Pierced by a bullet while praying in the pews

BEVERLEY IN YORKSHIRE is best known for its cathedral-like Minster. Our friend Colin recommended that while in Beverley, we should not miss visiting the church of St Mary. We went there and enjoyed exploring this magnificent medieval gothic parish church. We were shown around by a volunteer who pointed out something we had never seen in any other church.

 

The bullet hole

In WW2,  during an air attack on Beverley, a German aeroplane strafed the town. One of the bullets from the ‘plane made a hole in a stained glass window on the south side of the church, and went straight through one of the worshippers, killing him. The volunteer showed us the hole in the wooden pew made by the bullet after it had passed through the unfortunate parishioner. The wooden pew behind the one with a hole has a hollowed out spot caused by the bullet after it had penetrated the pew in which the victim had been seated.

 

Years later, the volunteer related, a woman from Australia visited St Mary’s,  and when she saw the damage caused by the bullet, she burst into tears.  The man who had been killed while praying had been her grandfather.