Though it may seem small, Ripon is a Yorkshire town proving that good things come in small packages.
Ripon is an ancient cathedral city situated in Yorkshire. The city is filled to brimming with traditions and beautiful old buildings. Part of West Riding, this small city has a busy market square, with the gorgeous Yorkshire Dales just ten miles outside of the town centre. When you think of Yorkshire you think of rolling hills, strong accents, and clotted cream. Let’s find out what else we can celebrate about the cathedral city of Ripon, in the borough of Harrogate.
What is Ripon Famous For?
Ripon is famous for three big things. One is the ancient cathedral, imposing and yet inviting. The second is the racecourse, where ladies and gents alike are encouraged to wear their best hats of the weekend. Lastly is the historic market Square which has facilitated trading in Ripon since the Middle Ages.
Early Ripon History
There were two early tribes in Yorkshire. The North was ruled by the Brigantes, who were an amalgamation of several tribes who united under one banner. Alongside the Brigantes, parts of Yorkshire belonged to the Parisi tribe, a smaller tribe who covered much less land. Middle Yorkshire was where the Brigante’s influence ended, although they owned land right up until the Romans came. In fact, when the Romans did invade, they either befriended and integrated these tribes or they went to war with them. They went to war with many tribes in Wales, for example, where tribes and kingdoms kept uniting to stop them.
We know there were iron age farmers in this area, and we also know that Potgate Quarry in Ripon unearthed an iron age camp. However, their history really starts in the 7th century.
In 657, monks moved into the area. They set up a monastery with the permission of Abbot Eata. That’s a good Anglo-Saxon name. St Wilfred was the head of the monastery. It had to be rebuilt even then, so he undertook the work. In 672 he built the church which would later become the Cathedral. The monastery became the conjoined seat of the bishopric along with York in 678.
The Vikings attacked in 860, destroying the monastery and the town. King Alfred the super religious then rebuilt it in 886. In 924, the fleeing king Athelstan, who had his lands captured by the Danes, sought sanctuary in the church here. Sanctuary extended for a mile in all directions from the church. However, if you have the tenacity to explain to an invading, axe-wielding Viking that they can’t kill you here because of the church, then have at it. They did not follow Christian Gods until later. As a result, Eadred of the Danes attacked the monastery and razed it to the ground in 950. Almost immediately, the Archbishop of Canterbury had it rebuilt.
In 1069, three years after his invasion, the troops belonging to King William harried the north into submission. Ripon was one of those towns. Much of the north was destroyed in the process, with his noblemen building castles all over the place to secure control. Nevertheless, the manor of Ripon existed at the time of the Domesday Survey of 1086.
Ripon in the Domesday Survey had a population of 2.7 households. Between those two households lived 18 villagers, one freeman, 21 smallholders, and 1 thane. It had lots of land though, with 85 acres of meadow, 40 ploughable fields, 17 teams to plough them with, a fishery, a mill, and 1 league of woodland. The land belonged to the Archbishop of York,
The Middle Ages
The town of Ripon received a hospital back in 1109. Benedictine Monks moved into the nearby Fountains Abbey. In 1154 the building work began on the present Minster but was not completed until 1330.
An alms-house opened in 1208 founded by the Archbishop. An alms-house was a charitable house where vagrants, poor people, and the elderly lived. They would give food and clothing to the very poor. In 1292 the first mention of the Thursday market appeared – which is still going to this day.
Markenfield Hall first opened in 1310. The Scots attacked in 1318 after taking Berwick. They reduced the town to rubble once again, including the monastery. In 1330, Robert the Bruce and his army burned down what had been rebuilt. The cathedral as we know it now was finally finished in 1330. By 1344, the city had another hospital, St Mary Magdalene’s.
Henry IV liked Ripon so much that he moved his whole court here during the plague in 1405. In 1456, the first record of knitting appeared in St Peter & Wilfrid Church records.
Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in 1539, selling off the local monastery to a land owner.. The grammar school in Ripon first opened its doors in 1555. This was a re-founding of the earlier school.
Fun Trivia About Ripon
Whenever we research our travel guides, we always emerge with these fun little facts that we don’t know where to put anywhere else. Therefore we have the fun facts and trivia section, in which we stash the gossip. Here are the hot takes about Ripon in West Riding:
- Ripon was the first ever chartered city in Britain. Up until Ripon, nobody knew they needed a note from the king to say it was alright to exist. After Ripon, other towns were granted these charters which give them ‘rights’ to hold markets and clean the streets. It’s such a ridiculous notion, but here we are. Ripon was the first to receive this high honour in 886 – that’s about 300 years before the average chartered date of most larger cities.
- That charter was issued by Alfred the Great.
- The cathedral actually pre-dates the arrival of the charter. It dates back to 672. Alfred the Great was an incredibly religious man, so it seems a lot like he invented charters just so he could honour cathedral towns.
