What the Friends have made possible
Almost ninety years of careful giving, restoration and scholarship,
and a major new chapter beginning at the East End of the building.
Recent and current projects
How the Friends contribute
The Friends do not act alone. We work alongside the Minster’s Parochial Church Council (PCC), the Beverley Minster Old Fund, and Two Churches One Town to identify projects of real and lasting benefit to the building, its music, and the community of people who use it.
In recent years our contributions have ranged from a few thousand pounds towards a single repair to substantial commitments running into tens of thousands. For larger capital schemes, our funds typically sit alongside grants from heritage bodies, the Old Fund and the parish — Friends’ reserves are most often used to unlock other money, rather than to do the whole job alone.
Bell restoration (2023–24)
A major restoration of the peal of ten bells, including the recasting of original 1901 wrought-iron clappers and a full programme of bearings, wheels, soling and shrouding. The bells now sound much as they did when first installed in 1901, and should serve the Minster for the next 120 years.
Great John’s strike hammer (2024)
The 70 kg hammer that strikes the hour on Great John, the seven-tonne tenor bell, sheared its fixings just before Christmas 2023. The Friends funded its full restoration by the Cumbria Clock Company so that the hours could continue to sound out across the town.
Sponsorship of the Threads exhibition
(2025–26)
The Friends were sponsors of the Threads exhibition in the Minster — part of an ongoing commitment to bring people of all ages into the building through high-quality temporary installations.
Choral Foundation and music
The Friends have a long-running commitment to the Minster’s music, in recent history dating back to the refurbishment of the Organ and the purchasing of our Steinway Grand Piano. Other projects have included a new piano for the Song Room, initial funding of our Assistant Organist and helping to fund the Choral Foundation’s music lessons for choristers.
The Sanctuary Project
The Friends supported the Sanctuary Project, which restored the roof of the south lesser transept and established a programme of activities to widen public engagement with the Minster’s heritage.
Re-leading the nave roof
The Friends part funded the re-leading of the nave roof — unseen but essential work that keeps this great building weathertight and protects the nave below.
The Destinations Project is the Minster’s most significant undertaking for many years. Its focus is the East End of the building — the part of the church that lies behind the high altar, encompassing the Great East Window, the Quire and Retroquire, and the Lesser North Quire Transept. Decades of weather and wear are catching up with this part of the building, and the work to come is both urgent and long-overdue.
Following the award of a development-phase grant by the National Lottery Heritage Fund in September 2025, the Project Board is now appointing the design and project teams who will take the scheme through its next stages. The Friends are partners in the project and have committed to making a substantial contribution to the work.
What the project will deliver
- Restoration of the Great East Window.
- Repairs to the roofs of the Quire, Retroquire and Lesser North Quire Transept.
- A new lighting scheme appropriate to a 21st-century cathedral-scale parish church.
- A scheme of landscaping around the East End, with a plant-rich biodiverse garden.
- Improved interpretation, a refreshed digital presence, and a programme of public engagement, including a schools’ choral outreach programme.
We will share more here as the project moves into its delivery phase. In the meantime, members can find updates in the Spring Newsletter and the Annual Report.
The list below is not exhaustive, but it gives a flavour of the Friends’ contribution over the past two decades — from organ-builder’s tools to dendrochronology, from clock springs to choir tours.
Clock Spring
Clock refurbishment; further dendrochronology.
Reprint of the Georgian leaflet; funding for re-leading the second section of the Nave roof.
Scala publication and photographer; further dendrochronology sampling.
Choir video (50% funded); funding the Minster website (80%); funding for the initial design of the Nave reordering project.
Match funding for the GPOW grant; approval of the Choral Foundation Scheme; advert in Visit Yorkshire.
Publication of ‘Of a Faire and Uniforme Making’; dendrochronology in the Quire roof; advert in Visit Yorkshire.
New nave chairs; cleaning of the font cover; advert in Visit Yorkshire.
Replacement of the practice room piano; restoration of the Fourdrinier prints; advert in Visit Yorkshire
Donation to the World Monuments Fund for the display of John Thornton glass at Coventry; advert in Visit Yorkshire.
Part-funding of the sound system extension; employment of the Assistant Organist; advert in Visit Yorkshire.
First dendrochronology sampling; restoration of the Hildyard panel; advert in Visit Yorkshire; new crib figures.
Survey of sundials by Hirst Conservation.
Restoration of panels in the south transept by Hirst Conservation; publication of the ‘Explorer’s Guide to Beverley Minster’.
‘Who Built Beverley Minster’; the start of the Friends’ sustained support for the choir; bronze flower stands; booklet on Victorian stained glass.
Stained glass survey and West Window scaffolding; new Steinway piano; book and leaflet production.