What to See in Ripon - Top Sights and Attractions

Medieval building with a Saxon crypt. The Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Wilfrid, commonly known as Ripon Cathedral, and until 1836 known as Ripon Minster, is a cathedral in the North Yorkshire city of Ripon. Founded as a monastery by Scottish monks in the 660s, it was refounded as a Benedictine monastery by St Wilfrid in 672. The church became collegiate in the tenth century, and acted as a mother church within the large Diocese of York for the remainder of the Middle Ages. The present church is the fourth, and was built between the 13th and 16th centuries. In 1836 the church became the cathedral for the Diocese of Ripon. In 2014 the Diocese was incorporated into the new Diocese of Leeds, and the church became one of three co-equal cathedrals of the Bishop of Leeds.

The cathedral is notable architecturally for its gothic west front in the Early English style, considered one of the best of its type, as well as the Geometric east window. The seventh-century crypt of Wilfrid's church is a significant example of early Christian architecture in England. The cathedral has Grade I listed building status.^[2]

The Ripon Canal is located in North Yorkshire, England. It was built by the canal engineer William Jessop to link the city of Ripon with the navigable section of the River Ure at Oxclose Lock, from where boats could reach York and Hull. It opened in 1773 and was a moderate success. It was sold to the Leeds and Thirsk Railway in 1847 and was effectively closed by 1906 owing to neglect. It was not nationalised with most canals and railways in 1948 and was abandoned in 1956.

In 1961 members of the Ripon Motor Boat Club formed the Ripon Canal Company Ltd and gradually restored the canal up to Littlethorpe. Subsequently the Ripon Canal Society spearheaded restoration, which was completed in 1996. It is now managed by the Canal & River Trust.^[5]

The Swinton Estate is a large privately owned estate in North Yorkshire, England. It comprises some 20,000 acres of countryside in the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, extending 10 miles west from the River Ure near Masham. The estate includes Swinton Park, the seat of the Danby family and of the Cunliffe-Lister family, an English country house in Swinton near Masham. It is set in 200 acres of parkland, lakes and gardens. The house is a Grade II* listed building, and now operates as the 42-bedroom Swinton Park Hotel.

The Cunliffe-Lister family still own the house but the seat of the Earl of Swinton is now at Dykes Hill House, also located near Masham.

Beyond the parkland surrounding the house, the estate comprises farmland and large areas of grouse moor in and around the valley of the River Burn.^[6]

Grantley Hall is a Country house located in North Yorkshire, England. It is situated near Grantley, about 5 miles to the west of Ripon, on the banks of the River Skell. It is listed Grade II* on the National Heritage List for England, and the Japanese garden at the hall is listed Grade II on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

The house was built by Thomas Norton and his son Fletcher Norton, 1st Baron Grantley in the mid-18th century, apparently based on a Palladian design by Isaac Ware. Additions in the 1760s have been attributed to John Carr, who knew Fletcher Norton. The house was extended during the 19th and early 20th centuries to form the house as it stands today.

More recently the building was used as a convalescent home during World War II. Between 1947 and 1974, the house was under the ownership of West Riding County Council, who purchased the property to use as an adult education residential college before it passed to North Yorkshire County Council in 1974, to become a training and conference centre. In 2006 the property was sold to a private purchaser for residential use. It was sold again in 2010, and planning permission was granted for conversion of the building into a 50 bedroom hotel.

Other buildings on the Grantley Estate include The Ellis Building and the East Lodge.^[7]

The Chapel of St Mary Magdalen, Ripon, is an active Anglican church on Magdalens Road in the city of Ripon, North Yorkshire, England. The chapel, which is dedicated to Jesus' companion Mary Magdalene, is quite close to Ripon Cathedral, and belongs to the cathedral's benefice, deanery and archdeaconry. The chapels' origins lie in the 12th century when it was built at the behest of Archbishop Thurstan. It was situated opposite the St Mary Magdalen Hospital grounds, becoming the chapel to the hospital and the church for lepers initially, and then later, blind priests.

Most of the present church dates to the 15th century and consists of hammer-dressed limestone. The chapel has been renovated at least four times; firstly in the 15th century, then in the 17th, then in 1917, and most recently between 1985 and 1990. The chapel is now a grade I listed structure, and is noted for being the only structure associated with Ripon's Medieval hospitals that is still standing.^[8]