A walk of discovery from ancient spires to soft green pastures
A walk around the historic market town of Beverley takes in its magnificent Minster and ancient pastures
SET AT THE foot of the folding chalk hills of the wolds in the East Riding of Yorkshire is the medieval market town of Beverley. Above its ancient cobbled streets, timber-framed shops and fine Georgian townhouses towers the town’s Minster, one of the most splendid Gothic churches in England. In the early summer sunshine, the Minster’s honey-tone limestone is glowing. This magnificent place of worship has dominated the medley of red pantiles and brick chimneys below for centuries. In contrast, rolling green pastures open out from the edge of the town. Another survivor of the Middle Ages, this area of common land is known as Westwood. Here, cows roam freely and skylarks nest among the grasses and harebells. Walking from the Minster to the Black Mill on Westwood, a route of approximately two miles, reveals the town’s many architectural treasures.
Medieval trades
The area where Beverley sits was originally known as Inderawuda, meaning ‘in the wood of the men of Deira’; Deira being a Celtic kingdom. It grew from a monastery built
beside a beaver lake, founded between 705 and 718 by John, Bishop of York, who retired there to heal the sick. In the Middle Ages, wool and cloth brought wealth to Beverley, evident in 39 sculptures around the town depicting the medieval guilds and trades. These guilds included carpenters, shipbuilders, weavers, dyers, spinners, hatters and the largest, the Merchants Guild. The most unusual guild was that of the minstrels of northern England, commemorated in dozens of musical carvings in both the Minster and the town’s St Mary’s church. The merchants organised guilds for commercial and social purposes and, famously, annual mystery plays. First recorded in 1377, the plays were held on the feast of Corpus Christi, the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, which fell in May or June. Staged performances of scenes from the Bible were performed on a horse-drawn cart by ‘masters’ of their craft. Each guild was responsible for one play. A morning play began at North Bar gateway, moving to designated points and ending at Beverley Beck. Although the plays no longer form an annual event, re-enactments have taken place.
the gift of healing
John, Bishop of York, is believed to have been born in Harpham village, nine miles from Beverley. Legend has it that he performed many healings, including curing a deaf boy, which led to his becoming the patron saint of the deaf. After his death, his tomb attracted many pilgrims, drawn by tales of miraculous healing. These included King Athelstan, who stopped at St John’s tomb in 937 to pray on his way north to fight the Scots. The King was victorious, and it is suggested that, in gratitude, he granted certain rights and privileges to the Minster. The first was to make it a Collegiate Church, run by canons; the second was to give it the right of sanctuary, a legal right for people to be given protection from the law for up to 40 days. During the 16th century Dissolution, St John’s shrine was destroyed and robbed. In 1664, his remains were discovered and re-interred, today marked by a diamond-shaped, stone slab.
Plagues, poverty, the 16th century Dissolution of the Monasteries and the English Civil War did not spare the town, but revival came with the railways and a tanning industry. Georgian houses sprang up, and a social calendar revolved around horse-racing, theatre and concerts. Today, Beverley retains the charm of the past.
Fall and rebirth
Beverley Minster, where the walk begins, was founded on the site of John, Bishop of York’s 8th century monastery. It is thought this early church was made of wood. The stone Saxon seat which takes pride of place on the High Altar of the Minster is the only visible relic that survives from this church. When John died in 721, his body was buried in the church he had
founded. In 937, King Athelstan prayed at the tomb of Bishop John for help in a forthcoming battle. Legend has it that because the King’s army won, Athelstan made the Minster the Collegiate Church of St John the Evangelist, run by canons who went out to preach to neighbouring communities. Following John’s canonisation in 1037, kings and pilgrims travelled from afar to his venerated shrine, and soon a town of importance emerged. In 1188, the town and the original Minster suffered a devastating fire. The fire caused damage to the Norman tower and resulted in the loss of St John’s bones, only for them to be rediscovered nine years later and reburied in the present church. More disaster followed in 1214, when the central tower collapsed. At the evening service, bits started to fall down from the tower into the knave. Then, in the night, the top fell off. The miracle was that the night watchman, unable to sleep, had rung the church bell for morning prayers an hour early by mistake. This meant the canons had prayed early and were therefore safely back in their accommodation nearby when the tower finally fell. No one was hurt. As a consequence, the Minster was badly damaged, and in 1220, a major building programme began, lasting two centuries. Further major restoration work and improvements were also carried out during the 18th and 19th centuries. Following Henry VIII’s break with Rome and the closure of the monasteries, the Minster was given to Sir Michael Stanhope, the governor of Hull, and the Crown surveyor John Bellow. When their intentions to pull down the church became known, wealthy merchants in Beverley bought it for £100. In 1548, a year after the death of Henry VIII, it was re-established as a parish church.
