“Open the door and enter a new world.” In 2020, fourteen new carvings of characters from The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis are being made for St Mary’s as part of our project to repair the stonework of the north nave clerestory. Discover more about the project, see the designs for the carvings, and find out about the classic stories which inspired them here:
We highlight some of the splendours of St Mary’s below. You can also discover more about the heritage of this beautiful building in The Pilgrim Rabbit, our heritage newsletter. Read the current and all past editions here. You can also join the mailing list to receive the periodical automatically.
Constructed originally in 1445, the splendid chancel ceiling is one of the glories of St Mary’s. It depicts forty kings of England, from the legendary Brutus to Henry VI – who visited Beverley in 1448.
The crowning feature of the church is St Michael’s Chapel, built between 1325-45. The window tracery and ribbed vaulting are a tour de force of Gothic art. The chapel’s carving of a hare with a pilgrim’s satchel is said to be the inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s White Rabbit!
Amidst the turbulence of 17th century life in the British Isles, an extraordinary event took place in Beverley – a historic moment of drama and tragedy, recorded for posterity in this stone tablet on the exterior south chancel wall of St Mary’s.
If Beverley had no Minster, St Mary’s would still draw crowds to the town.
Simon Jenkins
England’s Thousand Best Churches