Beverley Minster

Tony was booked in at the Treasure House (wonderful name!) in Beverley today to look at archive material pertaining to the workhouse at Howden where some of his ancestors were housed in the late 19th century.  Whilst he was deep in the research I explored Beverley, calling in at Cafe Velo first for a cuppa after the tedious journey.

The tourist information people were very helpful and, indeed, I discovered that Beverley have done an excellent job of 'marketing' the town's places of interest.  Several walking trails give the tourist a feel for the people who lived and worked there with illustrative artworks adding  extra interest.  I called in briefly at St Mary's Church at the top of the High Street to admire some of the 600 or so decorative ceiling bosses.  Some of them depict figures from history and the Bible, others are animal and magical creatures.  The woman acting as welcomer today drew my attention to a rabbit carved on one of the pillars which apparently was the inspiration for the illustrator of Alice in Wonderland for his White Rabbit.

From St Mary's I walked through the busy market town to the Guildhall which is only open on Wednesdays for a couple of hours, and took a daft selfie in the old Magistrates court in a judge's wig which happened to be left out for the amusement of children!

Then it was on to the Minster itself.  I somehow managed to acquire a guide.  I asked him if there were interesting things to spot as in St Mary's and he retorted; 'We don't talk about St Mary's here.'  OOps! It's a grand piece of architecture as all cathedrals are.  My 'guide' pointed out where the building had stopped for fifty years following the Black Death and how, when it resumed, you can see the effects of improvements in building technique in the stones and carvings. 

It was time to return to the Treasure House to see how Tony was getting on.  He had exhausted the resources so we had a cuppa and headed home.  A surprisingly enjoyable few hours.

The Treasure House has a tower which you can ascend to look across the rooftops.  It was tricky for me to blip the Minster down on the ground so this works better.