Capital of the East Riding, a pleasant red-brick town surrounded by four large pastures which belong to the freemen. St. John of Beverley is supposed to have founded a monastery here at the end of the 7th century. King Athelstan refounded it as a secular college in 828 to celebrate the victory of Brunnanburh, giving it the right of sanctuary within a mile in every direction with six degrees of protection ending in the presbytery which contained the inviolable Fridstol or Seat of Peace. Among the refugees who took advantage of this sanctuary was the Duke of Exeter, who murdered Lord Ralph Stafford. The Minster is generally accepted as one of the most beautiful buildings in Yorkshire. Its West Front is a perfect example of the Decorated style. One of the five town gates remains, and the church of St. Mary contains paintings of early English Kings.