The cathedral was founded by St Wilfrid in the 7th century and Ripon is home to the oldest cathedral structure in existence in the UK. But you’ll have to go underground to find it.
The crypt at Ripon Cathedral dates from around 670 and pre-dates every single cathedral in the country. It still exists very much as early pilgrims would have seen it, though now stripped of its ancient relics, sumptuous fabrics and bejewelled treasures. Today it’s an atmospheric place of silence and prayer, still with its ‘test of chastity’ – a small hole in the wall through which medieval would-be brides were required to pass to test their maidenhood. Any who got stuck in the wall, were deemed unfit for marriage!
‘Curiouser and curiouser,’ cried Alice
Other treasures exist above ground in the cathedral building, parts of which date from the 12th century. The beautiful misericord carvings in the quire may just have inspired one of the most famous children’s stories ever written. The father of Charles Dodgson, aka Lewis Carroll who wrote Alice in Wonderland, was a canon in the cathedral in the 19th century and it’s known that his son often visited him there. Could the carving of a griffin chasing a rabbit down a rabbit hole have sparked his imagination on one of those visits?
While the carvings date from the 15th century, the cathedral also has its contemporary treasures including the poignant Mary and Jesus figures by Harold Gosney, the Pentecostal sculpture by Leslie Durbin and the 1920’s high altar reredos.
Ripon: cathedral city
It’s a cathedral city with the welcoming friendliness of a market town and its market square tradition functions in the same way it has done for centuries. Every night at 9pm the horn-blower sounds his horn at each corner of the obelisk in the square to set the night watch, a ritual that dates back over a thousand years.
What to do: The area is rich in history and heritage with the famed Fountains Abbey, one of the UK’s largest and best-preserved Cistercian ruins, just 3 miles from the city along the river, you can travel there by boat along the newly renovated and re-opened Ripon Canal; also nearby is the historical Newby Hall, one of Britain’s finest ‘Adam’ houses, built in the 1690s by Sir Christopher Wren and enlarged and adapted by Robert Adam in the 18th century; Ripon Castle is the home of the Ingleby baronets and open to the public for guided tours.
Where to stay: The Old Deanery dates from 1625 and is the former home of the deans of Ripon, now a hotel where you can wake up to a view of the cathedral across the road. Period details include the impressive original oak staircase and the gently sloping floorboards in many parts of the building are part of its historic charms. Be a dean for a night!
Cathedrals of Britain: North of England and Scotland by Bernadette Fallon is published by Pen and Sword books, £12.99, buy online here