Beverley

Beverley

Beverley, town, unitary authority of East Riding of Yorkshire, historic county of Yorkshire, northeastern England. It is situated just north of the city of Kingston upon Hull (of which it is a residential suburb) and is the administrative centre of the unitary authority.

The town of Beverley grew in close association with a monastery established in the 7th century. Destroyed by the Danes in 806, the monastery was refounded by the Anglo-Saxon king Athelstan (reigned 925–939). The great Beverley Minster that dominates the town is a noted example of Gothic architecture as it developed from Early English to Decorated style. The community’s first charter (1129) established it as an important market centre with a flourishing European cloth trade, but, because there has been no large-scale modern industrial development, much of its character as an old established abbey and market town has been retained. Pop. (2001) 17,549; (2011) 18,624.