page_title: Forrabury and Minster parish churches
section_title: Minster Church
hierarchical_section_title: Forrabury and Minster parish churches / Minster Church
caption_attribution_description: English: The Church of Saint Merteriana, Minster, Cornwall. The Church is somewhat hidden and easily missed as it lies below a very narrow country lane, even if you can find the lane which is a little side road off to the left by the speed limit sign as you leave Boscastle on the&#160;? not marked on current road maps (neither is Minster)you will have to ask a local. If you can find the time this church is well worth a visit, the beauty and serenity is overbearing. The reason for my visit? my Great Great Great Grandfather Christopher Burnard married my Great Great Great Grandmother Sarah Broad on the 3rd April 1836
context_page_description: The civil parishes to which the Forrabury and Minster parish churches belong were united in 1919 to form Forrabury and Minster parish, within Cornwall, England, UK. The main settlement in the parish is Boscastle. The two rectories had been united in 1800.
  The original Forrabury / Minster boundary crossed the river so the harbour end of the village was in Forrabury and the upriver area in Minster. The churches were established some time earlier than the settlement at Boscastle.
context_section_description: The mother church of Boscastle is dedicated to St Materiana and nestles among the trees of Minster Wood in the valley of the River Valency half-a-mile east of Boscastle at grid reference SX 110 904. Minster Church was built in Norman times (some late medieval additions and restoration work carried out in the 19th century): it is listed Grade I.
  The Celtic name of Minster was Talkarn but it was renamed Minster in Anglo-Saxon times because of a monastery on the site. Until the Reformation St Materiana's tomb was preserved in the church. (Another spelling of her name sometimes used is 'Mertheriana' but the usual Latin form is Materiana.) For many years the Anglican parishes of Forrabury and Minster have been in the charge of a Rector who is responsible for a group of adjoining parishes as well as these.
  Minster Church was damaged by the flood of August 2004 and in the following year archaeological work was done at the church to obtain a clearer idea of the history of the building. When the church was flooded it damaged the pews, the electric organ and a lot of the church.
  Minister Church is also designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, for its population of greater horseshoe bats, a rare and threatened species in the European and British Red Data Books. The church supports the largest known greater horseshoe bat maternity roost in Cornwall, one of the largest in the UK.
caption: Minster Parish Church
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