Ripon and Fountains Abbey
Above: Fountains Abbey near Ripon photographed by David Simpson
Riponis a small cathedral city, which was formerly in the West Riding of Yorkshire, but is now in North Yorkshire. It has what is known as a 'folk name' which means that its name is of tribal origin, referring to the people who settled in the area. This is quite common for counties and regions but rare for the names of villages, towns and cities, which usually take their names from a single individual or from neighbouring natural and geographical features.
Records of the name Ripon include Hrypis and Hripis in 715 AD, Inhrypam in 730, Onripum in 890, Rypum in 1030 and Ripun in the Domesday Book of 1089. Ripon, may have been a place of importance before the building of the first monastery which predates the present cathedral and was perhaps a central meeting place for the Hrype tribe, from which it takes its name.
The origin of this Anglo-Saxon tribal name and its exact tribal boundaries are unknown, but the area of settlement may have covered Yorkshire and the East Midlands. Nearby Ripley almost certainly means the woodland of the Hyrppes and a place called Ribston may have been a boundary stone. Repton in Derbyshire derives from 'Hyrpa dun' meaning the hill of the Hyrpe tribe, providing evidence for settlement further afield.
An Anglo-Saxon monastery was founded at Ripon in 657 AD by Alfrith, leader of the Northumbrian province of Deira (See Chronicles) and the son of the Northumbrian king Oswy. At first it was settled by monks from Melrose in North Northumbria (now Scotland) but when the Northumbrians converted from Celtic to Roman Christianity, the monks refused to change their ways. They were evicted and in 671 AD St Wilfrid, the Bishop of York was given the monastery and became the abbot.
Wilfrid was one of the most influential figures of his time and was the man largely responsible for persuading the North of England (Northumbria) to convert from Celtic Christianity to Roman Christianity. The key event in this change was the Synod of Whitby of 664 AD in which Wilfrid played a major part. In that same year Wilfrid was made Bishop of Lindisfarne but this island was firmly set in its Celtic ways so Wilfrid transfered the Bishopric to York.
Around 672 AD Wilfrid commenced the building of a new minster church at Ripon on a different site to the earlier monastery. Stonemasons, glaziers and plasterers were employed from Italy and France to build the church. Wilfrid wished to emulate the basilicas of Rome in the building of his church. He also tried to emulate European styles in his new abbey at Hexham which eas built in 674 AD. In 692 Wilfrid, now Bishop of Hexham was banished from Northumbria after refusuing to allow the creation of a new bishopric based at Ripon. John of Beverley became the new Bishop of Hexham. Wilfrid was later allowed to return. He died at the age of 75 while visiting his monastery at Oundle in Northamptonshire but he was buried at Ripon.
St Wilfrid's return from exile is still celebrated at Ripon each July and August in a special procession. Known as the Feast of St Wilfrid. The ceremony originated in a grant made by King Henry I to Thomas Archbishop of York in 1108.
Ripon's minster church, built by St Wilfrid was granted the privilege of sanctuary by King Athelstan in 934 AD and its status would have continued to grow if it were not for its destruction, probably by Vikings in 950 AD. All that remains of St Wilfrid's church today is the Anglo-Saxon crypt, very similar to the Anglo-Saxon crypt that remains at Hexham Abbey.
Almost immediately after Ripon church was destroyed, a new church was built, this lasting until its destruction by the Normans some time after 1066. The Normans began building a new church in 1080 under the authority of Archbishop Thomas of Bayeux. Further reconstruction took place a century later in 1181 under Roger de Ponte l'Eveque, who rebuilt the church in the Norman Transitional style. The cathedral as we see it today is largely his work.
Ripon did not actually become a cathedral (from the Latin cathedra - seat of a Bishop) until 1836 when the diocese of Ripon was created. Stretching from Leeds to Teesdale, Ripon was the first dicoese to be created since the Reformation.
Ripon is located on the the River Skell which joins the River Ure on the eastern outskirts of the little city. The Ure forms the valley of Wensleydale in its upland stretches. Ripon itself is centred around a large rectangular market square, surrounded by Georgian and medieval buildings. Here we find a a Town hall of 1801 designed by James Wyatt and 90ft erected in honour of a Ripon MP called Thomas Aislabie.
Ripon's most famous medieval building, apart from the cathedral is the Wakeman's House in the market square. It is no longer the home of the Wakeman of Ripon, but the Wakeman's traditional duty of blowing the horn or 'Setting the Watch' is still carried out in Ripon - a tradition that has continued for 1,100 years.