- There is an old tradition in this town regarding the warning horn which Alfred the Great had installed in town to warn of approaching Vikings. The wakeman still blows the horn every night to tell people that the town is safe. One blow for fine, two blows for approaching enemies, and three blows for zombie apocalypse… kidding.
- There is another Ripon out there, it is in San Joaquin in California. They say it is named after Ripon in Wisconsin… which in turn is named for Ripon in Yorkshire.
- Almost 16k people live in the Yorkshire version of Ripon. It officially falls under North Yorkshire.
And on those informative notes let’s get back to the history.
The Industrial Period
In 1604 the town received an incorporated charter from James I. The king subsequently visited in 1617. Charles I followed him in 1633. During the English Civil War, the town sided with the parliamentarians, which obviously meant the Royalists attacked and captured it. In 1660, the spire of the cathedral collapsed but got rebuilt again. The house of correction for vagrants opened in Bondgate Green in 1668.
Ripon marketplace opened in 1702 with the Royal Water Garden added in 1718. In 1723 the first ladies’ horse race took place. The Ripon Canal saw completion in 1773, and the obelisk in the marketplace was rebuilt in 1780. The town hall was the final addition of the 18th century, added in 1798.
In 1813, the town opened a bathhouse. The Ripon Liberty Prison opened in 1816 and was later followed by the Ripon Courthouse in 1830, which closed in 1998. There was a 60 foot fissure in the ground after an earthquake shook the streets in 1834. The bishop’s palace opened in 1839, reminding us all that we should stay humble as good Christians. There were countless other openings in the19th century. The industrial period saw the addition of a Poor Law Union, a Mechanics Institute, St Mary’s Church was consecrated in 1878, they gained a choral society, threw a Millenary Festival, started a rugby club, opened a racecourse, and ended with an 1891 population of 7,511 people.
Modern Day Ripon
Modern Ripon didn’t let up on the new features. The spa baths opened in 1905 and in 1908 the town gained a golf club. By 1911 the population climbed to 8,218 people – yet it was still a city. In 1915, the city received an army camp, which it hosted during WWI. Wilfred Owen was posted in it for a while. In 1960 the town opened the Cathedral Choir School. Ripon Railway stopped taking passengers in 1967.
In 1974 the town gained a college which it shared with York. In 1982 the Ripon Morris Dancers began. The prison and a police museum opened in 1984, with the historical society opening four years later. In 1996 the town also gained a workhouse museum to commemorate all the poor people the state-funded for all those years. The courthouse closed in 1999 but became a museum. Ripon College opened in 1999.
In 2001 the population was 16,468 people strong. Queen Elizabeth II visited in 2004 to give them another charter and mark their 400th anniversary.
Modern-day Ripon is a pleasant city to live in. You have all the facilities and amenities of a city, combined with ancient architecture, and mired in tradition. It is a reasonably religious town, but that doesn’t mean it won’t suit you for a holiday. We vote yes on the visit. It might be the holiday of your dreams.
Famous People from Ripon
Any city, town, or village in the UK has at least one famous person living in it, or dead in it. There are statues of these people, and museums dedicated to them. There are parks named after them, and streets, too. Here are the famous people from Ripon you might want to know about before you get there:
- Multiple bishops. We can’t list them all, they date back to the 7th
- The English artist Druie Bowett was from here.
- The author Nigel Farndale was born here.
- There are hundreds of priests and one martyr (William Gibson), executed for being catholic.
- John Iles, who was an actor in Bill, was from here.
- Footballers, including Derek Kevan and Robert Ledger.
- Amanda Staveley, a business investor, and the family behind the Staveley Arms.
- 8th-century religious author Stephen of Ripon was from, er, Ripon.
Let’s leave it there. This is obviously still a highly religious city with a background full of priests. We have nothing against priests, we were just hoping for a pop singer or two.
Best Attractions in Ripon
In this section, we like to detail all the best things to see and do in our travel destinations. Here is what locals love about Ripon so you can plan an itinerary for when you visit.
Historic Sites
Ripon Cathedral first appeared on the site where King Alfred, the first of England, built a church back in the 7th century. The cathedral has gone through multiple rebuilds and refurbishments since then, but you can still spot the older parts. They boast that the cathedral has existed for 14 centuries now. It goes all the way back to the early roots of English history and has stood through every tribulation… except the few times when the Vikings burned it, of course.
The Ripon Hornblower comes out at night to blow his horn in the market square. Only in Ripon could this sentence make sense. It’s free to watch and it warns off the enemy barbarians outside the walls. In fact, when the hornblowers were kept away during Covid, they worked from home… blowing their warning horns from their gardens. Again, sentences… Ripton… you get the idea.
