THE HISTORY OF BEVERLEY

By Ben Turney-White

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Beverley trail

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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

Designed by ben Turney-White

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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