Ripon Cathedral, Anglican cathedral in Ripon, England
Ripon Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Ripon, North Yorkshire, standing about 300 m south-east of the town centre, roughly 150 m north of the River Skell. Its Early English west front of about 1220 has two square towers, a triangular gable with a cross, three tiers of pointed-arch windows and a rose-type circular opening. The nave is about 90 m long.
Irish monks founded a monastery here in the 660s, and the current church emerged through rebuilding between the 13th and 16th centuries. The different building phases left a mix of early and late Gothic elements still visible in the stonework today.
Ripon derives from the Old English Hrype, meaning tribe or people, and the church drew pilgrims to the shrine of Saint Wilfrid for centuries. Today, regular choral rehearsals and organ concerts let visitors experience the living Anglican tradition firsthand.
The church opens daily from morning until late afternoon with no ticket needed, and visitors can move freely through the interior. Those wishing to visit the crypt should be able to descend narrow stairs, as access is not step-free.
The seventh-century crypt is the only survivor of Wilfrid's church, which King Eadred devastated in 948; it now sits beneath the crossing of Roger de Pont l'Évêque's 12th-century minster. Its walls incorporate Roman-style stonework from the basilica Wilfrid raised with masons, plasterers and glaziers brought from France and Italy.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 94,644 contributors worldwide.
