OPC Vacancy
Contiguous Parishes (our neighbours)
Ashton Keynes – Charlton (Malmesbury) – Cricklade St Sampson – Crudwell – Hankerton – Leigh – Oaksey – Purton with Braydon – Somerford Keynes
Websites of Interest
BBC History – A history of Minety.
Parish Council – News from the Village.
The Parish Church of St. Leonard
The majority of the existing church dates from the 15th century and is constructed of coursed rubble with stone dressings and ashlar copings. Over the years there have been the inevitable repairs and maintenance to such as the roofs and windows. There have been some 20th century modifications such as the addition of the choir vestry, a chamber in the north aisle and modern heating. An organ was installed in 1860, but this was replaced in the 20th century. The tower contains a peal of five bells, four dating from the 16th century and one being added in the 1720’s.
Much of the original stained glass had disappeared by the 1660’s when Aubrey paid a visit to Minety. There were traces, to varying degrees, of windows memorialising the Hungerford, Chick and Clay families. A stained glass window commemorating the Perry-Keene family was added during 1869. The Walter Penn buried in the chancel is an ancestor of Sir William Penn who founded Pennsylvania in the 1650’s.
Prior to the existing building an Anglo-Saxon church stood on the site. Part of an Anglo-Saxon cross, believed to date from 850 AD , was unearthed from below the chancel in 1900 and is displayed inside the church.
The church site fell within the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Salisbury and the Archdeaconry of Wilts in the Malmesbury Deanery from 1270 until 1887 when it became part of the Chippenham Deanery. Prior to that it was held by Malmesbury Abbey. Since 2007 it has formed part of the Braydon Brook Benefice of Ashley, Charlton, Crudwell, Hankerton, Minety, and Oaksey.
St. Leonard’s Gallery St. Leonard’s Interior Gallery St. Leonard’s Churchyard Gallery
Church News
Church Services
Churchyard
St. Leonards Churchyard Memorial Inscriptions
Clergymen
Vicars 1323-2000 Incumbents 1548-1936 Talk by Rev. Emberson 1939
Parish Register Transcripts
Baptisms
1606-1693 1707-1749 1750-1799 1800-1824 1825-1849
Marriages
1605-1699 1700-1749 1750-1799 1800-1837
Burials
1606-1693 1700-1749 1750-1799 1800-1837
Parish Registers held at WSHC
Baptisms 1673-1969
Marriages 1663-1978
Burials 1663-1969
BTs 1838-1879 are held at Bristol Record Office
Parish History
The parish of Minety currently forms part of North Wiltshire, but, until 20 October 1844, it formed a detached part of Gloucestershire which was completely surrounded by Wiltshire. There was yet another unusual situation in that the church, churchyard, an area of about 40 acres and a few houses, known as Wiltshire Row, formed an isolated part of Wiltshire within this isolated part of Gloucestershire.
Minety is 5 miles North East of Malmesbury
Minety, or any of its many derivative names (Mintih, Mintig, Minty, Minti, Mynty, Minthgi, Menthie, Munte, Minitide, Mynetye) originally gained its name from an area of wild mint besides a small stream. Initially the village formed in a small clearing in Braydon Forest, which used to cover thousands of acres of North Wilts and Gloucestershire. Gradual deforestation, particularly in the 17th century, took place and the land use changed to pasture. Arable farming was not generally appropriate due to the heavy clay soil.
Apart from Roman brick and tile and 14th century pottery production there was very little industry in Minety until the 1840’s. The building of the railway and station brought major changes to the prosperity of the parish. The ease of transporting liquid milk to major town centres, rather than converting it to cheese, provided a much larger market and proved lucrative. This prosperity in turn attracted more businesses into the parish together with the various necessary support services. Not all business ventures proved a success, however. The Minety Distillery started in 1857 but failed after only 2 years.
Over the next hundred years or so Minety expanded, with more inhabitants needing additional schools, shops and services. Mains water was connected in 1937 and electricity in 1948. Greater mechanisation of land preparation also meant more arable farming was possible.
The Beeching cuts to the railway infrastructure in the mid 1960’s, causing the complete closure of the station to both goods and passenger traffic, signalled the start of the gradual change to what Minety is today, an agricultural parish with a largely residential and commuting population with practically no local shops or businesses.
Dr. James Lee published “A History of Minety” in 2008.
| John Aubrey’s Minety | Timeline | Population and Other Information |
| Parish News 1763-1849 | Parish News 1850-1899 | Parish News 1900-1940 |
Civil Registration
1837 – April 1936 Malmesbury Registration District
April 1936 – Present Chippenham Registration District
Buildings and Land
Landowners
Maps
Maps 1773-2014 Ordnance Survey Map 1816 Detail of OS Map 1816
Property Sales
Notices 1774-1849 Notices 1850-1859 Notices 1860-1869 Notices 1870-1899 Notices 1900-1939 Vicarage Farm 1962
Railway
Taxes
Utilities
Public Watersupply Imminent 1940
Village Hall
Committee Meetings
Crime and Legal Matters
Inmates of Gloucester Gaol 1815-1879 Edmund Taylor’s Brushes with the Legal System 1862-1865
Bastardy Examinations
| Bastardy Examinations 1866 | Brain v Jones 1867 | Timbrill v Haynes 1877 |
| Read v Prior 1878 | Jackson v Miles 1907 |
Claims Court
Court Cases
Crime Reports
| Crime Reports 1800-1849 | Crime Reports 1850-1874 | Crime Reports 1875-1899 |
| Crime Reports 1900-1949 |
Directories
Education
At present there is one primary school and no secondary school in Minety. Since 1847 the parish has been served by three schools; St Leonard’s Church of England (1847-1968), Silver Street (1875-1968) and the current school, Minety Church of England (1969-present).
