Beverly Minster

This beautiful building is found in (you guessed it) Beverly in Yorkshire, and was the concluding building for our visit. 

It has such amazing stone work, with such detail, care and precision, its astounding.  We don't know the name of the artists who did the work, which is unfortunate.  They deserve recognition for what they did.

Just look at this sculpture of Saint Catharine (I know it's supposed to be her because she is always depicted with a sword and a wheel of fortune - not the tv show, but the wheel we all ride as our fortunes go up and down).  I'm very impressed by the drapery of the cloth, and how well it has withstood the effects of time.  The little grotesque at her feet is not quite so lucky.

One of the things that continues to surprise me, though I suppose it shouldn't by now, is the number of strange images that are obviously not religious that show up in these churches.  Like this guy who has a face instead of feet. Or maybe he is kneeling on a demon.

This creature is probably performing a rude gesture:

One of the strangest things to me was that within a working church with an assigned chaplain and specified meeting times there is a gift shop.  Stranger still was what I found in the gift shop.

Smack in the center there is a sarcophagus.  And commemorative floor and wall tiles paid for by wealthy families to memorialize their dead.  I'm not sure I ever figured out who was buried here, but the fabric details in the carving caught my attention.

There is such wonderful attention to what was probably a very costly and beautiful costume.  I would like to have seen it fully painted.


Over in the corner of the shop was the sarcophagus of this poor fellow:

The legs that give you a perspective of the size of this monument (which also indicates its comparative lack of importance) are those of my friend Hannah.  She was teasing me that I could not sneak up on her; she could hear me coming from the sound of my camera.  Well, I did eventually run out of battery.  But not before I got pictures of this lovely lacy stonework:

These beautiful pipes for the organ:

Or this interesting modern sculpture of pilgrims,

with their matching stained glass window.  (There's stained glass in the pilgrims themselves as well.)

I did not get pictures of the 68 misericords, the Norman era baptismal font or the grounds.

After visiting the Minster, Hannah and I stopped at a tea shop, where I picked up some traditional turkish delight, in the traditional flavors of rose and lemon.  I really enjoyed the rose flavored ones.  After the jello-like substance was gone, the scent of roses stayed in the roof of my mouth for about fifteen minutes afterward.  It was lovely.


Next time...flowers!