Beverley & District

Local History

Beverley has a long and varied history dating back to the 8th century, when Archbishop John of York established a wooden monastery on the site of the current Minster. In its time, Beverley has witnessed Viking invasion, been a centre of pilgrimage and sanctuary, suffered disturbance during the Civil War, seen growth as a prosperous market town, undergone great change after the two World Wars and much more besides. The surrounding district has an even longer human history, with evidence of Bronze Age and Iron Age settlement and religious ritual.

It is hardly surprising, then, that there is a lot of interest in local history - it's one of our most popular group activities.

We have two lively and active local history groups meeting on different days of the week. They all arrange talks, walks, projects and quizzes on topics from prehistory to the present day.

Our groups have explored the Iron and Bronze age history of the Westwood, the history of the Beverley Art Gallery, and undertaken an examination of the town's medieval crafts and guilds. We sometimes prepare a report about what we have seen and done; You can find more by clicking here Local History Meetings Archive.

Another recent project included our "Village Group Project" when we investigated interesting facets of the history of the villages surrounding Beverley and reported back to members.

If you are interested in learning more, then please contact one of the group coordinators, whose details you can find below.

Please note that a one-off joining fee may apply to cover some external speakers’ costs.

Group Meeting Details