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An Archbishop who put the
Scots to rout.
by
Roy Hattersley
IN SEARCH OF
ENGLAND
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Daily Mail
Tuesday, October 24, 2006.
BEVERLEY in the EAST RIDING of YORKSHIRE – a town of such historical distiction that its lampposts are ennobled with a monogram. Thornton Iron Works, 1826. No town in England is more English, as the names of its narrow streets proclaim.
Wander through Swaby’s Yard. Monk’s Walk and Toll Gavel. Then pause in Saturday Market. From there it is just possible to see – over the rooftops and between the chimney pots – the towers of the two finest parish churches in England.
Beverley Minister is as good as most, and better than many cathedrals. St. Mary’s, though an architectural gem and a historic delight, is overshadowed by the Minister’s reputation. So its glories –
Including the medieval painted panels on the chancel ceiling which have survived the heavy hand of Victorian restoration – are overlooked.
Each church would be exalted in most English towns. But Beverly exudes a self-confidence which comes from a long history of respectable prosperity. Beverly people – in the words of Trevor Brook, working in the shadow of the Minister’s twin west towers –
‘take it all for granted’.
Despite its ancient magnificence – arches in the nave reaching halfway up to heaven and medieval glass in the great east window – Beverley Minister remains a parish church. Last Friday afternoon, tea and cakes were served in front of the military memorials in the south transept.
It was a funeral tea, following the interment of Jill Mitchell, a church warden who had died in her 62nd year. The reverend Nick Drayson, associate vicar of Beverley, was eloquent in his insistence that the Minister should be homely as well as holy.
But to the occasional visitor, the Minster can best be described in one overworked adjective – awesome. Indeed, it was a shock to hear Mr and Mrs David Kilpatrick –
Leaving the funeral for the winter sunshine of an October afternoon –
Describe themselves as ‘just regular worshippers’ as if the Minister was merely another church.
St Mary’s on the other side of town was founded by Thurstan, Archbishop of York and Provost of the original Mnister, which was destroyed in 1188. Like so many churches, St Mary’s has a place in the history of English arms as well as English religion.
When Thurstan discovered that the invading Scots were shipping prisoners north and selling them as slaves, he marshalled an army and marched against them
under the banner of St Peter of York.
St Winifred of Rippon and St John of Beverley.
The Scots were roundly defeated, although they were outnumbered the English in what came to be called
THE BATTLE OF THE STANDARDS.
The reason for Thurstan’s victory has always been a matter of controversy. It might have been the intercession of the three saints. Or, it was possibly the firepower of the English archers. [Or Both]
Whatever the reason for the rout of the Scots, Thurstan attributed it to divine intervention and, in thanks to God, gave Beverley a second church of undoubted magnificence. In consequence Beverley can boast two of everything clerical.
There is a Norman font with 18th century cover in the Minster and a 16th-century font in St Mary’s. Both churches have complicated carvings decorating their walls. In the Minister, stone musicians play harps, lutes, tambourines, bagpipes and cymbals.
In St Mary’s, a smiling rabbit (carrying a pilgrims cross) leans out at a slightly drunken angle from the curve of an arch. It is not the most surprising symbal to be found in the church. As well as the variety of monkeys which adorn the choir stalls, St Mary’s has a strange notice just inside the south porch.
‘No ice creams, food or dogs’
Until I read that categoric injunction, the idea that people might eat their picnics in pews never entered into my head. Nor, did I imagine that walkers with dogs would be prevented from saying a silent prayer. St Francis of Assisi would not e amused.
BUT Beverley is obsessively anxious to keep dogs in their proper place and under suitable control. At street corners, the pavements are decorated with whitewashed stencils of dogs which are meant to remind responsible owners to keep the streets clean and tidy.
There is no excuse for anything else. The Westwood, within the town boundaries, offers burghers the right to graze their cattle on still common ground and it is an ideal place to exercise dogs. And it is only part of the green belt which surrounds Beverley.
As speculative building encroaches on other parts of England, most of Beverley Pastures have been preserved as they were in
MEDIEVAL ENGLAND.
When the lords of the manor gave the common land to Beverley, it was a walled town with three gates. Today only one, the North Bar Within and North Bar Without remains – strange names or districts within a borough through which great lorries rush on their way from York to the Humber and on to Europe.
Beverley is firmly part of the 21st century. But it is still an elegant reminder of the England in which the
CHURCH WAS ALL.
* * *
[Font altered-bolding & underlining used-comments in brackets.]
OCTOBER/06
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'The
Spirit of England'
by
Winston
Churchill
In London on St.George's Day -1953
*
VOTE
-2007
TO
LEAVE
THE
EUROPEAN
UNION
WITH THE ONLY PARTY WITH A MANDATE
TO SET YOU
FREE
THE
UK
INDEPENDENCE PARTY
www.ukip.org
THE QUESTION THAT THE
VOTER MUST ANSWER
‘DO
YOU WISH TO BE GOVERNED BY YOUR OWN PEOPLE, LAW AND CUSTOM OR BY THE
CORRUPT ,EXPENSIVE UNACCOUNTABLE AND CORRUPT ALIEN BUSYBODY
BRUSSELS’
-SIMPLE IS IT NOT?
TO RECLAIM YOUR DEMOCRACY DON'T
VOTE FOR THE TRIPARTITE PARTIES IN WESTMINSTER
BUT
SMALL PARTIES THAT SPEAK THEIR
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ONLY
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BACK
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PEOPLE
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SCOTLAND -ITS PARLIAMENT -WALES-ITS
ASSEMBLY-ENGLAND-STILL
AWAITS ITS PARLIAMENT-WHY?
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Home
Rule
for
Scotland
WHY
NOT
HOME
RULE
for
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