MINEHEAD, a seaside town of 2500 people, 25 m.  N.W. from Taunton, with a terminal station on the G.W. branch from the latter place.  The name seems to be a hybrid, the first syllable being the Celtic maen, stone (cp. Mendip).  Once a Channel port second in importance only to Bristol, Minehead has of recent years abandoned merchandise, and given itself over to the entertainment of visitors.  It has blossomed into a watering-place of some pretensions with a pier, an esplanade, and a generous profusion of public walks.  It has, moreover, one claim to distinction peculiarly its own.  Exmoor, the home of the red deer, lies behind it, and Minehead is the metropolis of the hunt.  The advent of the stranger was not always so eagerly welcomed.  The inaccessible situation of “the old town,” as it is called, suggests that one of the chief perils of ancient Minehead was the frequent incursions of marauding Danes and Welsh.  But the proximity of the Cambrian coast opposite nevertheless had its occasional conveniences.  In the Civil War Lord Hertford, foiled in his attempt on Dunster, found Minehead a serviceable stepping-stone to security amid the Welsh fastnesses.  The general appearance of the town is eminently attractive.  A promenade, which might well be extended, borders the sands, and an avenue fringed with lime trees runs up from the station to the market-place and shops.  The church and older portions of the town are perched amid modern residences on the hill side above, and a quaint row of mariners’ cottages (Quay Town) lies at the seaward foot of the headland.  The huge bulk of the N. hill forms an effectual windscreen at the back of the town, and the abundance of flowers in the gardens testifies to the mild climate which Minehead enjoys in consequence.  The parish church of St Michael stands out conspicuously on the hill side.  It has a well-designed Perp.  W. tower, and both within and without shows several features of interest.  Externally should be noted (1) the fine projecting window which lights the rood-loft stairway; (2) the bas-reliefs on the E. and S. sides of the tower; (3) the figures supporting the weather-mouldings of one of the E. windows (one of which carries a shield with date 1529), and the inscription in the masonry above.  There is a plain cross on the N. side of the graveyard.  Within the church remark (1) fine rood-screen (cp.  Dunster); (2) carved Elizabethan altar; (3) oak box and black-letter books; (4) canopied tomb of priest in eucharistic vestments, and holding fragment of chalice; (5) curious wooden arch to vestry; (6) fine font; (7) defaced brass of a lady under the tower.  No visitor can leave the churchyard unimpressed with the panorama spread at his feet.  Beyond the cliffs at Blue Anchor may be discerned Weston pier.  A new church in the market-place provides further accommodation for the influx of summer visitors.  Beneath the churchyard wall of the new building stands a stout statue of good Queen Anne, which once adorned the parish