The town was founded in the seventh century by John of Beverley, who established a church in the area. It was originally named Inderawuda, and was part of the Anglian kingdom of Northumbria. The town came under Viking control in the 850s, then became part of the Kingdom of England. John of Beverley was made a saint in 1037, and the town was a place of pilgrimage for the remainder of the Middle Ages.[5] It continued to grow under the Normans, when its trading industry was first established, and eventually became a significant wool-trading town and the tenth-largest settlement in England. After the Reformation, the stature of Beverley was much reduced.
The origins of Beverley can be traced back to the time of the Anglian kingdom of Northumbria in the 7th century. The first structure built in the area, which at the time was known as Inderawuda (meaning "in the wood of the men of Deira"), was a Christian church dedicated to St John the Evangelist.[11] This was founded by the Bishop of York who later became known as John of Beverley, who was believed to have performed miracles during his lifetime, and was later venerated as a saint.[11] Around the 850s, the now developed monastery was abandoned in a hurry; historians presume this was because of the invasion of the so-called Great Heathen Army of Vikings who had invaded England, and established the Kingdom of Jórvík in the Yorkshire area.[11] However, the population was increased during the 10th century, by people who came to venerate Saint John of Beverley.[11]
Before the Battle of Brunanburh, possibly located further north than Beverley, the King of England at the time Athelstan visited Inderawuda, he prayed all night and saw a vision saying he would be victorious: in return he helped the town to grow greatly.[11] The name of the town was changed to Bevreli or Beverlac, meaning beaver-clearing or beaver-lake, in the 10th century; a reference to the colonies of beavers in the River Hull at the time.[11] The last three Anglo-Saxon archbishops of York helped Beverley to develop, via the rise in prominence of Beverley Minster and the town in general; along with York itself, Ripon and Southwell, Beverley became one of the most important Christian centres of Northern England. Ealdred was declared by king Edward the Confessor as "sole Lord of the Manor of Beverley". Beverley developed as a trade centre, producing textiles, leather and objects made out of antler.[11]
Beverley Minster was constructed in 1220 and there were 3 phases to its construction. 1220–1260, 1320–1348 Stopped during the black death and again in 1420–1440 but Beverley Minster is not complete. The chapter house was demolished in 1660 and only the doors remain in the church.
After the Norman conquest, many pilgrims flocked to Beverley upon hearing reports of miracles wrought by the town's founder, John. However, much of the North of England rejected Norman rule, and sought to reinstate Viking rule.[11] Towns in Yorkshire were obliterated by the Normans in response, with the Harrying of the North; but Beverley itself was spared, upon the Normans hearing about the town's saintly history.[11] In 1086, Beverley was recorded in the Domesday Book as comprising around 19 households and lying within the Hundred of Sneculfcros.[12] In the 12th century, Beverley developed from a settlement of several thousand, to an extensive town, stretching from around the North Bar area to the Beck in an elongated pattern, it was granted borough status in 1122 by Thurstan. Industry grew further, Beverley especially traded wool with the cloth making towns of the Low Countries.[11]
Westwood and the Black Mill
The town suffered a large fire in 1188 which destroyed numerous houses, and damaged Beverley Minster. Lady Sybil de Valines gave the Manor of the Holy Trinity on the east side of Beverley to the Knights Hospitallers in 1201, where they established a preceptory;[13] also to be found in Beverley during the 13th century were Dominicanfriars who were given some land by Henry III upon which they erected buildings. Franciscans were present.[11] A dispute arose between local farmers and the archbishop during the 13th century, about land rights; after the locals demanded a royal inquiry, the archbishop granted the townspeople pasture and pannage in the Westwood and other places.
