Minstead
Encyclopedia
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
and civil parish
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
in the New Forest
New Forest
The New Forest is an area of southern England which includes the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in the heavily-populated south east of England. It covers south-west Hampshire and extends into south-east Wiltshire....
, Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, about 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Lyndhurst
Lyndhurst, Hampshire
Lyndhurst is a village and civil parish in the New Forest, Hampshire, England. It is a popular tourist location with many independent shops, art galleries, cafés, restaurants, pubs and hotels. The nearest city is Southampton located around nine miles to the north-east...
. There is a shop and a pub, the Trusty Servant. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's grave is under a large tree at the back of the 13th century All Saints' church.
Overview
Minstead is a small villageVillage
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
and civil parish
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
in the New Forest
New Forest
The New Forest is an area of southern England which includes the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in the heavily-populated south east of England. It covers south-west Hampshire and extends into south-east Wiltshire....
. The majority of the parish area is a complex of woodland, heathland, acid grassland, scrub and valley bog, supporting a great richness and diversity of wildlife. One mile north of the village at Lower Canterton lies the Rufus Stone. This stone is said to mark the place where in 1100 the then King of England, William Rufus
William II of England
William II , the third son of William I of England, was King of England from 1087 until 1100, with powers over Normandy, and influence in Scotland. He was less successful in extending control into Wales...
, was killed by an arrow whilst out hunting.
Nearby Furzey Gardens contain 8 acres (3.2 ha) of landscaped gardens containing many interesting and rare plants. There is also a gallery, open to the public from March to October, as well as a tree house and play area for children.
The village pub is called The Trusty Servant and has an unusual sign of a man with a donkeys ears, a pig's snout and a stag's feet. The snout has padlocked lips to signify discretion. This implies some past link with Winchester College
Winchester College
Winchester College is an independent school for boys in the British public school tradition, situated in Winchester, Hampshire, the former capital of England. It has existed in its present location for over 600 years and claims the longest unbroken history of any school in England...
, where a similar wall-painting of this legendary creature (Hircocervus
Hircocervus
The hircocervus or tragelaph , also known as a goat-stag or horse-stag, was a legendary creature imagined to be half-goat, half-stag...
) hangs outside the kitchen of the College.
History
People have lived in the area of Minstead since prehistoric times. PaleolithicPaleolithic
The Paleolithic Age, Era or Period, is a prehistoric period of human history distinguished by the development of the most primitive stone tools discovered , and covers roughly 99% of human technological prehistory...
tools have been found here, and there are several Bronze Age
Bronze Age Britain
Bronze Age Britain refers to the period of British history that spanned from c. 2,500 until c. 800 BC. Lasting for approximately 1700 years, it was preceded by the era of Neolithic Britain and was in turn followed by the era of Iron Age Britain...
barrows
Tumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...
within the parish. There is an Iron Age
British Iron Age
The British Iron Age is a conventional name used in the archaeology of Great Britain, referring to the prehistoric and protohistoric phases of the Iron-Age culture of the main island and the smaller islands, typically excluding prehistoric Ireland, and which had an independent Iron Age culture of...
hillfort at Malwood covering 1.8 hectares. It was on or near this hillfort that a medieval beacon was situated, receiving signals from Marchwood
Marchwood
Marchwood is a village and civil parish located in Hampshire, United Kingdom. It lies between Totton and Hythe on the western shore of Southampton Water, next to the New Forest. The population of the village in the 2001 census was 5,586.-History:...
and from Freshwater
Freshwater, Isle of Wight
Freshwater is a large village and civil parish at the western end of the Isle of Wight, England. Freshwater Bay is a small cove on the south coast of the Island which also gives its name to the nearby part of Freshwater....
on the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
. There is a modern house in the middle of the hillfort which is privately owned.
Minstead is listed in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
of 1086. Before the Norman Conquest, Minstead, assessed at three-and-a-half hide
Hide (unit)
The hide was originally an amount of land sufficient to support a household, but later in Anglo-Saxon England became a unit used in assessing land for liability to "geld", or land tax. The geld would be collected at a stated rate per hide...
s, was held by a Godric Malf, whose sons in 1086 were holding half a hide as the remaining 3 hides had been taken into the New Forest.