St. Leonards Church of England School
Ministry of Education Notice 1954
Emigration and Migration
Strays Index Out of Parish Marriages 1620-1837
Employment and Business
Apprentices
Apprentice records published here may not necessarily mean that the apprentice was from the parish but was apprenticed to a master within the parish.
Community Services
Police
General Items
Bankruptcy Notices 1779-1927 Situations Wanted & Vacant 1857-1899 Situations Wanted & Vacant 1900-1941
The Minety Distillery
Distillery Company 1857-1859 Charge of Assault 1858 Newspaper Reports Hibberd & Perry-Keene 1859
Miscellaneous Documents
Letter to the Editor 1847 Sparrow Club 1861
Newspaper Adverts & Notices
1822-1849 1850-1859 1860-1899 1900-1941
Non Conformity and Other Places of Worship
Primitive Methodist
A Methodist chapel was built in 1865 and renovated in 1916. It was eventually sold off for private use.
Chapel Foundation 1865 Chapel Opening 1865 Non Conformist News 1885
Quakers
Quakers were active in the parish in 1662 and in the early 18th century. There were 16 Protestant nonconformists recorded in 1676. William Penn, the Quaker, a descendant of a Minety inhabitant, was given a large tract of land in America, which later became Pennsylvania.
Strict Baptist
In 1821, a dwelling house had been licensed for Baptist worship and later, in 1840, the Strict Baptist Chapel was built. The original building was made of wattle and daub with a thatched roof and stone floor. The Chapel was re-built in the mid 19th century with stone walls and a tiled roof and was kept operational until it closed in 12968. The last burial took place in 1988 and after which the chapel was removed. The small fenced graveyard still exists.
People and Parish Notables
Ian Scot Anderson MBE – Frontman, Lead Vocalist, Musician and Songwriter with the Rock Band Jethro Tull – Born 10 Aug 1947 in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland – Resident of Braydon Hall, Minety.
| Minety and the Penn Family | Archelaus Barrett 1833-1923 | Deputy Lieutenants 1860 |
| Jonathan Read 1942 | Steven Mills 1966-2011 | Printer’s Memories 2014 |
Accidents
Associations, Clubs, Organisations and Societies
Choir
Womens Institute
1935-1940 Whist Drive in Aid of Home Guard 1941
Census Returns Transcripts
1841 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 1911
Please note that the 1841 census was taken under Gloucestershire jurisdiction – the place of birth does not reflect Wiltshire born.
Death Notices
Divorce & Separation
Separation of William & Ann Telling 1822
Elections, Polls & Voters Lists
Members of Parliament
MP Nominations 2015 MP Nominations 2017
Polls
Poll Book 1818 Poll Book 1865 Poll Book 1868
Voters Lists
Voters Lists 1832 Voters Lists Revisions 1843
Family Notices
Funeral Notices
John Clarke 1937 Henry Manners 1941
Inquest Reports
Obituaries
Rev W W A Butt 1917 Rev T A Ludlow-Hewitt 1936 Sir David Gamble 1943
Sports and Pastimes
Cricket
Football
General News
| Cricket | Sports News | Football |
Wedding Reports
Poor Law, Charity and the Workhouse
Charity
Whist and Dance in Aid of the Red Cross 1940
Poor Law Union
A local parish workhouse and garden was set up in 1813 near the Ashton Road, at a cost of £71, and continued in use until 1838 when the Malmesbury Workhouse took over the Poor Law requirements for Minety together with 24 other local parishes.
Guardians
Election of Guardians
Nomination of Guardians
Tenders
Medical Services
Supplies
Probate
Probate Index 1602-1880 Newspaper Probate Notices 1781-1936
Parishioners Wills
War, Conflict and Military Matters
War Memorials & Military Gallery
WWI and WWII Church War Memorial Plaques
Servicemen and Women
Servicemen & Families with the 1st Wilts. Regt. in South Africa 1911
Uncategorsied Military Items
A book “Minety at War” by Richard Meakin was published in 2002.
WWI
Ninety one men from Minety served in World War I.
WWI Casualties WWI Participants WWI Minety Church Choir Casualties Roll of Honour to those Served in WWI
Biographies
WWII
During World War II a dummy airfield was built on the Moor and search lights were temporarily sighted in Minety Park., before being moved to the south coast in 1941. The small camp that was left became a prisoner of war camp housing Italians. German POWs arrived later.
In August 1939, 100 evacuees, all from one school, arrived at Minety station. They arrived with their teachers and were accommodated in Minety, Crudwell, Oaksey and Charlton. The Village Hall was used as a school for the evacuees.
Minety had two platoons of Home Guard, which used the station yard for drills. There was a room at the New Red Lion which served as the Home Guard Headquarters.
During the period from 1939 to 1945 in and around Minety, there were a few aircraft crashes and crash landings with at least two fatalities. On one occasion, two Tiger Moths actually landed safely between Derry Brook and Minety Common. They had become lost and after talking to the locals and getting their bearings they were on their way again.
WWII Casualties Home Guards 1940-1944
War Memorials and Dedications
War Memorial George Pennell Memorial Scroll 1917
Acknowledgements
Much of this page was submitted by David Palmer as OPC for the parish. Sadly David passed away in December 2015 but he has left a fantastic legacy to this page.