SITES AND REMAINS OF
RELIGIOUS HOUSES
The institutional history of the religious houses
of Beverley is described elsewhere, (fn. 40) as is the
architectural history of the collegiate church, the
minster, which later became a parish church. (fn. 41)
The following account is concerned with the
sites and buildings of the college, apart from the
church, and of the other religious houses, and
with their fate after the Dissolution. Several of
the lesser hospitals were succeeded by postReformation almshouses, and their later history
is considered in another section. (fn. 42)
St. John's College.
The minster was apparently
not contained within a clearly defined 'close'
or precinct, though the church was probably
encircled by collegiate buildings and clerical
houses. The only communal building of which
there is evidence is the Bedern, which included
a refectory and dormitory for the provost, the
canons or prebendaries until they acquired their
own houses, the vicars, and some of the lesser
clerks. It also housed the provost's court and
gaol. (fn. 43) The refectory of the Bedern was mentioned in 1237 (fn. 44) and the hall in 1304, and in the
latter year an inventory of the provost's goods
made reference to the great and small halls, two
kitchens, and other rooms, presumably all in the
Bedern. (fn. 45) In the early 15th century the provost
added a tower to the Bedern. The Bedern and
provost's house may later have been separated
by the provison of a new building for the
Bedern, (fn. 46) and in 1472 the seven parsons also had
a separate house, next to the Bedern. (fn. 47) The
provost's house was evidently large (fn. 48) and Leland
thought that the fairest parts of it were the gate
and the front. (fn. 49) The Bedern probably lay west
of the minster, in the modern St. John Street,
occupying the ground between Keldgate and
Minster Moorgate. (fn. 50)
By the early 14th century the canons had
their own prebendal houses standing around the
minster, (fn. 51) St. Martin's, for example, north of
the church, St. Andrew's in Flemingate, St.
Stephen's in or near Lurk Lane, and St. James's
in Eastgate. (fn. 52) The houses of the chancellor,
precentor, and sacrist were probably all in Minster Moorgate. (fn. 53)
The prebendal houses of St. Andrew and St.
Michael were presumably included in the grant
of those prebends by the two canons to Sir
Michael Stanhope in 1547. (fn. 54) After the suppression of the college the prebendal houses of
St. James, St. Catherine, St. Martin, St. Peter,
and St. Stephen, and the houses of the provost,
the chancellor, the precentor, the sacrist, and
the seven parsons were all granted by the Crown
to Stanhope and John Bellow in 1548, and the
site of the house of the vicars (i.e. the Bedern)
and the prebendal house of St. Mary the next
year. (fn. 55) It was apparently Stanhope who was
responsible for the demolition c. 1550 of the
chapter house, charnel, and St. Martin's chapel
at the minster and the sale of lead thence and
from the gatehouse of the provost's house. (fn. 56)
After Stanhope's attainder in 1552 the Crown
granted the prebendal house of St. James to
Edward Fiennes, Lord Clinton and Saye, and
Henry Herdson the same year, the seven parsons'
house, together with ground perhaps forming
part of the sites of the chancellor's, precentor's,
and sacrist's houses, to Lady (Joan) Constable
and Sir John Constable in 1554, (fn. 57) and St. Andrew's prebendal house to the corporation in
1585. (fn. 58) By 1590 St. Michael's prebendal house
belonged to Michael Warton. (fn. 59)
Little remains of any of the collegiate buildings
or houses. Nos. 6-11 St. John Street, however,
although much altered are thought to date from
c. 1500, the front wall of no. 9 resting on earlier
stone foundations. (fn. 60)
The remains of 14th- and 15th-century buildings have been excavated in Keldgate, near Lurk
Lane, but they have not been identified. (fn. 61)
The Dominican Friary.
The Dominicans were
established in Beverley before 1240. (fn. 62) Building
work at the friary, which lay north-east of the
minster, beyond Eastgate, was apparently in
progress in 1263, when the king gave 15 oaks
for timber. A proposed gift of land to enlarge
the site was found in 1309 to be prejudicial to
the Crown. (fn. 63) The dormitory and library were
burnt down in 1449, whereupon the king contributed towards the rebuilding. When the friary
was dissolved in 1539 the site covered 4½ a.
within the precinct wall, including churchyard,
gardens, and orchards, (fn. 64) and it may therefore
not have included the whole of the area bounded
by Eastgate, Trinity Lane, Grovehill Road,
Chantry Lane, and Friars Lane. (fn. 65)
The site was let by the Crown in 1539 to
Richard Faircliff and then granted in fee in 1544
to John Pope. (fn. 66) It later passed to the Wartons.
