Entrance to the Cathedral

In 2012, this new welcoming entrance was created that transformed the cathedral, flooding it with light and allowing people to glimpse the glorious architecture inside.

The stunning glass porch is called the narthex, a traditional name for the entrance area of the church. The decorative etchings are by glass-engraver, Sally Scott, and depict Saint Wilfrid and his adventurous travels to Rome, one of which ended with a shipwreck and battle off the coast of Sussex (then the kingdom of the South Saxons).

These images of journeying are a reminder that the cathedral has been a place of pilgrimage and has welcomed visitors since its foundation by Saint Wilfrid in 672.

I lift up my eyes to the hill – from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth … The Lord will keep your going out and coming in from this time on and forevermore. (Psalm 121:1,2,7,8)

The wonderful Ripon Story cushions were created to celebrate the year 2000. The 38 cushions, which run down either side of the nave (the main body of the church), tell the story of the city of Ripon, from its founding in 672 by St Wilfrid to the present day.

A dedicated group called The Ripon City Stitchers commenced work in October 1999, following months of detailed planning. The designs for the cushions were based on watercolour paintings or sketches by local artist Alan Matthews which were turned into patterns. An embroidery kit was assembled for each cushion which was then assigned to a member of the stitching team who worked on a canvas stretched across a frame.

In all about 90 volunteer stitchers from all over Ripon contributed to the project which took 4 years to complete. Visitors to the cathedral were also invited to add a stitch or two and these included a group of Tibetan Buddhist nuns, a WW II Canadian bomber pilot, who had been stationed near Ripon during the war, as well as a German former prisoner of war who was held in a camp in the area.

After approximately 5 ½ million stitches, the cushions were complete and were dedicated in a service in the cathedral on June 28th, 2003.

There’s much more to the cathedral’s unassuming font than first meets the eye. It is full of history and hidden spiritual meaning.

The font dates from the late 1400s and is made from ‘Teesdale marble’, quarried at Eggleston, about 40 miles away in County Durham. The sides have been worn smooth, a reminder of the countless baptisms – or christening as it is known for children – that have taken place here over the years.

The font has 8 sides which was an ancient symbolic design telling the story at the heart of the Christian faith. Jesus spent the last turbulent week of his life in Jerusalem where he was buried, following his arrest and execution by the Romans as a militant. On the 8^th day, however, his tomb was found to be empty, and Jesus appeared to his friends, transforming death into new life, which became known as Resurrection.

This is why baptism – and the font – are so important for Christians. At baptism, people join God’s family, the church community. The water of baptism, poured over the head, symbolises new life in Christ: not just after death, but in the new beginnings of this life too, through God’s love and forgiveness.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. (John 3:16)

Art plays an important role in Christian spirituality; to illuminate, comfort and inspire people with the stories and beliefs at the heart of the Christian faith.

You can see exceptional artwork in Ripon cathedral, spanning over a thousand years, from the cathedral’s foundation in the 7^th century to the present day.

Some of the most striking of the modern artwork are the three copper statues by sculptor Harold Gosney. These were installed in the 1990s with prayer points around the cathedral where you can light a candle.

The three statues show Mary holding her son Jesus at different point in his life: as a baby, as a playful toddler, and - heartbreakingly – Mary cradling Jesus’ dead body after his crucifixion (a traditional image in Christian art known as a Pieta).

Saint Wilfrid is the Patron Saint of Ripon. He built the first magnificent church here in 672 which became an important place of pilgrimage. The city still celebrates its founder in an annual St Wilfrid’s day procession and festival.

 The window in the St Wilfrid’s Chapel illustrates events from his colourful life. Wilfrid was born around 634 in the Kingdom of Northumbria into an aristocratic family. At 14 he was sent by the Queen to be educated at the monastery on the island of Lindisfarne. A few years later he set out on the first of his three adventurous trips to Rome where he was impressed by the glorious church buildings and their monastic communities.

On his return to Northumbria, Wilfrid was made Abbott of Ripon and began to build a breath-taking church here whose crypt still stands some 1350 years later. Although Wilfrid travelled widely, lived and built churches in other kingdoms, the church at Ripon remained his spiritual home.

Wilfrid’s passion was to lay strong foundations of the Christian church in the Pagan Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, and he became one of the most influential and pioneering leaders. But his life was turbulent. His bravery, loyalty and straight-talking led him to face execution, battles and prison when he was younger. However, he also provoked conflict and made enemies through his driven personality and confident, uncompromising self-belief.

After he died, in 709 he was buried here and it is thought his shrine would have been at the top of the church where the high altar is today. A year after his death, a moonbow appeared above Ripon, just as the monks finished evening prayer; a sign, they believed, that through Wilfrid God was blessing this special place.

The two tombs here belong to members of one of the great historic Ripon families, the Markenfields.  Their 14th century moated manor house, three miles south from here, is still lived in.  The two people remembered here with their wives were both called Sir Thomas Markenfield.

The library was built in the early 1300s as a ‘lady’ chapel which means it was dedicated to Mary, Jesus’ mother.

It was converted into a library in 1624 as the use of lady chapels had fallen out of use after the Reformation.

The library was created to house the valuable books of a former Dean of the cathedral, Anthony Higgin, and many of them are now kept in the Brotherton Library of the University of Leeds. There is a statue to Anthony Higgin in the library and you can read more about him on our Heritage Blog here

Today in the library you can see the stunning Anglo-Saxon Ripon Jewel, alongside the cathedral’s historic treasury (a beautiful collection of ornate gold and silver items used for the celebration of Holy Communion).

