About 3 miles south-east of Stroud, Minchinhampton, lays on important local roads and had a market from 1269 . It looked a bit more like a town by the beginning of the next century, but in the Middle Ages the town appears to have been important chiefly as a centre of sheep-farming. The development of the town occurred mainly in the 17th century and it remained a market and shopping centre of local importance for 200 years.

Sitting as it does high up on the top of the ridge there have been settlements here since early history and the enormous green which surrounds the village is dotted with ancient earthworks which demonstrate its ancient origins. This green is still common land and there are cattle grazing the fields at all times, loose and in no way enclosed. It is not in the least unusual to find livestock wandering the streets of Minch, clogging the traffic over which they most certainly have precedence.

The church is cruciform in shape with a central tower and truncated spire. There was certainly a Norman church here, for in 1842, before the “restoration” of the church, there remained on the north side of the nave four Norman arches and, in the wall above, two small Norman windows, deeply recessed and splayed, and in the north wall of the chancel two windows similar to those in the nave were found walled up.

The other parts of the ancient church were largely 14th century, with a few alterations made in the 16th century. The chancel of the old church was considerably longer than the present one.

This so called “restoration” in 1842 consisted of the demolition of the ancient nave and chancel, which were then rebuilt. The only old parts of the church are therefore the two transepts and the tower, which date from the 14th century.