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. | . A SPECIAL INTRODUCTION The Mill & Old Swan has great pleasure in introducing one of Oxfordshire's most cherished legacies - MINSTER LOVELL - a beautiful part of England's heritage.
Adjacent to the River Windrush, the village of Minster Lovell dates from Saxon times when it would have straddled the border between Wessex and Mercia. The village originated as "Minster" in the twelfth century but it was nearly 200 years before it took on a more profound and subsequently famous role as the manor of William Lovell, Lord of the Manor of Minster Lovell and the seventh Baron, when he returned from service in France and settled in the village. Here he built the church (dedicated to St. Kenelm), together with a Manor Hall, Dovecote and farm. William Lovell died on the 13th June 1455 and is commemorated in the splendid church he built. Remarkably, the shape of the village centre has remained unaltered since that time. The Hall was passed to his son, John, who lived there until his death only thirteen years later in 1468. Frances Lord Lovell, later to become one of the three most powerful men in England, then inherited it. His titles where to include: Viscount Lovell; Lord High Chamberlain & Chief Butler of England; Most Honourable of the Privy council to Richard III and Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter. Richard, however, was killed at Bosworth Field against Henry VII (Henry Tudor) in 1485 and Francis fled to France. He was declared a traitor by Henry and had his land confiscated. Henry VII visited the manor on three occasions - 1493, 1497 and 1503, having, meanwhile, given it to the Duke of York who was then only 4 years old and who was later to become Henry VIII in 1509. There is no doubt that this West Oxfordshire Village is one of the most attractive in the Cotswolds, and one can only echo the words of Joanna Cannan who, writing in the 1930s, declared that "The stone houses of this little village, its setting against the hillside and beside the river where it flows under the old perpendicular bridge and on to the ruins, are so lovely that one cannot exclude Minster Lovell from the category of dream villages." |
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A brief history |
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Close to the city of
Off the main A40 |
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A delightfully . |
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