BEVERLEY, municipal borough in the East Riding of York shire, England, eight m. N.N.W. of Hull on a branch of the L.N.E.R. Population (1931) 14,011. It lies in a level country east of the Yorkshire Wolds, near the river Hull, and has com munication by canal with Hull. There are evidences of a pre Conquest. A traditional charter of 925 is said to have granted sanc tuary in the town. Thurstan, archbishop of York, gave the bur gesses their first charter in the reign of Henry I. The church of St. John the Evangelist, Beverley minster, is on the site of a Saxon church founded by John of Beverley (640-721), which became a college of secular canons in the loth century. It shows some of the finest examples of Early English architecture in the country, while the west front and most of the exterior is in the Decorated style. The church of St. Mary also shows beautiful Decorated and Perpendicular work. Of the old walls of the town only a 15th century gateway remains. Cloth weaving, one of the chief mediae val industries of Beverley, was important as early as 1315. Beverley was a large market centre, especially from Tudor times, and in 1534-55 was granted three fairs together with weekly mar kets on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Incorporation charters were granted in 1573, 1629, 1663 and 1685. In the 18th and 19th cen turies a large agricultural trade grew up and the town became the social centre of the neighbourhood. Subsidiary industries include tanning, brewing and the manufacture of chemicals. Beverley has been largely superseded by Hull. The municipal borough has an area of 2,404 ac. and is the seat of a suffragan bishop in the diocese of York. Beverley is in the Holderness parliamentary division.