A Coach Trip to Ripon

Ripon is a beautiful city as those who have visited, will I am sure, agree.  With three Grade I listed buildings/monuments, many other old buildings, ginnels, areas to explore and three amazing museums, a day just isn’t enough time to see  it all.  With this in mind, we started by visiting the little known Grade I listed ‘Chapel of the Hospital of St Mary Magdalen Ripon (The Leper Chapel).

When trying to book a group visit, your correspondent was overwhelmed by the welcome we were being offered, with refreshments and all important facilities on arrival without charge.  When we asked to pay, the response was that they’d been welcoming pilgrims and wayfarers for over 900 years and provided them with half a pound of bread and 2 quarts of light ale but Anne hoped that we’d be happy with tea and coffee!  In the event we were welcomed with homemade cakes as well, fortunately there was donations box by the door!

Anne then gave a fascinating talk about the history of the chapel whilst Martin (baker of the excellent cakes) took us round the outside of the building, explaining its construction in the 12th and 14th centuries.  As it was a chapel built for lepers, little money had been expended then or since, so cheaper, often recycled materials were used in its construction and upkeep resulting in one of the most interesting old buildings one could wish to see.

After lunch we had an excellent tour of the magnificent Ripon Cathedral by Malcolm, our guide, who outlined its history, starting with the life of its founder, St Wilfrid, who returned from Rome and built the church on this site with its intriguing Anglo-Saxon crypt, dating from 672AD – it’s the oldest structure of any cathedral in England still in use today.  A virtual tour of the crypt can be accessed here.

On emerging back into the daylight, Malcolm showed us the architectural oddities of the Cathedral’s tower crossing – showing evidence of previous collapses and reconstructions.