Minchinhampton

Amenities and features

The town's shops are clustered in and around the High Street and comprise a general store, two hairdressers, a chain store, a ladies' boutique, a butcher's shop, a local organic dairy outlet, two restaurants, a cafe, a post office, an antiques shop, an estate agency and several charity shops.

The Crown Inn closed unexpectedly in March 2014. The pub had hosted clubs and societies, including a folk club and Probus over the years and its location on the Market Square meant that it was a focal point for the Minchinhampton Country Fayre, held every other year.

The main square has a War Memorial, and a 17th-century Market House, given to the town in 1919 by the Lord of the Manor Lt. Col. H. G. Ricardo and restored in 1944. A market is held every Thursday. There is a twice-yearly craft fair at Gatcombe, and a summer visit by Gifford's Circus every year.

The town has is also a doctors' surgery, library, dentist, school and youth club

Sports facilities

Minchinhampton is close to the home of the Princess Royal, Gatcombe Estate, which hosts the Gatcombe Horse Trials in late summer each year. In 2014, the 2003 rugby world cup winner and ex England and Gloucester RFC rugby international Mike Tindall who is married to Zara Phillips, the Queen's granddaughter and daughter of the Princess Royal, and who lives at Gatcombe Park started to play rugby for Minchinhampton RFC.

The town has a very active rugby club, Minchinhampton RFC, with three adult teams, minis and juniors from under 6 to under 16 and a large touch rugby section. Minchinhamption RFC play in Gloucester 3.

Minchinhampton Golf Club has 3 courses. The Cherington and Avening Courses are located near the villages of the same name, South East of Minchinhampton. The Old Course is located on Minchinhampton Common.

Governance

An electoral ward in the same name exists. This ward stretches east from Minchinhampton to Aston Down. The total ward population taken at the 2011 census was 4,357. The town is twinned with Nkokoto, in Tanzania.

Churches

There are two churches in Minchinhampton – Holy Trinity (Anglican) and Minchinhampton Baptist Church. The spire of the parish church of the Holy Trinity was pulled down for safety reasons in 1863 and now the stub has been completed with a "coronet" structure.

James Bradley, the Astronomer Royal, was buried in the churchyard of Holy Trinity in 1762.

The Common

Nearby is Minchinhampton Common, a Site of Special Scientific Interest. It offers an area of 580 acres (230 ha) for the recreation of walkers and golfers and is managed by the National Trust. The Common is also used as grazing land for the cows of local farmers in the summer. On the Common are long parallel ditches and mounds which formed part of a large Iron Age fort. There are outstanding views from the Common, west over the Severn estuary into Wales, and east to the Golden Valley and further into the Cotswolds.

Aston Down

Minchinhampton is close to the former Royal Air Force airfield, Aston Down, formerly a large employer in the area, now closed down and used for gliding. In 2005, following a Freedom of Information request, the local newspaper revealed that Aston Down is contaminated with arsenic, hydrocarbons and radium. Since the site is located above a vulnerable aquifer, local residents have formed a pressure group, the Aston Down Action Group, in an effort to persuade local government and central government agencies to implement more stringent safety regulations.

Notable residents

Minchinhampton was both the birthplace and country residence of novelist Joanna Trollope and the resting place of the English writer Flora Annie Steel. The religious writer and poet Mary Deverell (1731–1805) was born and buried here. The actor Keith Allen lives in the parish.