The name "Ivez" or "Ives" was an alternate name for Minstead in the 12th and early 13th centuries. The manor was closely associated with the manors of Bisterne
Bisterne
Bisterne is a hamlet in the civil parish of Ringwood in the New Forest National Park in Hampshire, England. Its nearest town is Ringwood, which lies to the north.-History:...
and Totton. In 1186–7 tallage
Tallage
Tallage or talliage may have signified at first any tax, but became in England and France a land use or land tenure tax. Later in England it was further limited to assessments by the crown upon cities, boroughs, and royal domains...
was due to the king from "Ivez, Budesthorn (Bisterne) and Todinton (Totton)" which had belonged to Hugh de Ivez and Robert son of Ulf. In 1248–9 Andrew de Ivez or Minstead (as he is alternately called) was said to hold jointly with John de Bettesthorne, then a minor, half a hide in Testwood, Eling
Eling
Eling may refer to:*Eling, Berkshire*Totton and Eling, Hampshire*Eling Park, Chongqing...
and Bisterne by serjeanty
Serjeanty
Under the feudal system in late and high medieval England, tenure by serjeanty was a form of land-holding in return for some specified service, ranking between tenure by knight-service and tenure in socage...
. In 1255–6 John de Bettesthorne and William de Ivez were said to be holding their land conjointly by the above serjeanty, while in 1279–80 they were given as John de Bettesthorne and William de Minstead. After this time the name of "Ivez" disappears, but the Minsteads and the Bettesthornes continued to hold land side by side in Minstead and Totton.
In the 15th century these lands passed by inheritance to the Berkeley family of Bisterne. In 1460 Maurice Berkeley of Bisterne died in possession of the whole manor, leaving a son and heir also called Maurice. His son William apparently forfeited his estates because of his involvement in the rebellion of the Duke of Buckingham
Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham
Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, KG played a major role in Richard III of England's rise and fall. He is also one of the primary suspects in the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower...
against Richard III
Richard III of England
Richard III was King of England for two years, from 1483 until his death in 1485 during the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty...
, but by 1494 the estate must have been back in the hands of the family because William's wife Katherine died in possession of the manor. Her daughter Werburg, aged six years, inherited the estate, and later married Sir William Compton of Compton Wynyates
Compton Wynyates
Compton Wynyates is a country house in Warwickshire, England, a Grade I listed building. The Tudor period house, an example of Tudor architecture, is constructed of red brick and built around a central courtyard. It is castellated and turreted in parts. Following action in the Civil War, half...
(in Warwickshire
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
), Groom of the Bedchamber and favourite courtier of Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
.
From that time onwards, Minstead remained in the Compton family. In 1670 Richard Compton appeared before the court held at Lyndhurst
Lyndhurst
Lyndhurst may refer to:United Kingdom* Lyndhurst, HampshireUnited States* Lyndhurst, New Jersey* Lyndhurst, Ohio* Lyndhurst, Virginia* Lyndhurst, Wisconsin* Lyndhurst , New YorkAustralia* Lyndhurst, Victoria...
, to assert formally his claim to the manor. The record of this court shows the special privileges attached to the manor of Minstead. He claimed for himself and the tenants of the manor common of pasture
Pasture
Pasture is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep or swine. The vegetation of tended pasture, forage, consists mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs...
and common of mast
Mast (botany)
Mast is the "fruit of forest trees like acorns and other nuts". It is also defined as "the fruit of trees such as beech, and other forms of Cupuliferae". Alternatively, it can also refer to "a heap of nuts"....
"without paying anything therefor," free ingress and egress in the waste lands of the forest, to search for all his animals there straying, the right to hold view of frankpledge
Frankpledge
Frankpledge, earlier known as frith-borh , was a system of joint suretyship common in England throughout the Early Middle Ages. The essential characteristic was the compulsory sharing of responsibility among persons connected through kinship, or some other kind of tie such as an oath of fealty to a...
twice a year, the right to estrays found in the manor and honey found in the woods; also to have all his woods in the custody of his own woodward appointed at the court baron of the manor and his manor free of forest officials. He also claimed the right to the left shoulder of all deer found within the woods of the manor. Finally on the day of the holding of the view of frankpledge he claimed for himself and his steward the right to kill and carry away one deer.