During the 14th century, England experienced periods of famine caused by poor weather conditions which destroyed crops. There were other nationwide issues to contend with at the time, such as the Black Death, the Hundred Years' War and the Great Rising. However, Beverley continued to grow: and by 1377, had become the 10th largest town in England.[11]
Beverley was reliant on pilgrimage, but changes brought about by the Reformation impacted upon this tradition, resulting in a decline in its status.[11] Local Beverley man CardinalJohn Fisher was martyred along with Thomas More for refusing to accept the Tudor King Henry VIII as Head of the Church of England.[14] In October 1536, there was a popular rising in Beverley where 500 men in the town gathered at the Westwood under the leadership of a local lawyer named William Stapleton, later becoming part of the larger Pilgrimage of Grace in York and, in turn, part of the 30,000 rebels opposing Henry's new religious laws.[11] Henry followed through with the break from Rome and the Dissolution of the Monasteries, dissolving the Dominican Friary in Beverley and taking their land for himself, the Knights Templars in Beverley suffered the same fate in 1540.[11]
As a result of the tensions across the North of England, governance duties were handed over to the Council of the North so the Tudors could control the area at arm's length.[15] Beverley was visited by John Leland, the man known as the "father of English local history", he wrote of the town in some detail, estimating the population of the time at around 5,000.[11]Beverley Minster was threatened with demolition by its new owners who wanted to profit from selling its stone and lead, however the local people led by wealthy merchant Richard Gray saved it from this fate.[11] During the time of Elizabeth I, Beverley was endowed with its own mayor; Edward Ellerker was the first to take this position.[16] The gap between Beverley's rich and poor became more pronounced during the Tudor era, due to large unemployment. The substantial drop in pilgrimage to Beverley in honour of its founder John of Beverley affected the jobs of the working class as it was Beverley's main industry.[11]
Civil war and Restoration recovery
Charles II's arms hanging in Beverley Minster
In the early 17th century Beverley was affected by the plague which caused many deaths. Due to the close geographical proximity to Hull, focus on the area became magnified when the people of Hull refused to open the gates to Charles I a couple of months before the fighting began in the English Civil War.[17] After being turned away from Hull, the king spent three weeks as a guest in a house at North Bar in Beverley, where he was openly greeted with the ringing of St Mary's Church bells.[11] Beverley was initially royalist: however, it was taken by the parliamentarians of Hull, forcing the king to flee. A royalist army led by William Cavendish defeated Thomas Fairfax to reclaim the town for the royalists; from here they launched another Siege of Hull.[18] Eventually the parliamentarians won the civil war and established the Commonwealth of England, in which alehouses were shut on Sundays and theatres and race meetings abandoned: the Puritans visited the then Church of England houses of worship and destroyed anything they thought to be idolatrous.[11]
Beverley Minster managed to escape this fate, in part due to the prominence of the Percy family and the fact that the church housed memorials to their ancestors. Beverley's Quakers were not so fortunate, and were strongly repressed by the Puritans.[11] The English Restoration with Charles II coming to power was generally well received in Beverley, and his royal coat of arms was hung in the Minster and remains there.[11] In terms of trade Beverley was not rich in the 17th century but had improved slightly, the majority were based in agriculture.[11] During the Georgian era, Beverley was the county town of the East Riding of Yorkshire and became the prime market town in the area during the 18th century; competition from Pocklington, Howden and Market Weighton was insufficient.[11] The replacing of old timber buildings with new ones in the Georgian style helped the town recover in prestige, with the religious structures also undergoing restorations.[11] During the Industrial Revolution, Beverley's people retained most agricultural jobs, though there was a presence of iron workers within the town.[11]
Beverley had a cattle market for 1300 years, it served as the centre for the region's livestock trade until it closed. The site is now the car park for Tesco supermarket which opened in 2002.
Hodgsons Tannery (1816–1979) was a major employer in the town. The tannery turned animal hides into leather. At the time of closure there were 750 redundancies. After Hodgsons closed, part of the factory site was used by Clairant (chemical production company). However, this had also closed by 2005 with the loss of 120 jobs.[20] Another tannery Melrose Tanners, formerly Cussons, on Keldgate, closed in 1986.[21]
Armstrong Patents Co. Ltd. (1917–1995) was also a well known company and major employer. The factory on East Gate mainly produced Armstrong shock absorbers until it closed in 1981.[22]
Beverley Shipyard opened in 1884 and continued to build ships until the yard closed completely in 1977. From 1905 until 1962 the yard was owned by Cook, Welton & Gemmell Shipbuilders. In 1954 the yard employed 650 people. Ships were launched sideways into the River Hull.
