Post on 29-Mar-2015
THE HISTORY OF BEVERLEY
By Ben Turney-White
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Beverley trail
SectionsFamily life
HOW IT STARTED?
Beverley means beaver stream (beavers were once common in
Britain). About 705 a monastery was founded by the stream. In
721 John of Beverley, the Bishop of York died and was buried at
the monastery. He was canonised (declared a saint) in 1037. It
was said that miracles occurred around his tomb e.g. people were
healed from illnesses. Soon pilgrims came to his burial place,
some of them hoping for cures, some merely to worship. Soon a
little trading settlement grew up around the monastery at
Beverley.
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ENTRANCESTO BEVERLEY
Medieval Beverley did not have a stone wall but it did have a ditch
and an earth rampart probably with a wooden palisade on top.
However there were 4 stone gates known as bars (bar is an old word
for gate). Merchants bringing goods into the town had to pay tolls at
the bars. The 4 bars were North Bar, Norwood Bar, Keldgate or South
Bar and Newbegin Bar. Only 1 of the 4 gates survives, the North Bar.
The present one was rebuilt in brick in 1409. When the town grew a
suburb appeared outside the gate and was called North Bar Without.
The buildings inside the gate were called North Bar Within.
15T H CENTURY TRADINGS
Beverley was famous in the 15th century for brick
making and tile making. In 1461 a by-law was passed
that stated 'on account of the stink, fouling of the air
and destruction of fruit trees no-one is to make a kiln
to make tiles in or nearer to the said town (Beverley)
than the kilns that are already built'. The kilns were
obviously on the outskirts of the town but it is not
known exactly where.
There was also a large leather industry in Beverley
and there were many tanners. There were also
butchers who lived and worked in Butcher Row. In
Beverley there were also potters and coopers.
However Beverley was most famous for its cloth
industry. Wool was woven in the town. Then it was
fulled. This means it was pounded in water and clay
to clean and thicken it. When it was dry the wool was
dyed. In 1390 a total of 38 trades were mentioned in
Beverley.
BEVERLEY BECK
Commerce in Beverley was helped in the 12th
century when the Archbishop persuaded the people
'to make a channel from the river of sufficient depth
to carry barges'. This made it easier to bring goods
to and from ships on the river.
FAIRS
In the Middle Ages there were weekly markets in Beverley. There
were also 3 annual fairs. Fairs were like markets but they were
held only once a year and buyers and sellers would come from all
over Northeast England to attend. Originally the market was held
in the south of the town, in a large triangular piece of land by the
Minster between Eastgate and Highgate. Gradually shops and
other buildings were erected on this market place and it shrunk in
size. The market continued to be held there but it became known
as the Wednesday Market.
In the 12th century a new market place was built
north of the town. It became known as Saturday
Market. A chapel dedicated to St Mary was built
there and in 1269 it became a parish church. The
Archbishop of York was Lord of the Manor of
Beverley and he had the right to charge tolls on
stallholders in the markets. Toll Gavel may have
been the place where tolls were charged.
MONKS
In the 13th century friars arrived in Beverley. The friars were like
monks but instead of withdrawing from the world they went out to
preach. By the 1230s there were Dominican friars in Beverley. They
were known as Black friars because of the colour of their costumes. By
1267 there were Franciscan friars in Beverley. They were called Grey
friars because of the colour of their habits. By the end of the 13th
century they moved to a site outside Keldgate Bar. In the early 13th
century the Knights Hospitallers came to Beverley. They were an order
of monks who provided hospitality to pilgrims and travellers.
HOSPITALS
In the Middle Ages the only 'hospitals' were run by
the church. In them monks or nuns would care for
the poor and infirm. Trinity hospital was founded in
Beverley in 1397. By the mid 15th century there
were 3 more, St Mary's, St John the Baptist's west of
the Wednesday Market and St John's Hospital by
Lairgate. There were also 2 leper hospitals. One was
outside Keldgate and another was outside North Bar.
HULL (A FAIL)
By the late 14th century the population of Beverley
had risen to over 5,000. By the standards of the time
it was a large town. It was much larger than Hull at
the time.
WESTWOOD
In the Middle Ages the church and Lord of the
Manor gave the people of Beverley land on 3 sides of
the town. These were common lands where the
townspeople could graze their livestock. The last
one, Westwood, was given in 1380. The lands, on 3
sides of the town, are sometimes called Beverley
pastures. In the 20th century they formed a 'green
belt' around Beverley.
OWNERS
At first the town of Beverley was owned and
controlled by the Archbishop of York, who was Lord
of the Manor. He built a house in the northern
market place in the 12th century. But in time the
Archbishop's grip on the town weakened and the
merchants increasingly took control. At first the
Archbishop appointed a steward to run the town but
from the 14th century Beverley was run by a council
of 12 keepers elected by the merchants.
In the 15th century, like many East Yorkshire
towns, Beverley went into decline, mostly because of
competition from up and coming towns in West
Yorkshire such as Bradford and Sheffield
SLAVERY
Numerous lectures, debates and campaigning
activities were carried out by the Society and its
associates. Most meetings were held at the Guildhall
in Beverley, which is now open to the public as an
East Riding Museums Service site.
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WILLIAM BEVERLEY
The President of the Society was William Beverley, whose family emigrated
from the East Riding to Virginia, North America in the late 1600’s. Over
generations the family’s cotton plantations grew in number as did their wealth
and power. William Beverley was brought up on one of these plantations on the
Blandfield Estate, towards the end of the 18th Century. He saw first hand how
the system of slavery operated and how the slaves owned by his family
suffered. He turned his back on his family’s business and went to Cambridge
University to finish his education. He became involved in anti-slavery
campaigning, coming into contact with William Wilberforce. He returned to
Beverley, married and became a founder of the Beverley Anti-Slavery Society.
WAR
Beverley was important in war as Meany keen
solders where recruited from it , some from
grammar school . Beverley wasn't really bombed
though in fact only one bomb it Beverley at
flemingate and some bullets hit the train station
from an English pilot supressing a German plane in a
dive.
So nothing much harmed Beverley except an
earthquake in the 1930s
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THE MINSTERS WARS
The minster has saved us from the bombs as the
Germans didn't want to destroy it as it was so big it
was an arrow pointing strait to hull(not that it saved
hull )
The minster once had a dome on it that wade to
much and the walls started to crack and so it was
removed.
THANK YOU FOR WATCHING
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Published by ben Turney-White
Website help By Tim Lambert
TimeLine by Tim lambert
Special thanks to grandad
And great grandad!
For helping me make this in one day…
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IN BEVERLEY
Family life
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MY GRANDAD
In world war two my grandad lived at 43 Westwood
road. Because of rations he would eat soup made
from left over chicken from a rich woman that she
fed her dog with. He is also a witness of the bullet
holes in the back of the train station.
He would recive letters from his dad (my great
grandad) who cooked in the war but at one point
was in captivity at mersa martru by the italliens
Great grandads dog tagIt saysStat,V111A 82162
Letter to great great grandad.
Grandads birth certificate.
Army transfer certificate
training
This is my great great grandmar in hospital in
world war 2back
How it startedslavery
Beverley at war
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WEBSITES
A timeline of Beverley
A history of Hull
A history of York
A history of Scarborough
A history of Yorkshire
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