Minster Court

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Minster Abbey

In the civil parish of Minster.
In the historic county of Kent (Modern Authority of Kent, 1974 county of Kent).

In 1027 King Canute granted a deserted nunnery to the Benedictine Monks of St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury and they constructed a monastic grange. The grange survives in the form of standing buildings, water-filled fishponds and below ground remains. The standing buildings are Listed Grade 1 and incorporate the northern hall range and attached western range, along with the ruined fragment of a square tower which adjoins the southern end of the western range. Faced with rubble ragstone and flint with ashlar dressings, the buildings have been dated by their architectural details to C11 and C12. Renn gives no hint as to why he considers this to be a Norman castle, but it is a manorial centre and of much greater status than most Granges.

This site has been described as a;
Fortified Ecclesiastical site.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Possible.
Major remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This site is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 419672)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TR31206435

PastScape number; 469519

Books

Newman, John, 1983, The buildings of England: North east and east Kent (Harmondsworth) p395
Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
Knowles, David and Hadcock, R Neville, 1971, Medieval religious houses in England and Wales (Longman) p70, 427-8
Colin Platt, 1969, The monastic grange in medieval England: a reassessment p10-20, 217-9
Page, Wm (ed), 1926, VCH Kent Vol2 p151

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant

The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English Heritage and other individuals and organisations.

It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from any site without proper recording and reporting. Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.

Please help me to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting me if you see errors or if you can add information.
I do acknowledge the help I get with this site.

*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

¤¤¤¤¤

Minster Court

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TR31206435

Sources of information, references and further reading