Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for MINSTER

MINSTER, a parish in Camelford district, Cornwall; near the coast, 5 miles N of Camelford, and 15 W by N of Launceston r. station. It contains part of the village of Boscastle, which has a post office under Camelford. Acres, 3,222. Real property, with Forrabury, £4,123. Rated property of M. alone, £2,150. Pop., 505. Houses, 114. The property is divided among a few. The manor was anciently called Talcarne; belonged to the Norman family of De Bottreaux; went, in the time of Henry VI., to Lord Hungerford; passed to the Earls of Huntingdon and to the Marquis of Hastings; and belongs now to T. R. Avery, Esq. A castellated baronial mansion was built by William de Bottreaux, and is now represented by a green mound. A black priory, a cell to Tywardraeth, was founded also by W. de Bottreaux; gave rise to the name Minster, by corruption of the word "monasterium; ''and has left some vestiges. A battle between the Britons and the Saxons is said to have been fought, in 525, at Slaughter-Bridge; and a stone, supposed to be commemorative of it, and bearing some rudely sculptured characters, was brought thence to the grounds of Worthyvale. An ancient cross, embellished with sculpture and delicate markings, is on Waterpit Downs. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Exeter. Value, £224.* Patron, T. R. Avery, Esq. The church stands in a secluded nook among hills, 1 mile N of Boscastle; is ancient but good; has lost part of its tower; and contains an old circular font, and monuments to the Henders and the Cottons. There are a Methodist chapel, a national school, and alms houses for six persons. Some remains exist of an ancient chapel.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a parish"   (ADL Feature Type: "countries, 4th order divisions")
Administrative units: Minster CP/AP       Camelford RegD/PLU       Cornwall AncC
Place names: MINSTER     |     TALCARNE
Place: Minster

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