Beverley during a market dayThe White Horse Inn HengateWestwood Hospital
Due to an increase in population, some of the entrances into the town (such as the brick-built Bars) were taken down to accommodate traffic. Although population figures rose steeply, the increase was not as much as in nearby Hull, or most of the rest of England.[11] Beverley's religious associations remained during the 19th century: as well as the majority Anglican faith, there were several non-conformist religions practised such as Methodism with John Wesley previously having preached there; with the completion of the Catholic Emancipation and the refoundation of the Catholic hierarchy, the Diocese of Beverley in 1850 was chosen to cover Yorkshire, before being divided into two dioceses.[11]
Communications were improved with the opening of the Beverley railway station in October 1846.[11] In 1884, Andrew Cochrane founded a shipyard at Grovehill on the River Hull. It was purchased by Cook, Welton & Gemmell in 1901.[23] The yard was a leading builder of trawlers for the Hull deep-sea fishing fleet. In both world wars the yard built minesweepers for the Royal Navy. The deep-sea trawler Arctic Corsair now preserved in Hull was built there in 1960. The yard closed for ship construction in 1977 and the site is now used for boat repairs.
The Second World War saw the nearby city of Hull suffer significantly from aerial bombardment: however, Beverley was more fortunate and did not endure such heavy attacks.[11] Since the war, Beverley has gone through some remodelling, and has grown in size. It attracts thousands of tourists each year who come to view the religious buildings and visit Beverley Racecourse.[11]
In the 1960s, plans to redevelop Armstrong's Engineering Works for housing put the Dominican Friary at threat of demolition: the friary building was listed in 1965 and is now in use as a youth hostel. Housing was developed on the former works site in the 1980s on what is now Dominican Walk and its adjacent streets.[21]
In 2007, Beverley was named as the best place to live in the United Kingdom in an "Affordable Affluence" study by the Royal Bank of Scotland.[26]
In late 2015 a new shopping and entertainment complex opened in Flemingate (on the site of the old Hodgsons Tannery). Among the attractions is a six-screen cinema and a Premier Inn hotel. East Riding College (formerly Beverley College of Further Education) also relocated to Flemingate, after the previous site was sold for a housing development.
In 2019 the Liberal Democrats made huge gains in the local elections, taking out all of the Conservative seats and taking control of the Town Council, whilst also gaining two seats from the Conservatives on East Riding of Yorkshire Council in St Mary's Ward. The only Conservative representatives for Beverley are in Minster and Woodmansey Ward, where the Conservatives held all three seats.[32]
Dave Boynton – Liberal Democrats, Denis Healy – Liberal Democrats Linda Johnson – Liberal Democrats
MINSTER AND WOODMANSEY WARD
David Elvidge, Conservative, Kerri Harold, Conservative, Paul Nickersen, Independent,
Beverley Town Council
Peter Astell – Liberal Democrats, Tom Astell – Liberal Democrats, Dave Boynton – Liberal Democrats, Ian Gow – Independent, Denis Healy – Liberal Democrats, Chloe Hopkins – Labour, David Horsley – Liberal Democrats, Duncan Jack – Independent, Linda Johnson – Liberal Democrats, Margaret Pinder – Labour, David Tucker – Liberal Democrats, Ann Willis – Labour, Clare Wildey – Labour
Planned expansion
In 2014 local authorities planned to build 3,300 new houses in Beverley,[33] which would increase the size of the town by 20%. A spokesperson for East Riding of Yorkshire Council said: "The evidence recognises that the East Riding is generally a high demand area with strong levels of in-migration".[34][35] The plans are opposed by some residents, such as those in the North Beverley Action Group.[36]
There are other schools in Beverley, such as Beverley High School, which is a comprehensive school for girls: it has around 850 pupils, and is well above the national average based on the results of GCSE test performances.[38] Beverley Grammar School and Beverley High School share a common sixth form, called the Beverley Joint Sixth.
Longcroft School is a co-educational school, with around 1,500 pupils consisting of both boys and girls. Longcroft School was founded in 1949 and officially opened in 1951 and is home to the Longcroft Gospel Choir, founded by Jonathan Chapman. The choir comprises pupils from Year 9 and above and several members of Longcroft School staff, and has a large repertoire of music. Over the choir's period of existence, the choir has performed at venues such as Disneyland Paris and the Apple Store on Oxford Street, London, have released two of their own albums and have featured on a track by singer-songwriter Henry Priestman. But more recently in May 2015, it was announced that the Longcroft Gospel Choir will be one of twenty choirs in the UK to perform at and open the 2015 Rugby World Cup in London performing for the home team (England).