Michael Warton (d. 1590) had a chief house
called the Black Friars (fn. 67) which fell to the share
of C. A. Pelham when the former Warton estates
were partitioned in 1775. (fn. 68) The house was sold
to Richard Whiteing in 1827. (fn. 69) It was later
converted to three houses, in divided ownership,
but all were sold to Armstrong Patents Co. Ltd.
in 1960 as part of its factory site. (fn. 70) Restoration
of the building began in 1974 and it was opened
as a youth hostel in 1984. (fn. 71)
Excavations between 1960 and 1983 uncovered
the foundations of part of the church and cloisters, and further excavations in 1986-7 revealed
a complex building history and the addition of
a second cloister. (fn. 72) The surviving building is of
ashlar, chalk rubble, and brick, with timberframed partition walls. That part built mainly
of stone and chalk stands on 14th-century footings and has a doorway of the same period; a
two-storeyed porch was added, perhaps in the
16th century. The brick part presumably represents the rebuilding that took place after 1449.
Surviving wall paintings are probably of the late
15th or early 16th century. Two 16th-century
brick gateways also remain, one in situ in the
precinct wall in Friars Lane, the other moved
in the 1960s from the east to the west side of
Eastgate. (fn. 73)
The Franciscan Friary.
The Franciscans were
established in Beverley by 1267, (fn. 74) evidently on
a site outside Newbegin bar in a lane later known
as Westwood Road and on the north side of St.
Giles's croft. (fn. 75) It was presumably the site near
St. Helen's chapel (fn. 76) which was said to have been
given to them by William Likston and Henry
Wigthon, and where their house was said to have
fallen through poverty to decay. (fn. 77) The friars'
abandonment of the house may have been anticipated (fn. 78) and it eventually took place, but presumably not before the site had been enlarged by a
gift of 3 a. from Warter priory in 1304. (fn. 79) John
of Hotham's gift of a moiety of 1¼ a. in 1352 (fn. 80)
was probably for a new site and building work
was evidently in progress in 1356, when the
friars were allowed to take sand from Westwood
to finish it. (fn. 81) The refounded house stood outside
Keldgate bar, evidently close to Queensgate, (fn. 82)
and its proximity to Westwood was sometimes
noticed. (fn. 83) It was evidently intended to found a
chantry for Thomas Kelk and his son John in
the friary church c. 1400, but the chantry seems
eventually to have been established in St. Mary's
church instead. (fn. 84) A bequest of 95 marks by John
Kelk in 1407 for repairing the friars' church and
dormitory (fn. 85) suggests extensive work. When the
friary was dissolved in 1539 the site covered
7 a., evidently occupying the ground between
Westwood, Cartwright Lane, Sloe Lane, and the
borough boundary. (fn. 86)
The house and site were granted by the Crown,
in 1540 to Thomas Culpeper (fn. 87) and the site
several times changed hands later in the 16th
century. (fn. 88) In the early 19th century the digging
of clay for a brickyard which lay on the west
side of Queensgate near the junction with Sloe
Lane revealed a cemetery and foundations which
are presumed to have been those of the friary. (fn. 89)
Closes known at least since the early 18th century
as High and Low Friars (fn. 90) mark the earlier site
of the friary. Many remains have been found in
Low Friars. (fn. 91)
The Preceptory of the Holy Trinity.
The house
of the Knights Hospitallers, which was probably
founded soon after 1201, lay on the east side of
the town, beyond Trinity Lane. (fn. 92) When the
preceptory was dissolved in 1540 the site covered
11 a. (fn. 93) The house and site were let by the Crown
in 1541 to John Cowell and then granted in fee
to Sir William Berkeley in 1544. (fn. 94) The site later
passed through various hands (fn. 95) before being
sold to the corporation, which evidently took
possession in 1577 but did not complete the
purchase until 1585. (fn. 96)
The house was moated, and it or another built
on the site was mentioned in the later 16th
century. (fn. 97) A building within the moat was used
as a pest house during the 17th-century plagues
and it still stood in the mid 18th century. (fn. 98) A
corporation lessee of the Inner Trinities, as the
site was called, was ordered in 1825 to restore
part of the moat that he had filled in. (fn. 99) The
Inner and part of the Outer Trinities were used
for the railway station and line in 1846, but parts
of the moat survived in the late 19th century. (fn. 1)
Both medieval and 17th-century burials on the
site were discovered in the 19th century, and
others, together with the remains of buildings,
in the 20th. (fn. 2)
St. Giles's Hospital.
