Beverley

Beverley is a market town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is located north-west of Hull city centre. At the 2021 census the built-up area of the town had a population of 30,930, and the smaller civil parish had a population of 18,014. It is the county town of the East Riding of Yorkshire.

The town was founded in the seventh century by John of Beverley, who established a church in the area. It was originally named Inderawuda, and was part of the Anglian kingdom of Northumbria. The town came under Viking control in the 850s, then became part of the Kingdom of England. John of Beverley was made a saint in 1037, and the town was a place of pilgrimage for the remainder of the Middle Ages. It continued to grow under the Normans, when its trading industry was first established, and eventually became a significant wool-trading town and the eleventh-largest settlement in England. After the Reformation, the stature of Beverley was much reduced. thumb|Beverley Minster The town contains several landmarks, including Beverley Minster, Westwood common, North Bar gatehouse, St Mary's Church, and Beverley Racecourse. It inspired the naming of the city of Beverly, Massachusetts, which in turn was the indirect source of the name for Beverly Hills, California, which was named after its Beverly Farms neighbourhood.