An Historical Introduction to Minchinhampton

Like many other places in the realm, charters were passed elevating Minchinhampton to the statusof a town, giving the right to hold a market and extract tolls, the first probably in 1213. This waswhen it first became known as Minchin-Hampton, from the old word mycenen meaning nun. A latercharter was granted by Henry III, which, when confirmed at Winchester on September 29 th 1269,stated “our beloved in Christ the Abbess and Nuns of Caen that they and their successors shouldforever be permitted to have a weekly market on Tuesday at their manor of Hampton Monialium(Minchinhampton) in the County of Gloucester and a yearly fair there lasting five days namely onthe Eve and Feast of Holy Trinity and the three days following”. It was, of course, the income fromthe tolls that was of interest to the absentee landlords at Caen, and it was a jealously guarded right,as another market opening close by would affect trade.With the spread of Christianity in Saxon times people began to gather around the churches tocelebrate holy days and this became a chance for the sale of surplus goods, because travel was slowand sometimes dangerous and the crowds were in one place. As a priest is recorded in 1086 theremust have been a religious building in Hampton, but no trace of it remains. By Norman times thechurch was the most weatherproof building in a locality, and would be used for many secularpurposes such as courts, storage of valuables and meetings, and the porch or churchyard was anobvious site for a market. The original Holy Trinity Church, taking its dedication from the motherchurch in Caen, seems to have been similar to Holy Cross at Avening, but was in a parlous state inthe C19 th when the nave and chancel were rebuilt. Fortunately the south transept with its excellentrose window remains. The spire has had its present truncated form for many centuries; the timberswould not support the total weight of stone and it had to be finished with the distinctive corona.A statute was passed in 1285 forbidding fairs in churchyards, and by 1448 trading on a Sunday wasbanned, making Saturday the market day in many places. The trading activities had to move awayfrom the churchyard, but often set up “just over the wall” and Minchinhampton, like many othertowns, has its market place very close to the church. The market place was probably much largerthen, with stalls set up in what we know as Bell Lane and the area on which the present MarketHouse stands being open space. For the visitor or resident alike, to stop at the bottom of Bell Laneand take a moment to visualise a manor house to the west, church to the east and market place to thesouth is to take a step back in time to the centre of the mediaeval town of Minchinhampton. Thearea around Hampton Fields was common arable land, worked on a three-field system, there waspasture in the valleys and woodland covered much of the hilltop, grazed by animals under ancientrights, which survive to this day on the commons. Much of this wood was gradually enclosed andthe timber cut and sold, with only the names such as Box, Beechknapp and Forwood to remind us ofthis heritage.