Beverley Minster, East Riding of Yorkshire
Beverley Minster is one of the largest parish churches in the UK, larger than one-third of all English cathedrals, and is regarded as a Gothic masterpiece. Originally a collegiate church, it was not selected as a bishop's seat during the Dissolution of the Monasteries; nevertheless, it survived as a parish church and the chapter house and the attached church of St Martin were the only major parts of the building to be lost.
The minster owes its origin and much of its subsequent importance to Saint John of Beverley, Bishop of York (706–714?), who founded a monastery locally c. 700 and whose remains still lie in a vault beneath the nave. Another tradition attributes to King Athelstan the refoundation of the monastery as a collegiate church of secular canons. The establishment of a major minster and its privileges was more likely a gradual process but, by the early 11th century, Bishop John's tomb had become a major pilgrimage centre.
Beverley Minster, East Riding of Yorkshire
Beverley Minster is one of the largest parish churches in the UK, larger than one-third of all English cathedrals, and is regarded as a Gothic masterpiece. Originally a collegiate church, it was not selected as a bishop's seat during the Dissolution of the Monasteries; nevertheless, it survived as a parish church and the chapter house and the attached church of St Martin were the only major parts of the building to be lost.
The minster owes its origin and much of its subsequent importance to Saint John of Beverley, Bishop of York (706–714?), who founded a monastery locally c. 700 and whose remains still lie in a vault beneath the nave. Another tradition attributes to King Athelstan the refoundation of the monastery as a collegiate church of secular canons. The establishment of a major minster and its privileges was more likely a gradual process but, by the early 11th century, Bishop John's tomb had become a major pilgrimage centre.