Town in East Yorkshire, England
Beverley
A stone rabbit dressed as a pilgrim, said to have inspired Alice's White Rabbit, sits in this East Yorkshire market town.
Key information
- County
- East Yorkshire
- Nation
- England
- Population
- around 30,000 (2021)
- Known for
- Beverley Minster, the Westwood common, North Bar, medieval minstrel carvings
- What locals are called
- Beverlonians
- Famous people
- St John of Beverley, St John Fisher
- Football clubs
- Beverley Town
About Beverley
The rabbit that may have gone down the hole
Look above the entrance of St Mary's Church and you will find a small carved rabbit in a pilgrim's outfit, with a staff and a scrip. Local tradition says it was the seed of the White Rabbit in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Whether or not Lewis Carroll ever laid eyes on it, the town has taken the idea to heart. It is one of the delights of Beverley: a place where medieval stonemasons clearly had a sense of humour. The church has other treats too, including a painted chancel ceiling of English kings.
A minster bigger than many cathedrals
Beverley Minster is the town's showpiece. Building began around 1220 and carried on, in a smooth Gothic style, into the 15th century. Its twin west towers are among the finest in England. The name Nicholas Hawksmoor is often linked to it: when he designed the west towers of Westminster Abbey in the 1730s, he is said to have looked to Beverley for inspiration. Inside, the stone and wood are packed with carvings, including dozens of medieval musicians. They are a reminder that Beverley once had a busy guild of minstrels. And then there is the Frith stool, an ancient stone seat. Anyone who reached it was under the Minster's protection, a sanctuary the church guarded fiercely.
The saint who put Beverley on the map
The story begins with John of Beverley, a bishop of York who founded a monastery here and died in 721. He was later made a saint, and pilgrims poured in to visit his shrine. King Athelstan is said to have credited John for his victory in the north in 934, and he granted the church privileges and sanctuary rights in thanks. Pilgrims brought money, money brought merchants, and merchants brought wool and cloth. In the Middle Ages Beverley was one of the wealthiest towns in northern England, which explains why a place this size has a church of such scale.
Cows on the common, horses on the turf
On the edge of town lies the Westwood, an open stretch of common land where cattle still graze, and where townsfolk have walked, played golf and watched horses race for centuries. The racecourse sits on the Westwood, so a day at Beverley Races means a day out on a common where cattle are never far away. The old windmill on the Westwood is another local landmark. The grazing is overseen by pasture masters, a tradition that shows how long Beverley has cared for its green space.
Gates, markets and a town built of brick
North Bar, built in 1409, is the only medieval gate that survives from Beverley's town defences. Buses and cars still squeeze through its brick archway, which is as good a way as any to travel through time. The town has two market places, Saturday Market and Wednesday Market, and the Saturday one still draws shoppers. Handsome Georgian houses and narrow lanes fill the streets between them. Beverley Beck, a short canal that links the town to the River Hull, was once the route for goods in and out of town. The calendar is full: the Beverley Folk Festival, the Early Music Festival and the races all pull in visitors. Locals are called Beverlonians, and the town's football side is Beverley Town.
Famous sons and a Tudor martyr
Beverley's best-known figures are from the distant past. Besides St John himself, the town was the birthplace of St John Fisher, born here in 1469. He became Bishop of Rochester and was executed in 1535 after refusing to accept Henry VIII as head of the English church. That gives the town two saints with the same first name, which is rather more than most market towns can claim.