The Cathedral we see today is the fourth holy place to have stood on this site. Saint Wilfrid brought stonemasons, plasterers and glaziers from France and Italy to build his great
basilica in AD 672.
A contemporary account by
Eddius Stephanus tells us: "In Ripon, Saint Wilfrid built and completed from the foundations to the roof a church of dressed stone, supported by various columns and side-aisles to a great height and many windows, arched vaults and a winding ister.
"Saint Wilfrid was buried in this church near the high altar.
Devastated by the English king Edred in AD 948 as a warning to the
Archbishop of York, only the crypt of Wilfrid’s church survived but today this tiny 7th century chapel rests complete beneath the later grandeur of Archbishop
Roger de Pont l’Evêque’s 12th century minster. In AD954 King Edred expelled Eric Bloodaxe the last Danish King of York.
A second
minster soon arose at Ripon, but it too perished – this time in 1069 at the hands of
William the Conqueror.
Thomas of Bayeux, first
Norman Archbishop of York, then instigated the construction of a third church, traces of which were incorporated into the later chapter house of Roger’s minster.
The
Early English west front was added in 1220, its twin towers originally crowned with wooden spires and lead. Major rebuilding had to be postponed due to the outbreak of the
Wars of the Roses but resumed after the accession of
Henry VII and the restoration of peace in 1485. The nave was widened and the central tower partially rebuilt. The church's thirty five
misericords were carved between 1489 and 1494. It is worth noting that the same (Ripon) school of carvers also carved the misericords at
Beverley Minster and
Manchester Cathedral.
But in 1547, before this work was finished,
Edward VI dissolved Ripon’s college of canons. All revenues were appropriated by the Crown and the tower never received its last Perpendicular arches. It was not until 1604 that
James I issued his
Charter of Restoration.
On our way by train We had not seen the station improvements at Kings Cross and couldn't resist a few photos of the impressive "Basket Weave" ceiling