Beverley Saturday Market, although not the first market in the town was started in the 12th. Century. In those days the Archbishop of York was Lord of the Manor of Beverley and he had the right to charge tolls on stallholders in the markets, Toll Gavel may have been the place where tolls were charged. The first council to be formed was two hundred years after this date and so the Market is two centuries older than the council.
Nowadays it is one of the best street markets in the country with a very wide variety of goods being sold, unlike so many markets that have deteriorated into rows of stalls selling the same goods Beverley has a great choice there is: fresh bread, both English and Italian, traditional sweet stalls selling Pontifract Cakes and Yorkshire boiled sweets, butchers selling meat straight from the farm, greengrocers supplying local produce at very good prices (try the Keyingham tomatoes) as well as exotic herbs and vegetables from around the world, cheese, fish, toys, DIY equipment, haberdashery and so much more. You can get a burger or go for a more refined snack of a cup of freshly ground coffee and a crape.
Celia Fiennes wrote about Beverley in the 17th. Century:
“The town is served with water by wells, there are many of these wells in the streets.”
Although not now in evidence the whole area is honeycombed with springs, at became evident when Brown’s of Beverley new outlet was being renovated, any attempt to dig up the Market Place and reconstruct it could hit one of these springs and cause a massive delay in the work. We must all remember that a “Market” is like a living organism, made up of stall holders and shoppers, these stallholders need to make a living and, if their normal outlet closes they must search out another, or pack the job in.
A recent example of this was at Mansfield, where they had a very big street market until deciding to improve the appearance, now they have a nicely paved but sterile area with very few stalls. It is well to take heed of a couple of adages: “If its not broken don’t mend it.” And, as a rugby referee sometimes says to the players, and I say to the people of Beverley: “Use it or lose it!”