporating elements of the original construction in the north chancel and nave.{{cite web|title=Houses of Benedictine nuns: The priory of Minster in Sheppey|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/kent/vol2/pp149-150|website=British History Online|accessdate=29 September 2015|archive-date=30 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930204748/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/kent/vol2/pp149-150|url-status=live}} 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 near Faversham it came into the possession of Sir Thomas Cheney (Cheyney/Cheyne), a favourite of Anne Boleyn. 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 old abbey gatehouse is occupied by a museum run by the Sheppey Local History Society.{{cite web |title=Minster Gatehouse Museum |url=https://www.minstergatehouse.co.uk/ |access-date=6 September 2023 }}

• Roger Northwode (d. 1286)
• Sir Robert de Shurland (d. 1324)
• Thomas Cheney (d. 1558)

The effigial monument of Robert de Shurland includes the sculpted head of a horse, and is closely associated with (and probably inspired) a local legend in which Sir Robert kills a priest; swims on horseback to beg the king (on board a ship) to pardon him for the murder; but on his return to shore kills his horse because an old woman predicts that it will be the cause of his death. Later encountering its bones, he kicks them in scorn, only for a shard to pierce his foot, causing an infection from which he dies. The tale takes elements from Italian, Slavic and Icelandic folklore (including the story of Oleg the Wise, and that of Örvar-Oddr). It was greatly popularised in a version published in 1837 by Richard Barham ("Thomas Ingoldsby"), as one of the Ingoldsby Legends.{{cite journal |first=Oliver D. |last=Harris |title="Grey Dolphin" and the Horse Church, Minster in Sheppey: the construction of a legend |journal=Archaeologia Cantiana |volume=144 |year=2023 |pages=97–123 }}

In the early 20th century the island was hit by speculative builders and Minster suffered equally with Sheerness. After the Second World War the population of the village had swollen "from about 250 people in 100 homes to 5,500 people in 1,800 homes".{{cn|date=May 2024}}

During the Second World War the Shoeburyness Boom, which ran across the Thames Estuary to protect shipping from submarine attack, ran from Royal Oak Point (near Minster) to Shoeburyness in Essex.{{cite book|last1=Platt|first1=Len|title=Writing London and the Thames Estuary: 1576-2016|date=2017|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9789004346666|page=92|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VwEtDwAAQBAJ|language=en|access-date=25 September 2020|archive-date=23 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123221114/https://books.google.com/books?id=VwEtDwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}} 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.{{NHLE|desc=Cold War defence boom, Pig's Bay, Shoeburyness, Southend-on-Sea|num=1021091|accessdate=24 October 2017}}

In 1961 the civil parish called "Minster in Sheppey" had a population of 7860.{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10223015/cube/TOT_POP|title=Population statistics Minster in Sheppey AP/CP through time|publisher=A Vision of Britain through Time|accessdate=19 May 2024}} On 1 April 1968 the parish was abolished to form Queenborough in Sheppey.{{cite web|url=https://www.ukbmd.org.uk/reg/districts/sheppey.html|title=Sheppey Registration District|publisher=UKBMD|accessdate=19 May 2024}}

Oasis Academy Isle of Sheppey 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.{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/may/12/school-heating-pipe-collapses-during-exam | title=Eleven pupils hurt after heating duct collapses during exam | first1=Peter | last1=Walker | first2=Matthew | last2=Weaver | newspaper=The Guardian | date=12 May 2009 | access-date=15 December 2016 | archive-date=10 May 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510190918/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/may/12/school-heating-pipe-collapses-during-exam | url-status=live }}

Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC South East and ITV Meridian. Television signals are received from the Bluebell Hill TV transmitter. {{cite web|url=https://ukfree.tv/transmitters/tv/Bluebell_Hill|title=Full Freeview on the Bluebell Hill (Medway, England) transmitter|date=1 May 2004|website=UK Free TV|accessdate=30 December 2023}}

The town is served by county-wide radio stations: BBC Radio Kent, Heart South, Gold Radio. Community radio based stations are BRFM 95.6 FM, Sheppey FM 92.2 and Hospital Radio Swale which broadcasts from the Sheppey Community Hospital in the town. {{Cite web |url=https://www.hbauk.com/member-stations/profile/244 |title=Hospital Radio Swale|access-date=30 December 2023}}

The Sheerness Times Guardian is the local weekly newspaper.

Image:Clubhouse.JPG

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 U10 & U8 soft ball teams, two midweek cricket teams and a Sunday team. www.minstercricket.co.uk {{cite web |url=https://www.minstercricket.co.uk |title=Minster Cricket Club |access-date=23 January 2021 |archive-date=9 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160109212822/http://minstercricket.co.uk/ |url-status=live }}

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{{Commons category|Minster, Isle of Sheppey}}

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• {{cite web |title=Minster Abbey |publisher=West Sheppey Parish |url=https://www.westsheppeyparish.org.uk/minster-abbey |access-date=6 September 2023 }}

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Category:Towns in Kent

Category:Populated coastal places in Kent

Category:Beaches of Kent

Category:Isle of Sheppey