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Ripon is one of England's smaller
cathedrals but is still of great interest and the historian
Sir Nikolaus Pevsner considered the West Front to be the finest
in England.
The cathedral's great glory is
its Saxon crypt which dates from 672 AD and is one of the
oldest in Europe. The crypt, less than 10 feet high
and 7 feet wide, is part of one of England's first stone churches.
This was founded by St Wilfrid in the middle of the 7th century
to be the guardian of the Christian faith in the Saxon kingdom
of Northumbria.
It was from here that Wilfrid,
as Bishop of York, controlled the diocese of the north.
After Wilfrid's time Ripon lost any claim to cathedral status
and instead became one of the three mother churches of the
archdiocese of York. Once the Archbishops of York had
a palace at Ripon and a college of canons was established
to serve the town and surrounding country. It was not
until 1836 the collegiate church became the centre of a new
diocese.
Apart from part of the crypt,
the Saxon church was destroyed by the Danes, and after the
Norman Conquest the second church on the site was also destroyed.
Thomas Bayeux, the first Norman Archbishop of York, built
a new church on the site in 1080, and it was from that here
Archbishop Thurston and a group of monks went out to found
nearby Fountains Abbey.
Few traces of the Norman church
remain and the building seen now goes back to, and is an extension
of, the fourth church to be constructed on the site, built
by Archbishop Roger. The north transept and part of the north
side of the choir survive from his time, together with the
chapter-house.
More rebuilding was carried out
in the 3th century, under the supervision of Archbishop Walter
de Grey. He created the magnificent Early English west
front with its series of lancet windows and sturdy twin towers.
The eastern part of the choir was rebuilt at the end of the
13th century by Archbishop Romanus.
Following the battle of Bannockburn
in 1314, Ripon was plundered by the invading Scots but peace
was restored and the shrine of St Wilfrid became one of the
most important centres of pilgrimage in the north.
However, Ripon's fortunes declined
in the 15th century. In 1450 part of the central tower
collapsed and the building was neglected throughout the Wars
of the Roses. The central tower was never fully rebuilt
but in the final decade of the 15th century the spectacular
choir stalls, with their elaborately carved misericords, were
added.
In the 16th century the nave
was rebuilt, but soon after the College of Canons was dissolved
by Henry VIII, before being re-established by James I in 1604,
and because of this, Ripon is the only one of England's 'parish
church cathedrals' to have a dean and not a provost.
Ripon suffered damage and desecration
during the Reformation and even more during the Civil War.
In 1660 the spire of the central tower collapsed causing damage
to the choir stalls, and in 1664 the spires of the twin towers
had to be removed for reasons of safety.
Ripon was neglected in the 18th
century but the church underwent considerable restoration
in the 19th century after it was elevated to cathedral status
in 1836.
Inside the cathedral, 800 years
of craftsmanship in stone and wood can be seen in the nave
and choir, and there is a medieval stained glass window.
Above the choir stalls and canons' seats are elegant pinnacled
canopies. Sensitive restoration ensured the choir stalls
with their carved set of 34 misericords are still a delight.
A screen created by Leslie Durban
in the 1970s separates the Chapel of the Holy Spirit in the
south choir aisle. Fine roof bosses can be seen above the
choir and in the Library there are some manuscripts including
the illuminated Charter of Restoration, issued by King James
I. The Saxon crypt houses the cathedral's treasury.
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