Minstead is a village in the New Forest in SW Hampshire, 8 miles W of Southampton and 2 miles N of Lyndhurst. The village is compact, and consists of a public house and mixed housing on the edge a large area of woodland known as Manor Wood. The N side of the church faces the village, and presents a curiously residential aspect thanks to its brick and tile construction, its gabled N chapel, transept and porch, and the dormer windows in the nave. It consists of a nave and a raised chancel with a broad 13thc chancel arch. On the N side of the nave is a porch, then a gabled vestry alongside the nave, and a N chapel alongside the chancel. Thers is another vestry on the S side of the chancel, and on the S side of the nave a very long, broad and low transept. The interior presents a crowded apprearance owing to the double gallery that occupies the W end and part of the N side of the nave. This timber feature is dated by three inscriptions to 1661, 1814 and 2000. At the W end of the nave is a brick tower. The only Romanesque feature is the font.

Minstead was held by Godric Malf in 1066 and by his sons in 1086. The land was assessed at 3½ hides under Edward the Confessor, but only half a hide was held by Godric’s sons, the remainder having become part of the New Forest. Minstead was apparently held by the same family throughout the twelfth century, alongside Bisterne and Totton, and according to VCH might at that time have been called Ivez, along with the family.

The faces of the font have been variously identied. The W is identified as Christ with the Cross and two assistant figures by Pevsner and Lloyd, and Our Lord’s baptism by VCH. For the S, Pevsner has stylized eagles, while VCH has two eagles having what may be a conventional tree between them. Both are agreed the the N face is carved with two lions with one head, and that the E has an Agnus Dei. Pevsner and Lloyd note that the position of the font in front of the pulpit was more usual in pre-Tractarian times (i.e. before the 1830s) than now. They date the font to the late 12thc as does VCH, while EH prefers c.1200.