large parish in the county of Kent, in the hundred of Rinslow and lathe of St Augustine, sixty-eight miles from London. It comprehends the dock-yards and part of the town of Sheerness, and derives its name from a convent of nuns, said to have been founded by a Saxon lady in the year 700. The population amounted in 1801 to 5561, in 1811 to 7003, in 1821 to 8414, and in 1831 to 7983.

Minster (Saxon, mynster or mynstre) anciently signified the church of a monastery or convent.