The Ripon Jewel is a small circular gold ornament, inlaid with amber and garnet. It is thought to date from the mid-7^th century, from time when Saint Wilfrid was appointed Abbott of Ripon and began to build the first magnificent stone church here. It could have been a small decoration from the church, perhaps adorning a book or casket, but it might also have been worn by someone of high rank.

Edward II's coat of arms can be seen here in the medieval stained glass. Nearly all the glass in the cathedral was damaged during the Reformation and Civil War so very little remains. This window has been restored using fragments of recovered medieval glass.

Edward II also called for Parliament to sit in Ripon in 1322 to avoid plague in London, but in the end York was chosen instead.

b.1284 - d.1387

Photo Judith Hooper

Charles I came to Ripon Cathedral (then a minster) to sign a treaty with the Scots in 1640. He would have been entertained in the minster and in a minister's house.

He was also brought here as a prisoner in 1646 after the English Civil War.

b. 1600 - ex. 1649

Etheldreda was a daughter of King Anna of East Anglia. She married twice, her second husband being King Ecgfrith of Northumbria. He was only fifteen when they wed.

Throughout both marriages she remained a virgin as chastity was thought to be true devotion to Christianity. Originally Ecgfrith agreed with this but some years later he is said to have wanted a normal marital relationship.

Etheldreda went to Wilfrid, her spiritual adviser, and with his counsel, she refused her husband, left her marriage and became a nun.

Eltheldreda founded Ely Abbey, a double monastery for monks and nuns in 673. Ely Cathedral now sits on the same site.

Hild was Abbess of Whitby, a powerful religious centre in the Anglo-Saxon world.

She was the great niece of the Northumbrian king Edwin, and she was raised in his court after her father was murdered.

Hild hosted the Synod of Whitby in 664, which Wilfrid attended as Bishop of Northumbria. Northumbria was still following mainly Celtic traditions, even though the rest of the western Church had adopted the Roman style. The Synod of Whitby was called to sort out whether Northumbria should calculate the date of Easter by the Celtic or Roman method.

Hild appeared to favour the Celtic way, whereas Wilfrid proposed adopting the Roman method. At the Synod in 664, King Oswiu of Northumbria ruled in favour of Wilfrid and Roman tradition.

Legend has it that Whitby was plagued by snakes, and Hild prayed to God that their heads be removed and they be turned into stone. Hild's carving on the pulpit has a shield with three snakes to represent this.

b. 614 – d. 680

This statue shows beautifully the costume of the early Stuart period. It is contemporary, created in about 1620 for York Minster.

This James I was in York Minster until 1810 when it was removed to make way for a new King Henry VI statue. James I was donated to Ripon Cathedral by the Dean and Chapter of York at this time.

Photo Judith Hooper

This is the Royal Coat of Arms belonging to James I. All parish churches had one of these, but few also contained any writing. The inscription underneath translates as "Blessed are the Peacemakers". Unusually, this coat of arms is also double sided.

Can you find reference to James I anywhere else?

These chairs, now set in the sanctuary of St Peter's Chapel, were to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 1977.

They have been used by royalty when the Queen came to Ripon Cathedral for the Maundy service and to distribute Maundy money in 1985.

Now, they are primarily used in weddings for the bridal couple to sit in after the signing of the register.

Photo Judith Hooper

Queen Eanfled was a Saxon queen married to King Oswig of Northumbria.

She was instrumental in Wilfrid getting an education as a boy and she helped him with his first trip to Rome. Wilfrid visited Rome and Europe several times and these trips inspired him to create the crypt here at Ripon.

Eanfled was a close advisor to Wilfrid throughout her married life. After her husband King Oswig died in 670 AD Eanfled retired to Whitby Abbey and ultimately became abbess there with her daughter.

Eanfled is portrayed in the bottom left corner of the window in St Wilfrid's chapel.

b. 626 - d. 704

Athelstan or Aethelstan is generally regarded as the first King of England.

He established a treaty with the then king of York, Sihtric in 926, and when Sihtric died the following year, a few more battles (not in York) led to the completion of the reconquest. Athelstan, however, claimed it to be from the moment when peace was established in 926.

In 926 Athelstan also established the Liberty of St Wilfrid: an area of one mile radius around the minster at Ripon that offered shelter to all and was outside royal authority.

b.894 – d.939 AD

Photo Judith Hooper

Henry II was the monarch at the time of the Archbishop of York Roger de Pont l'Évêque.

Roger rebuilt much of Ripon Cathedral after the "Harrying of the North" by William the Conqueror a hundred years before. The current Chapter House, Library and the transepts were all built by Roger around 1180.

Henry II asked Roger to crown his son in 1170 because of a dispute between Henry II and Thomas Beckett, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Thomas excommunicated Roger for this and Roger is implicated in Thomas's murder shortly after, supposedly at the wishes of Henry II.

b.1133 – d.1189

Photo Judith Hooper

James I was the successor to Elizabeth I and the first King of England and Scotland.

In 1604 James I granted a charter to Ripon for worship. His charter created a "collegiate church" consisting of a Dean and six canons, six lay clerks (adults) and six choristers (children).

James I also granted a second charter to Ripon which created the Mayor and allowed for independent local governing.

b.1566 — d.1625

Photo Judith Hooper