The earliest known fossilised forest was discovered in the
Hangman Sandstone Formation near to the
Butlins Holiday Park. The trees, identified as a species resembling modern palm trees, known as calamophyton, date back to the
Devonian period, between 419 and 358 million years ago. Evidence of prehistoric occupation of the area are
Bronze Age barrows at
Selworthy Beacon and an
Iron Age enclosure at Furzebury Brake west of the town, although there is also possible evidence in the intertidal area, where the remains of a
submerged forest still exist. It is mentioned as a manor belonging to
William de Moyon in the
Domesday Book in 1086, although it had previously been held by
Ælfgar, Earl of Mercia. There was a small port at Minehead by 1380, but it was not until 1420 that money given by Lady Margaret Luttrell enabled improvements to be made and a
jetty built. During the reign of
Elizabeth I, the town had its own Port Officer similar to the position at
Bristol. Further problems with the port continued and led to a decline in trade and the fisheries in the late 18th century and in 1834 the port lost its jurisdiction to Bridgwater. The pier was demolished during the
Second World War as it obstructed the view from the gun battery set up on the quay head, as part of the coastal defence preparations, which stopped steamers calling at the harbour until it was cleared in 1951. in Wellington Square Major rebuilding took place in the Lower or Middle town area following a fire in 1791. In that year a
Carrara marble statue of Queen Anne, sculpted by
Francis Bird was presented to the town by Sir
Jacob Bancks, who served as the local Member of Parliament from 1698 to 1715. It originally stood in the parish church but was moved to Wellington Square in 1893, Lower town and the quay area were rebuilt and the fortunes of the town revived with the growth in sea bathing, and by 1851 was becoming a retirement centre. It was in the Victorian and Edwardian era that tourism in the town increased. There was a marked increase in building in the early years of the 20th century when the landowners, the Luttrells of Dunster Castle, released extensive building land. Probably the most prolific Edwardian architect was W.J.Tamlyn from North Devon, who settled in the town and was responsible for designing several hundred domestic properties, as well as
Minehead Town Hall and the
Queen's Hall. The steamship SS
Pelican grounded in Minehead Bay on 22 June 1928, on an unmarked reef known as the Gables that circles Minehead Bay, from land. The
Pelican was sailing from
Port Talbot to
Highbridge. The crew of five were rescued by the
Minehead Lifeboat. Evacuees were billeted in Minehead during
World War II.
Butlins opened a holiday camp in 1962, which has brought thousands of visitors to the town. ==Governance==