Henry Compton was Sheriff
High Sheriff
A high sheriff is, or was, a law enforcement officer in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.In England and Wales, the office is unpaid and partly ceremonial, appointed by the Crown through a warrant from the Privy Council. In Cornwall, the High Sheriff is appointed by the Duke of...
of Hampshire in 1758 and was a noted racing man, being an original member of the Jockey Club
Jockey Club
The Jockey Club is the largest commercial organisation in British horseracing. Although no longer responsible for the governance and regulation of the sport, it owns 14 of Britain's famous racecourses, including Aintree, Cheltenham and Newmarket, amongst other concerns such as the National Stud and...
founded in 1753. His son John, who inherited his father's properties, was Sheriff of Hampshire in 1797. His son Henry became Sheriff of Hampshire in 1819 and took a prominent part in suppressing the 1830 Swing Riots
Swing Riots
The Swing Riots were a widespread uprising by agricultural workers; it began with the destruction of threshing machines in the Elham Valley area of East Kent in the summer of 1830, and by early December had spread throughout the whole of southern England and East Anglia.As well as the attacks on...
at Fordingbridge
Fordingbridge
Fordingbridge is a town and civil parish with a population of 5,700 on the River Avon in the New Forest District of Hampshire, England, near to the Dorset and Wiltshire borders and on the edge of the New Forest. It is south west of London, and south of the city of Salisbury. Fordingbridge is a...
. His son Henry who succeeded him was Sheriff in 1871, and on his death in 1877 his son Henry Francis Compton became lord of "the manor of Minstead and Brook."
Minstead manor house, which was a brick building in a park of 400 acres, was a pre-18th century building enlarged at the end of the 18th century, but it was demolished in 1950.
All Saints' church
The village church is the church of All Saints. The chancel and nave, which are of stone, date from the 13th century. The rest of the building, in red brick, is of 18th-century or later date, including the tower. The font is 12th century. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is buried in the churchyard. The church has two large galleries and a three-decker pulpit. The church also boasts an unusual "luxury" pewPew
A pew is a long bench seat or enclosed box used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a church, or sometimes in a courtroom.-Overview:Churches were not commonly furnished with permanent pews before the Protestant Reformation...
, complete with its own fireplace.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's grave is under a large tree in the churchyard. Sir Arthur was originally buried in a vertical position in CrowboroughCrowborough
The highest point in the town is 242 metres above sea level. This summit is the highest point of the High Weald and second highest point in East Sussex . Its relative height is 159 m, meaning Crowborough qualifies as one of England's Marilyns...
and re-interred in Minstead by the family of his deceased first wife after the death of the second Lady Conan Doyle. Minstead figured prominently in Conan Doyle's historical novel The White Company
The White Company
The White Company is a historical adventure by Arthur Conan Doyle set during the Hundred Years' War. The story is set in England, France, and Spain, in the years 1366 and 1367, against the background of the campaign of Edward, the Black Prince to restore Peter of Castile to the throne of the...
. Alleyne Edricson, the main character is the second son of the late Franklin of Minstead and brother of the Simon, Socman of Minstead.
Minstead Hall
Minstead Hall was originally called the Hut and comprised two munition huts left over from the 1st World War and originally sited in Romsey. The Hall was given to the village of Minstead in 1920 by David Hanbury. However when he died in 1948 his will did not state that fact. The village therefore had to purchase it from his estate. Lady Congleton loaned the village the money and after much fund raising the loan was finally repaid in 1963. The Social Club, which uses a separate part of the building, was formed in that period. The Hall is run by a Management Committee and is a registered charity (No. 301892). An AGM is held in May every year.The Hall is the largest of its kind in the New Forest and is used for auctions, dances, theatrical productions, an annual Flower Show, a bridge club, pre-school play group and many other events organised both from inside and outside the village. One of the main users of the hall is Junior Minstead a children's club. Each year they put on a pantomime which is locally famous. Those who take part share their memories on a wiki.