Minster, Swale
| Minster on Sea | |
|---|---|
 Minster Leas |
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 Minster on Sea
|
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| Minster on Sea shown within Kent | |
| Population | 14,789 (2011 Census) |
| OS grid reference | TQ952729 |
| Civil parish | |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | SHEERNESS |
| Postcode district | ME12 0 |
| Dialling code | 01795 |
| Police | Kent |
| Fire | Kent |
| Ambulance | South East Coast |
| EU Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | |
Minster is a large village on the north coast of the Isle of Sheppey and in the Swale district of Kent, England.
The name of the town derives from the monastery founded in the area. There is some variation in the use of the name, with the local parish council being named Minster-on-Sea, while other sources, such as the local primary school, use Minster-in-Sheppey, 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. Royal Mail identifies a locality of Minster on Sea in the ME12 postcode district. 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.
In around AD 670 King Ecgberht of Kent gave land at Minster for his mother Seaxburh of Ely to establish a Benedictine nunnery which was burnt down by the Danes in 855. 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. 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.
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Wikipedia