Landmarks
If you want to spend the day in a manor house, head out of town to Newby Hall and Gardens. They have the cutest teddy bear exhibit that regularly runs. They have a miniature railway, and adventure playground, a beautiful garden with its own restaurant, a gift shop, boat trips, Chippendale (furniture) and a doll’s house exhibition. It’s all going on over here: kids or no kids.
Take an afternoon in good weather to wander Hackfall Wood. This wood gives you brilliant views over some other brilliant features. Wear good shoes and stay on the path and you’ll be fine. The only thing to be scared of in a British forest is yourself. Head uphill and look out over the Lover’s Leap and the Brimham Rocks. The Lover’s Leap is a nickname for a place where you could fall to your death if you jumped. This gives you a view of it (but we’re not sure how close). The Brimham Woods are a geological marvel. The stones are weathered sandstone, eroded over time to create fantastic shapes. The whole thing is an SSSI. So don’t push anything over.
Cultural Attractions
There is a reasonably priced Police Museum in Ripon. It details the evolution of solving crimes in Yorkshire since those early days. There are cells to get locked up in, costumes for the kiddies, there are barred windows and an authentic prison experience. The jail even takes you back to imprisonment in the Victorian era. There is also a courthouse museum for that full arrested experience. This gives you the scenario of a trial to witness for yourself and allows you to explore the city’s old gaols.
The Workhouse Museum is a grim place, which perfectly reflects how it would have been to the poor folk who depended on it for food and shelter, and who worked 12 hours per day or more. The museum takes up two buildings in the centre of Ripon. The facility includes the original gardens which belonged to the kitchens, where they would grow mostly edible plants.
Outdoor Attractions
Ripon is within easy driving distance of the Lightwater Valley Family Adventure Park. This is one of England’s bigger theme parks, with loads of rides, sweet treats, and even a number of activities for your little ones to get involved in. They have more than 40 rides for those under 12.
Take a day out of your holiday and spend it exploring Fountains Abbey. It’s not just the abbey that is beautiful, but the Royal Water Gardens are out that way, too. There is a deer park in the same area, the actual hall at Fountains Hall, and the ancient St Mary’s Parish Church, all in one place. Plan somewhere to eat nearby at night and take a picnic for the afternoon. The water gardens are well-kept and filled with floral scents in summer. The old buildings are haunting.
Sports and Teams
Ripon Cricket Club was founded in 1810. It does extremely well after two hundred-plus years of practice. You can learn more on the website, here. Ripon Rugby Club opened in 1886 for the first time. They are still going and you can go along to watch a game. See their website for details of the where and when. Ripon also gained a golf club in 1908, which makes it relatively young compared to other golf clubs nearby. It’s a very pretty course which has minor hills.
Shopping in Ripon
The chief attraction in Ripon for shopping is the weekly market. Held on a Thursday, the market has run since 1292 with few interruptions…like World Wars and Covid. You can attend from 7.30 am onwards through to 3 pm. You will find a selection of cakes, teas, eggs, milk, homemade jams, and farm goods from the surrounding areas. If you want the shopping centres in the local area for any other day of the week, check out the Arcade or the Duck Hill Shopping Quarter.
Where to Eat, Drink, and Party in Ripon?
One of the party/food/drink hotspots in Ripon is the Manchega Tapas y Vinos Spanish restaurant. Absolutely go along and order multiple small plates. It’s authentic cuisine at its finest. If you want a light afternoon snack, Wilfrid’s Café has some excellent tea and cake. If you want a pint to go with your meal then try the Staveley Arms, also great for a pint without the meal. There’s also the One Eyed Rat if you want a cocktail.
Other Notable Nearby Attractions
We have already taken several glimpses at the Yorkshire holiday destinations of choice. Here are some of our top picks for other attractions you could check out while you are staying in Ripton:
- Visit the markets in Batley, just to the south of Leeds.
- You are already in the borough of Harrogate, you might as well visit its namesake while you are there.
- Go and walk around the similarly historic town of York.
- If you do go to the beach, make it to Scarborough. It has all the seaside treats you need.
- Visit Whitby Abbey.
- The town of Hebden Bridge is the Jewel of the Calder Valley. Go investigate.
There are tons of fun things to see and do in Yorkshire, whether you visit the north, east, west, or south. It makes a great all-around holiday destination for those searching for a staycation destination to make fun family memories with.
How to Get to Ripon
It would be remiss of us not to tell you how to get to Ripon after bigging it up for the last five minutes. Here are loose directions but you may want to take a map.
By Road
Ripon is off the M1. Follow it north into Yorkshire and look for signs leading west.
By Rail
Ripon Train Station has fallen out of use. You are better off catching the bus.
By Air
Your nearest airport is Leeds Bradford.
By Sea
Unfortunately, it is a drive of more than an hour to get to any port or beach.
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