Beverley Minster is the headline act of the town and one of the great Gothic churches of England — it rivals many English cathedrals in scale, ambition, and quality of carving. The current building was begun around 1220 and took two centuries to complete, mostly in the Early English and Decorated Gothic styles, with the famous twin western towers added in the fifteenth century. The west front is among the finest in the country.
Inside, look for the Percy Tomb, a tour de force of fourteenth-century carving regarded as one of the great pieces of medieval sculpture in England, and the set of sixty-eight misericords under the choir stalls — small, often humorous figures hidden beneath the seats that medieval clergy rested against during long services. The Anglo-Saxon frith stool, a stone chair near the high altar, was the focal point of the Minster's medieval right of sanctuary. Free to enter; a small donation is requested.