Beverley Minster Old Fund Surveyor

29/05/2026

A great morning on Beverley Minster high roof today as another pinnacle was erected. This pinnacle was a special one as the grotesque was carved in the image of our former architect Ian Stewart who passed away. Ian's image will look over Beverley looking towards St Mary's for the next 6-700 years.

Two Churches One Town - Beverley

20/05/2026

We had the long lens out today to see how our visitors are getting on in the box on the South West tower. Was lucky to see a fledgling peregrine pop up for a nosey. Both waiting for a feed by the look of things.

09/05/2026

To book your place go to: https://beverleyminster.org.uk/product/stone-carving-workshop-saturday-23-may-2026/

08/05/2026

Historic churches say repairs could become harder to fund after the loss of VAT relief. Read more: https://bbc.in/4uti5rP

06/05/2026

Falcons have settled in one of the towers at Beverley Minster for only the second time in a decade. Read more: https://bbc.in/4uyQJAN

04/03/2026

One of are old pinnacles will be auctioned by Hawleys Auctioneers this weekend at Beverley Racecourse. This is a pinnacle that has looked out North East over Beverley for 6-700yrs. Due to erosion and decay we replace a number of pinnacles for HSE reasons annually, but this process will end over the next few years as we'll have replaced all the pinnacles that concern our inspecting architect Andy Burrell and our masons.

The link to the auction details are

https://www.easyliveauction.com/catalogue/lot/2fb1114c38e9c4d500a6eca38d7bad2c/0af8d24542e81eb9357e7ef448a6646f/march-antiques-fine-art-2026-lot-1/?utm_source=auctioneer&utm_medium=email&utm_content=updates&utm_campaign=march-antiques-fine-art-2026-A070326-Lot1

All funds raised will go back towards maintenance of out great building.

A Yorkshire limestone medieval pinnacle with lead clamps ex Beverley Minster. c. 1300. 228cm... in March Antiques & F... (07 Mar 26) by Hawleys Auctione...

03/03/2026

This week we planned in partnership with Yorkshire Wildlife Trust to swap out the 10 year old nesting box on our South West tower. YWT and our masons have been monitoring the Peregrine activity at Beverley Minster and we knew we had a small window of opportunity hoping that the peregrines might nest with us for the first time since the big bird flu outbreak 2-3 years ago.

This window has now closed and we will have to postpone the nesting box swap out until September as we think the birds are nesting.

As most of our followers will be aware our peregrines don't usually nest with us, but nest in Walkington and bring their fledglings to the Minster to teach them to hunt and feed, using the Minster as a cliff face.

So this year we may be lucky!

The affect on our day to day work is that access to that roof in no longer possible as the Peregrines nesting sites are protected by law. We will be now controlled by the following rules as Peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus) receive the highest level of legal protection in the UK under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. It is a criminal offense to intentionally kill, injure, take, or possess them, or to damage their nests and eggs. Special penalties apply for disturbing them near an active nest.

Key Legal Protections (UK):
• Total Protection: As a Schedule 1 species, it is illegal to disturb peregrines while they are building a nest, or are in, on, or near a nest with eggs or young.
• Prohibited Acts: Intentionally or recklessly destroying an active nest, taking eggs, or possessing wild birds (dead or alive) is illegal.
• Penalties: Offences can result in heavy fines and imprisonment.

Please enjoy watching our visitors from the ground. No permissions (which are required from our Vicar) will be given for drone flights around the Minster during this time.

13/02/2026

Facebook is telling me that is would have been Martin Needlers birthday today if we hadn't have lost him. He was great support to the maintenance team and Chair of the Old Fund for many years.

14/01/2026

Last week the roof alarm over the boiler room was activated by a person on the roof. CCTV picked up this happening and the person on the roof and his friend on the floor. These details have now been passed to Humberside Police to look into this trespass.

It appears that a drone crashed on the roof and the owner thought it OK to access the roof.

The roof these people climbed on that night was frozen and dangerous to walk on, so much so that our maintenance team wouldn't have accessed it in those condition.

The act of retrieving the drone was trespass and if the owner would have contacted us (next day) we would have found some way to retrieve his property safely for him. These action caused a lot of time for our stretched staff answering calls from the security monitoring team, going out to see what was happening and reviewing footage from the CCTV that covers the Beverley Minster

There are clear rules as to flying drones over and around the Beverley Minster. These can be seen on the Beverley Minster website.

Please stick to the rules, if you are not sure ask. We are not against drone taking images of one of the East Riding's most spectacular buildings, and we love to see the images produced, but please follow the Minster rules and those set out by the Civil Aviation Authority and fly safe.

03/12/2025

Thank you Andy Marshall (Architectural Photography) for sharing this post.

✨Inside the medieval roof timbers at Beverley Minster, Yorkshire, one of the rafters has been dated (c. 921) and was a sapling during the reign of King Æthelstan, before England was an entity.
Touch it and you feel a kind of altitude and sense that the past is cheek by jowl.