Beverley

Beverley is a market town, civil parish and the county town of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The town is noted for Beverley Minster, Beverley Westwood, North Bar (a 15th century gate), Beverley Racecourse and the oldest grammar school in the country, Beverley Grammar School.

The town was originally known as Inderawuda and was founded by Saint John of Beverley during the time of the Anglian kingdom of Northumbria. After a period of Viking control, it passed to the Cerdic dynasty, a period during which it gained prominence in terms of religious importance in Great Britain. It continued to grow especially under the Normans when its trading industry was first established. A place of pilgrimage throughout the Middle Ages due to its founder, Beverley eventually became a notable wool-trading town. Beverley was once the tenth-largest town in England, as well as one of the richest, because of its wool, and the pilgrims who came to venerate its founding saint, John of Beverley. But after the Reformation, the regional stature of Beverley was much reduced.

For 22 years, Beverley was the administrative centre of the local government district of the Borough of Beverley. It is now the County Town of the East Riding. It is located 8 miles (13 km) north-west of Hull, 10 miles (16 km) east of Market Weighton and 12 miles (19 km) west of Hornsea. According to the 2001 United Kingdom Census the total population of the urban area of Beverley was 29,110 - of whom 17,549 live within the historic parish boundaries. As well as its racecourse and markets, Beverley is known in the modern day for hosting various music festivals throughout the year, and also food festivals. In 2007 Beverley was named as the best place to live in the United Kingdom in an "Affordable Affluence" study by the Royal Bank of Scotland.