Beverley

Yorkshire town, in the Hull valley. John, bishop of York, founded or restored a monastery there; he was later canonized as St John of Beverley (1037). The archbishops of York were lords of the town, and in the 1120s Thurstan granted its burgesses the same liberties as York. The minster, rebuilt c. 1220–1400, surpasses in both size and beauty some English cathedrals. Beverley flourished, and by 1377 was one of the twelve largest English towns. Its trade and industry decayed in the 15th and 16th cents.