Beverley Minster – Green Men, Musicians & pagan medieval masonry, treadmills and wonder.

Posted on by Opher

Beverley Minster is a beautiful medieval church. The early church collapsed and this one was started in 1220 and took two hundred years to build. So far so good.

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They were gay old times back then. Old time religion was fun. The stone masons had a sense of humour. All around the place you can find evidence of the pagan religion still showing through. The Green Men peer down at you through the foliage. IMG_2072 IMG_2074 IMG_2075 IMG_2076 IMG_2077

There were also a lot of musical instruments. Church was a bit of a knees-up and kicking your heels. They even had sheep and cattle in the place!IMG_2080 IMG_2081

The stain glass is impressive.

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We went up into the roof space where they have the original treadmill that they used to raise the stones in its building – and it still works!

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You can look down through the hole that the stones were brought up through. IMG_2121 IMG_2132

This is looking down through the hole at the organ below – very optical illusionary.

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21 thoughts on “Beverley Minster – Green Men, Musicians & pagan medieval masonry, treadmills and wonder.”

    1. Back in those days the Minster must have appeared amazing. People lived in little huts of wattle and daub. Something as huge and majestic as the Minster would have been so much more incredible.
      The masonry and figures are really interesting. A bit of an insight into the minds of the people who made them hundreds of years ago.
      Thanks for commenting – best wishes Opher

  2. This looks stunning. Finland has a lot of old churches many hundreds of years. The town my husband comes from has an old wooden church that is over 200 years old. Pretty amazing given that they tended to burn down easily. This one is still in use and good condition.

    1. I have a great affinity for old things – probably why I still like myself!
      Beverley Minster is an amazing building – full of such history. I had the privilege of speaking in there a number of times. My school was founded there in 700 AD. We are no longer a church school but retained a connection. We held a number of events in the church and it was always packed. It was quite something, as an antitheist, to address a packed congregation in such a wondrous setting. I refrained from being naughty.

      1. I’m so happy to hear you like yourself ! And good for you managing to stay well behaved! Australia is such a young country it makes our heritage young. And we are a very riotous mix of cultures too.

  3. Interesting post. I loved Ken Follett’s “Pillars of the Earth” where he described cathedral building in quite some detail. Great book.

      1. I normally get bogged down in description — which is why I can’t read stuff by authors like Tom Clancy and BARELY got through George R.R. Martin’s books — but for some reason I found the intricate building amazing. You might like it. Follett had actually had a fascination with cathedrals for a long time. Then he went around Europe photographing them, and if I recall correctly, that’s where the idea for the book came from.

      4. I think there is an arms race going on – the bigger and more impressive the more credibility! They try to outdo each other. If it’s big enough and impressive enough it must be true.

      5. You might find it interesting then that the large churches in the states — the ones whose main job has been to entertain! — are beginning to fall apart. The new generation is wonderfully of the mindset that the church is there to help people holistically. It’s part of what is now being labeled The Emerging Church, and is patterned after the first century church. LOTS of religious folks here don’t like it! We belong to one of the emerging churches. In September we’re going to be packaging 20,000 meals to be sent to schools in Haiti because if the kids know they’ll get a hot meal at school, they’ll show up. We get involved with lots of folks in our neighborhood, too. You keep holding out for the world to change, I keep holding out for the “churches” to change.

        You’ll laugh… We were talking in Sunday School yesterday about unusual ways people experience God. I blurted out that I’m writing a story that parallels my journey using tarot cards. A few mouths fell open. But finally one gal said, they’re just pictures on a card. They’re not bad. It’s when people use them wrongly that they become bad things. I was kind of floored. I figured they’d think I was a heathen. Oh well. My secret is out! LOL

      6. Cheryl – I know deep down you are a pagan heathen!
        Sounds as if the churches are moving in the right direction – lots of good social, practical stuff. They just need to jettison the Jesus/God thing now!
        I know – I’m terrible. No hope for me Cheryl.

    2. I’ve not changed yet. One of my early girlfriends said I was incorrigible. I deliberately misinterpreted that as encourageable. I’m probably both.

    1. I know I do sometimes without intent. The target of my anger is never those at hand. There are institutions that I think need opposing. There are things I passionately believe and things that I feel need saying. But there is never anything I intend personally against people I know. Perhaps I speak my mind too much.

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