Beverley and the East Riding of Yorkshire region is served by the East Riding Mail, which is the sister paper to the Hull Daily Mail.
The Beverley Guardian was printed for 160 years, but it ceased in September 2016.
Beverley has two independent hyper-local magazines, Just Beverley and HU17.net.[39][40]
Since their suppression in the 17th century, Quakers established a meeting house and have worshipped in Beverley ever since. Their present meeting house – the third – in Quaker Lane – was built in 1961.
Missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from the United States first arrived in Beverley in 1850 and quickly established a local congregation. In 1963 a large new chapel on Manor Road was built by local church members. Due to the continued growth of the Beverley congregation both the building and car parks were enlarged in the late 1990s.
A market day is central to culture in Beverley; a smaller market day is held on Wednesday: however, the main event is on Saturday, with all of the stalls.[46][47] Throughout each year there are various annual music festivals in the town, catering for different kinds of music. These include the Early Music Festival in May; the Beverley Folk Festival in June, which features three days of folk music, comedy and workshops; the Jazz Festival in August, followed by the Chamber Music Festival in September.[11] Held monthly at the Beverley Memorial Hall is a local music event Sunday Live. It is also home to the popular Beverley Male Voice Choir.
Beverley hosts an annual literature festival, kite festival, a biennial puppet festival and Beverley town fair. Since 2006, Beverley Town Council has run an annual food festival in October. Including 70 stalls selling food produced in Beverley and the East Riding of Yorkshire, a 200-seat food theatre marquee, cookery demonstrations from local chefs, and street entertainment, the day-long event is attended by thousands of residents and visitors.[48] In 2012, St Mary's Church in Beverley hosted the first real ale and cider festival. Over 2,000 people attended the event. The festival has now moved to the Beverley Memorial Hall and still attracts over 2,500 people.[49]
In terms of sport, the most noted field of participation is horse racing with Beverley Racecourse. The sport has a long history in Beverley, with evidence of a permanent race track reaching back as far as 1690, while its first grandstand was built in 1767.[50] The town is represented in football by Beverley Town F.C., who currently play in the Northern Counties East League Premier Division, the 9th tier of English football. Beverley was the host for the 2006 British National Cycling Championships. Beverley Westwood is home to the oldest golf club in Yorkshire the Beverley and East Riding Golf Club founded in October 1889. Beverley RUFC plays in the Yorkshire 1 league for Rugby Union and play at Beaver Park in the town.[51] The Tour de Yorkshire passes through North Bar, one of the ancient gates of Beverley.
A weekly 5k parkrun is held at the Westwood at 9:00am every Saturday.
Beverley town has a variety of public houses, some of which have become tourist attractions.[52] Examples include the Sun Inn, the town's oldest public house dating back to around 1530.[53] There are over 40 public houses in Beverley – the vast majority have been there for over a century.[52] Beverley is home to one of the last pubs in the world to still use authentic gas lighting; The White Horse Inn (or "Nellie's" to the local population) is owned by the Samuel Smith Old Brewery company.[54]
A purpose-built Post Office opened in Register Square in 1905. It continued to be the town's Post Office, until being closed in early 2020 as part of a cost cutting exercise. Post Office services are now provided by the nearby WH Smith shop.
Beverley's first cinema, the Marble Arch, opened in 1916, located on Butcher Row. It was closed and completely demolished by 1967 having in the last few years been used as a bingo hall. After demolition, the site was used as a supermarket. Originally it was known as Moores, but later it became Prestos, then Jacksons. It is now M&S Food.
The Museum of Army Transport relocated from Leconfield to Beverley in 1983. The museum was housed on part of the former Hodgsons Tannery site. The last surviving Blackburn Beverley aircraft XB259 (named after the town, and built nearby in Brough) was on static display until the museum closed due to a funding shortfall in 2003. This and the neighbouring former Hodgsons Tannery is now occupied by Flemingate – a shopping centre including Dunelm, H&M, Sports Direct, restaurants and cafes, and is also home to a Parkway Cinema and Premier Inn.
The current fire station opened in 1982 when New Walkergate (road) was constructed. The much smaller old fire station is now a GP surgery.
The police station on Norfolk Street is part of the court complex built in about 1805, including a sessions house and a prison. The former courthouse is now a spa and the octagonal prison is a private home.
