Editing Beverley Minster (section)

===English Reformation and beyond===
In 1548, the minster was reduced to the status of a [[parish church]], the college of secular canons established before the Norman Conquest was dissolved (decreasing the minster's staff from at least seventy-five to four),{{sfn|Pevsner|1995|p=282}} and the shrine of St John was dismantled. The chapter house, now unused, was demolished. By the early 17th century the parish church of St Martin, formerly attached to the three southwestern bays of the nave, was also gone.{{sfn|Pevsner|1995|p=285}}

As with many English churches during the wars of religion in the 16th century, Beverley Minster was not immune to dissension. Church authorities cracked down hard on those they felt were part of the "Popish" conspiracy contrary to royal decrees. "Among those holding traditional beliefs were three of the clergy at the minster, who were charged with Popish practices in 1567; John Levet was a former member of the college and Richard Levet was presumably his brother. Both [[Levett|Levet]]s were suspended from the priesthood for keeping prohibited equipment and books and when restored were ordered not to minister in Beverley or its neighbourhood."{{sfn|Baggs et al.|1989|pp=76–80}}{{sfn|Phillips|2017|p=318}}

By the early 18th century the church was in a state of decay. The stone vaulting used in all areas of the Minster called for [[flying buttress]]es, which had been constructed everywhere except on the north transept. By 1700, progressive structural failure of this transept over the centuries had almost brought about its collapse and the ruin of the crossing itself, with the transept gable overhanging the base by 4&nbsp;ft (1.2 m). Restoration continued from 1717 to 1731 under Nicholas Hawksmoor. William Thornton of York, one of the supervisors of the project, devised an ingenious method of levering the wall back into place and securing it with a great wooden frame. The southwestern bays of the nave, where the north wall of St Martin's parish church had been, were reconstructed at this time as well to harmonize with the rest of the nave.{{sfn|Pevsner|1995|pp=285–6}}