Minster Lovell

"MINSTER-LOVELL, a parish in the hundred of Chadlington, county Oxford, 21 miles N.W. of Witney, its post town. The parish, which is of small extent, is situated on the river Windrush, and near the Roman way Akeman Street and Wychwood Forest. At the ruined priory house was formerly a Benedictine cell to Ivry Abbey, founded in the reign of King John, and at the suppression of alien priories given to the Lovells and to Eton College. The inhabitants are chiefly engaged in agriculture. The village, which consists of several farmhouses and cottages, is built on the declivities of two hills, between which runs the river Windrush, dividing the parish into two nearly equal parts, called Great and Little Minster. The surface is richly wooded, and the soil light, but fertile. The impropriate and vicarial tithes have each been commuted for a rent-charge of £119, The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Oxford, in the patronage of Eton College. The church, dedicated to St. Kenelm, is an ancient cruciform structure with a square embattled tower rising from the centre. The nave has a groined roof, and the chancel contains a monument to Henry Heylyn, Esq., also an effigy of Francis Lovell, clad in complete armour of the time of Edward IV. There are ruins of the ancient mansion of the Lovells, who have given their names to the parish. Lady Taunton is lady of the manor." [The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]