Historic Highgate
Outside the Minster entrance, at Highgate Porch, a short walk right leads to the Beverley Friary, one of the few remaining town centre friaries, thanks to a Preservation Order granted in 1965. By the end of the 1200s, Beverley accommodated 44 Dominican friars, known as the Blackfriars from the colour of their robes, and 36 Franciscan friars, known as Greyfriars. They preached around the town, surviving on donations and begging. The Blackfriars were given land close to the Minster to build their friary by the Archbishop of York, and this extended
“Thin shaft and flower-wrought capital, High-springing arch, and blazoned pane, Quaint gurgoyles stretching heads profane, And stately throne and carven stall” Sir Lewis Morris, ‘On an Old Minster’
until the 14th century, when its wealth declined and then suffered under the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Today, it is a youth hostel and is believed to stand on the stone footings of the original Dominican friary. The Greyfriars established their friary circa 1267, possibly on land within the town, but are later believed to have moved to Westwood, following the excavation of medieval objects associated with the Franciscans. Straight ahead is cobbled Highgate, one of Beverley’s oldest streets, lined with mostly 18th century stone, three-storey townhouses. Number 25 was bought in 1785 by General Oliver de Lancey, who fought on the British side in the American War of Independence. The timber-framed Monks Walk Inn was re-fronted during the 18th century, but its first-floor roof and wall timbers are hewn out of whole tree trunks dating back to the early 1400s. Highgate opens to Wednesday Market, where, in the 12th century, Henry I granted a charter to allow a market, which is still held each week. As is common in medieval towns, streets take their names from the trades practised there. Butcher Row has upstairs Georgian windows with more modern shop fronts below. A right fork leads to Toll Gavel, part of a medieval high street and first mentioned in 1344. Tolls were collected here from
strangers entering the town. A detour left into Register Square arrives at the 16th century Guildhall, bought by the keepers in 1501. The keepers were Beverley’s elected first governors, responsible for keeping order in the town and managing the finances, pastures and borders. The Guildhall was largely rebuilt in 1762, with the portico entrance replacing the original doorway in 1836. Here was a meeting place for the town’s leading citizens, and civic business was conducted here until the late 20th century. Today, the Guildhall is run as a historic building and community museum, but is still used for ceremonial civic occasions. It is worth visiting, if only for the stunning Georgian courtroom featuring plaster stucco-work by Giuseppe Cortese, depicting the seated figure of Justice. In the Parlour Room are paintings by the Beverley-born artist Fred Elwell and his wife Mary Dawson Elwell, together with a collection of civic silver, including three silver-gilt ceremonial chains. Back along Toll Gavel, two lead
snakes, thought to represent the snake-entwined staff of Asculepius, the Greek god of medicine, entwine round the pillars of a former chemist shop. The street opens into the Saturday Market, first recorded in the 16th century. Behind is the deep orange brickwork of the 19th century Corn Exchange. Narrow lanes off Market Place include Narrow Racket, an ancient passageway, and Dyer Lane. Here, a madder root carved into a paving stone acts as a reminder of cloth dyeing, which took place here in the Middle Ages. Saturday Market narrows into North Bar Within, so-called because it is within North Bar gate. Here, stagecoaches would halt while passengers were refreshed in the inns, such as The Blue Bell Inn, rebuilt in the late 1700s as the Beverley Arms.
St Mary’s church
Not only does Beverley have its Minster, but it is also home to the 12th century St Mary’s church in North Bar Within. Founded in 1120 and completed in 1524, this is regarded as one of the most beautiful Gothic churches in England. Notable features include the magnificent stained glass windows, its main ceiling painted with the constellations, and a timber ceiling in the chancel. Dating from 1445, this is painted with representations of English kings from the 7th century to Henry VI in the 15th century. The most notable carving is found in St Michael’s Chapel, of a rabbit holding a pilgrim’s staff, which adorns a stone pillar. It is believed to have inspired the illustration of the white rabbit in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. A plaque on the outside commemorates a tragedy of 1689. Two young Danish soldiers quarrelled, and one was killed as a consequence. The man who killed his comrade was executed by beheading in the town. The two men are thought to be buried in the churchyard.
North Bar
While never a walled town, Beverley did have gateways, or bars, serving to collect taxes from visitors entering and to regulate trade and traffic. Other bars were built at Newbegin and Keldgate, but are now demolished. North Bar, the most important, was built in 1409, perhaps as a way to improve defences following the War of the Roses, in the belief that Beverley was too exposed. In 1642, King Charles I stayed in
Beverley at the home of Lady Gee, widow of Sir William Gee, in her house in North Bar, where the present Bar House now stands. From Beverley, the King travelled to Hull in an attempt to attack the city. Sir John Hotham, a Parliamentarian, refused him entry, an action which many believe lit the fuse sparking the English Civil War. The passageway to the left of North Bar leads to the junction with York Road and a left turn to Westwood. This is one of three historic common pasturelands in Beverley that together cover 1,200 acres. Westwood, with its northernmost pasture, Hurn, offers easy access to walkers, while Swine Moor and Figham are located in the east of the town. Song thrush, magpie, yellowhammer and woodpecker flit among horse chestnut and sycamore. Former chalk pits, used to build houses and once deep scars, are now basins cloaked in hawthorn. To the north-west is Burton Bushes, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, its gnarled oak trees several centuries old. There are traces of iron age and bronze age burial mounds on Westwood. Henry VIII’s soldiers practised archery here, while ridges mark trenches dug by First World War soldiers in training. Black Mill is one of only two surviving mills on Westwood. The remains of the other lies south of the village of Walkington. From Black Mill, the pale golden towers of the Minster are visible once again, rising over an idyllic English scene which has changed little over the centuries.
“Ther’s noa pooasies ‘at smell sweeter, Nor thy modest moorland blossom, Th’ violet’s een ne’er shone aght breeter Nor on thy green mossy bosom” John Hartley, ‘Bonny Yorksher’