The house existed by the
late 12th century and was annexed to Warter
priory in 1277. (fn. 3) Together with its church and
churchyard it evidently stood on the west side
of Lairgate, to the north of Minster Moorgate. (fn. 4)
It was dissolved in 1536 (fn. 5) and the site was granted
to Thomas Manners, earl of Rutland, the same
year. (fn. 6) The site evidently belonged to Robert
Grey (d. 1557) (fn. 7) and, as the 'manor' of St. Giles,
was acquired by Ralph Hansby in 1582. (fn. 8) The
former hospital was presumably the chief house
called St. Giles which belonged to Hansby in
1616 and to Roger Beckwith in 1635 (fn. 9) and the
house called St. Giles owned by the Appleyards
in the early 18th century. It was sold to Thomas
Pennyman in 1753 (fn. 10) and the Hall, Lairgate, was
later built on the site.
St. Nicholas's Hospital.
The house, which was
mentioned in 1287, stood north-east of the minster, near Chantry Lane. Its occupants were
sometimes called the brotherhood (fraria) of St.
Nicholas and the house sometimes the 'frary'. (fn. 11)
A chantry in the hospital chapel was mentioned
from 1311 and was endowed in 1378; it was
worth £5 6s. 5d. at the suppression. (fn. 12) The house,
chapel, and 3-a. Friary garth were granted by
the Crown in 1549 to Sir Michael Stanhope
and John Bellow, (fn. 13) but forfeited on Stanhope's
attainder in 1552. The buildings may have been
in 'the Paradise' or Paradise close, which belonged to Edward Truslove by 1609, to the
corporation by 1636, and later to the Wartons. (fn. 14)
Part of a moat around the close still existed in
the late 19th century and the remains of buildings
have been found there. (fn. 15)
The Hospital of the Holy Trinity.
A chantry
chapel and hospital were founded by John of
Aike by 1397 and the chantry was worth £3 12s.
at the suppression. (fn. 16) The building, which stood
in Toll Gavel, next to Cross bridge, had been
acquired by the town council by 1556-7 (fn. 17) and
was for a time maintained as a maison dieu
before being used as a prison. (fn. 18)
St. John the Baptist's Hospital.
The hospital,
which was mentioned in 1440, (fn. 19) stood on the
east side of Butcher Row, close to Wednesday
Market. It included a chapel with a chantry
worth £7 85. 2¼d. at the suppression. (fn. 20) It was
granted by the. Crown in 1549 to Edward Pease
and William Winlove, (fn. 21) but in 1585 it was
included in a Crown grant to the corporation. (fn. 22)
A maison dieu presumably on the same site was
later maintained by the corporation. (fn. 23)
St. John the Evangelist's Hospital.
The hospital,
which was mentioned in 1444, (fn. 24) stood on the
west side of Lairgate, near the southern end of
the street. It was granted by the Crown in 1585
to the corporation, (fn. 25) which maintained a maison
dieu that was presumably on the same site. (fn. 26)
St. Mary's Hospital.
The hospital, which was
mentioned in 1433-4, (fn. 27) stood on the east side of
North Bar Without, next to the bar. By 1557-8
it had been acquired by the town council, (fn. 28)
which maintained a maison dieu there. (fn. 29)
Other hospitals.
Several poorhouses were
founded by townsmen in the Middle Ages but
they were evidently unendowed and short
lived. (fn. 30) They probably included those in Dead
Lane and Wood Lane mentioned in 1475. (fn. 31)
Leper houses.
A site in Humbergate (now
Queensgate) was provided for a leper house in
1332. (fn. 32) The house apparently existed until 1402 (fn. 33)
but was replaced that year by another outside
North bar. (fn. 34) The 'spittle house' was mentioned
from the 16th (fn. 35) to the early 18th century. (fn. 36)