At 9pm every evening, a man wearing a three cornered, triangular hat blows a large curved horn in the market place. In historic times this signified that the care of the town's folk was now in the hands of the Wakeman - a kind of nightwatchman. The services of the wakeman had to be paid for and if any person was robbed during the night, the Wakeman would have to compensate them for their loss, providing they had paid for his service.
The street names of Ripon are very typical of a Northern town with medieval origin. Many of the streets have names ending in gate, an old northern word for a street. Thus we have Kirkgate leading from the market place to the cathedral, Agnesgate, St Marygate, Allhallowgate and Blossomgate along with High and Low Skellgate which lead down to the River Skell.
Fountains Abbey lies along the valley of the River Skell about two miles west of Ripon. It was founded by a group of thirteen Benedictine monks from St Mary's Abbey in York. These monks thought that the life at St Mary's was not strict enough and wished for a more austere livelihood. Disagreements with the abbey at St Mary had brought them into confict with the abbot there, but the monks had the support of Thurstan, the Archbishop of York who took the monks to his collegiate church at Ripon (Ripon Cathedral) to celebrate Christmas in the year 1132 .
Two days later on December 27 he led them to some waste ground in the valley of the River Skell west of Ripon. Here an abbey was established and a prior called Richard was appointed abbot. The abbey was named Fountains Abbey because of the springs of water that existed in the area. The following year, the abbey adopted the Cistercian way of life and although they struggled in poverty during the early years, the retirement there of Hugh, the Dean of York in 1135, brought considerable wealth to the abbey.
Fountains Abbey lived in prosperity for much of its history and owned vast areas of land across western Yorkshire as far west as Pen-y-Ghent high up in the Pennines. Much of the land around Ripon and in the lower Ure valley was in the possession of Fountains Abbey, although further up the valley in Wensleydale land belonged to Jervaulx Abbey. Much of the prosperity at these abbeys was based on the trading of wool and lead, utilising two of the Yorkshire Dales' most abundant resources.
Days of prosperity came to an end with the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536 and the last abbot Marmaduke Bradley was given a pension for his enforced retirement. His predecessor, William Thirsk, who had been abbot of Fountains from 1526-1536 was not so lucky, he was executed by King Henry at Tyburn for plotting against the monarch, along with his friend Adam de Sedbergh, who was the last abbot of Jervaulx.
The ruins of Fountains Abbey are extensive and are one of the most visited properties of the National Trust. The beauty of the ruins is enhanced by their location in the grounds of the Studley Royal Estate. Covering 650 acres of park, woodland and ornamental gardens, Studley Royal is a place of great beauty. Laid out in the eighteenth century by John Aislabie, the grounds were located around Studley Hall, which was destroyed by fire in 1946. This hall should not be confused with Fountains Hall which lies closer to Fountains Abbey gatehouse. It was built in 1611 by Sir Stephen Proctor who used materials taken from the abbey.
ALDBOROUGH - CAPITAL OF THE BRIGANTES
Aldborough and Boroughbridge are situated on the Roman Road called Dere Street, where the old A1 or Great North Road has been bypassed prevent busy traffic from choking this historic place. Aldborough means the old burgh - the old fortified place and was the site of a Celtic stronghold and later a Roman town called Isurium Brigantum. The original settlement of the great northern Celtic tribe called the Brigantes extended between Aldborough and Boroughbridge and it is interesting to note that their greatest fortification lies at Stanwick near a place called Aldbrough (note the different spelling) just to the north of Scotch Corner.
The Romans formed a settlement at Aldbororough, to trade with and a at the same time Romanise the Brigantian tribe. It became a township of the Romans and was the home of the 9th legion. By 150 AD it had grown into Isubrigantum - a civillian township - the cantonial civitas of the Brigantes and the most northerly tribal centre in Roman Britain. In 1997 a museum was opened dedicated to the history of the site.
The great antiquity of the Aldborough area is further demonstrated by the presence of the famous Devil's Arrows at neighbouring Boroughbridge. Here are three (there were originally four) prehistoric monoliths or menhirs, 18 feet, 21 feet and 22 feet in height, each with a depth of 5 ft. The type of stone they are made with was probably brought from the Knaresborough area. In legend the Devil's Arrows are said to have been made by the Devil's rope, scraping the ground when he tried to hang his grandmother. It is thought that the stones actually served some sort of ceremonial purpose and date from the Neolithic or Early Bronze Age.
Alne -Near Borughbridge, it was perhaps an ancient river name, the place is now situated on the River Kyle. Boroughbridge - The Bridge near Aldborough. Masham near entrance to Wensleydale Maessa's Ham, the homestead belonging to Maessa. Norton Conyers - north of Ripon Norton means the Northern farm. It was later associated with the Norman French Conyers family.
