Beverley Minster, in Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire, is generally regarded as the most impressive (architecturally speaking) church in England that is not a cathedral. Originally the abbey church, it was not selected as a bishop's seat during the Dissolution of the Monasteries; nevertheless it survived as a parish church, and the chapter house was the only major part of the building to be destroyed. In the 13th century, the central tower collapsed and was never rebuilt. However, improvements to the church were made throughout the medieval period, and the style ranges from early Gothic to Perpendicular, the twin towers of the west front being a superlative example of the latter. The missing statuary was replaced during the Victorian era.
Features of the interior include columns of Purbeck marble, stiff-leaf carving, and the tomb of Lady Eleanor Percy , dating from around 1340 and covered with a richly-decorated canopy, regarded as one of the best surviving examples of Gothic art. There is a staircase in the north aisle which would have been used in monastic times to gain access from and to the chapter house. Improvements to the choir were made during the 16th and 18th century, and medieval glass which was shattered by a storm of 1608 was meticulously replaced in 1725. The Thornton family, great craftsmen of the early 18th century, were responsible for the font and the west door. Another notable feature is the series of carvings of musicians which adorn the nave.