Beverley previously had two hospitals serving the town. The Westwood Hospital originally opened as the town's Union Workhouse in 1861, but became a hospital in 1939 at the outbreak of World War II. The maternity ward closed in 1997. The hospital closed completely in 2011. The original main building has been converted to apartments. Beverley Cottage Hospital opened in Morton Lane 1885 and had closed by 1996. Beverley Community Hospital opened in 2012 on a new site.
The East Riding Theatre, housed in a former nonconformist chapel originally built in 1910, is a community initiative launched by a group of local volunteers and film and television actor Vincent Regan. First opened to the public in December 2014 and seating 200, it is run as a not-for profit organisation and a registered charity and presents regular drama productions and musical performances.[55]
Saturday Market, Beverley. Fair Scene at Night (1920) Thomas Bonfrey Burton
Beverley has had a fair since medieval times. In the early days the fairs were places for trading goods and animals, and were useful for meeting people and finding news of what was happening elsewhere in the country. Towns were given the right to hold fairs by Royal charter. In the early 12th century Archbishop Thurstan was granted a charter to hold fairs four times a year, each lasting up to five days. Beverley's medieval fairs were:
The four annual fairs survived until the 20th century, although the dates changed over the years. All these fairs were for the sale of cattle and horses and were held on North Bar Within or Without. One of the two market places, Saturday Market or Wednesday Market, was used at the same time for selling general goods. Another trading area was at Highgate where goods not generally sold on the weekly markets were available, attracting ‘foreigners’ or people from other areas such as York. The great horse fair was on Ascension Day-eve (the Cross Fair). A toll was charged for a horse entering the town and another if it was sold.[56]
By the 20th century, the sale of livestock at fairs had dwindled. In 1928, sheep and cattle were only sold on the Ringing Day fair. The pleasure part of the fair, however, had gained great popularity. These funfairs were held on Saturday Market. As the fairground equipment became larger and heavier and the use of the motor vehicle became more widespread, Saturday Market place was no longer suitable for the purpose.
On 8 September 1958, Minute 581 of the Beverley Town Council states: “It was noted that the agreement between BTC and John Farrar and Joseph Shaw to hold four fairs a year on the Market Place expired after Midsummer Fair 1959”. On 27 October (Minute 694), “It was resolved that the fair should be removed from the Market Place.”
On 7 September 1959, the Town Clerk reported that Mr John Farrar and Joseph Shaw had accepted terms offered for use of space for the four fairs commencing with the October fair. The fair was held four times a year on Morton Lane car park, which also housed the Town’s coach park. In 2002, the East Riding of Yorkshire Council, against the wishes of a large number of the residents sold the Morton Lane car park to Tesco, leaving the Town with nowhere to hold the fair. The council offered space on the Westwood to hold the fair but the organisers together with the solicitors of The Showmen’s Guild demanded that they were allocated a site ‘within the walls of Beverley’ stating that The Royal Charter gave them that right.
In 2003, the Beverley Town Fair was, once again sited in the centre of the town on Saturday Market. The fair is now limited to one week a year starting on August Bank Holiday Sunday.
Beverley is the main setting for Domini Highsmith's "Father Simeon" trilogy:
Keeper at the Shrine (1994), Guardian at the Gate (1995) and Master of the Keys (1996).
^Rev. E. M. Stone History of Beverley (Mass.), from its settlement in 1630 to 1842. 12mo. Boston, 1843
^Genealogical and Personal Memoirs – Page 1460 William Richard Cutter "Mr. Balch was born in Beverley, Massachusetts, September 30, 1704, and died in Bradford (Grove- land) January 12, 1791–2."
^Los Angeles Magazine – December 1996 – Page 99 Vol. 41, No. 12 "Beverly Farms appears to have been named after the nearby town of Beverly, which was in turn named after Beverley, England. That Yorkshire cathedral town was named in the 8th century or so for an earlier settlement called Beverlac – a ...
^A P Baggs, L M Brown, G C F Forster, I Hall, R E Horrox, G H R Kent, D Neave, "Markets and Fairs", in A History of the County of York East Riding: Volume 6, the Borough and Liberties of Beverley (Victoria County History) ed. K J Allison (London, 1989), pp. 218–223 (British History Online; accessed 19 August 2024)
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