place

Liberty of Ripon

History of North YorkshireHistory of RiponLiberties of EnglandNorth Yorkshire geography stubsUse British English from May 2021

The Liberty of Ripon or Riponshire was a liberty possessing separate county jurisdiction, although situated within the county of Yorkshire, England. The liberty was under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of York, a privilege claimed to have been granted by King Aethelstan in the 10th century. The liberty was governed by a high steward and justices of the peace, appointed by the archbishop, and the area had separate quarter sessions, in conjunction with the mayor and recorder of the borough of Ripon, in whose town hall they were held. In 1831 the following parishes and townships (locally in the North and West Ridings of Yorkshire) were in the liberty: Most of Ripon Felixkirk Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe Kilburn, North Yorkshire Nidd with Killinghall Marton-cum-Moxby In 1836 the temporal jurisdiction of the archbishop was ended, with the power to appoint justices revested in the crown, and in 1837 the townships locally in the North Riding were removed from the liberty. In 1889, the Local Government Act 1888 came into operation. Section 48 of the Act merged "every liberty and franchise of a county" into its surrounding administrative county. While this was the end of the liberty's administrative functions, separate quarter sessions continued until 1953, and it was also a distinct unit for land tax purposes for some time.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Liberty of Ripon (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Liberty of Ripon
North Street, Ripon

Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address Nearby Places
placeShow on map

Wikipedia: Liberty of RiponContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 54.139 ° E -1.524 °
placeShow on map

Address

North House Surgery

North Street
HG4 1HL Ripon
England, United Kingdom
mapOpen on Google Maps

Share experience

Nearby Places

Ripon
Ripon

Ripon () is a cathedral city and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Within the boundaries of the historic West Riding of Yorkshire, the city is noted for its main feature, Ripon Cathedral, which is architecturally significant, as well as the Ripon Racecourse and other features such as its market. The city was originally known as Inhrypum. Bede records that Alhfrith, king of the Southern Northumbrian kingdom of Deira, gave land at Ripon to Eata of Hexham to build a monastery and the abbot transferred some of his monks there, including a young Saint Cuthbert who was guest-master at Ripon abbey. Both Bede in his Life of Cuthbert and Eddius Stephanus in his Life of Wilfred state that when Eata was subsequently driven out by Alhfrith, the abbey was given to Saint Wilfrid who replaced the timber church with a stone built church. This was during the time of the Anglian kingdom of Northumbria, a period during which it enjoyed prominence in religious importance in Great Britain. It was for a period under Viking control, and later suffered under the Normans. After a brief period of building projects under the Plantagenets, the city emerged with a prominent wool and cloth industry. Ripon became well known for its production of spurs during the 16th and 17th centuries, but would later remain largely unaffected by the Industrial Revolution. Ripon is the third-smallest city in England and the smallest in Yorkshire, by population. According to the 2011 United Kingdom Census it had a population of 16,702, an increase on the 2001 United Kingdom Census figure of 15,922. It is located 11 miles (18 km) south-west of Thirsk, 16 miles (26 km) south of Northallerton and 12 miles (19 km) north of Harrogate. As well as its racecourse and cathedral, Ripon is a tourist destination because of its proximity to the UNESCO World Heritage Site which consists of the Studley Royal Park and Fountains Abbey.

The Wakeman's House
The Wakeman's House

The Wakeman's House is a historic building in Ripon, a city in Yorkshire, in England. The building was constructed as a house in the 16th or early 17th century, facing onto High Skellgate. In about 1600, the entrance was altered to face onto the Market Square, and over time most of the building was demolished, leaving one wing standing. It was traditionally considered to have been the house of Hugh Ripley, the last Wakeman of Ripon, who in 1604 became the city's first mayor. In 1917, the remaining wing was under threat of demolition, but was purchased by the city council and restored, with a kitchen added at the rear. The council opened the building as a museum, and stripped the plaster from the front, to expose the timber frame. The building was Grade II* listed in 1949. After the museum closed, the building served successively as a tea shop, a tourist information centre, the offices of the Ripon Improvement Trust, a dress shop, and then a tea shop again. In 2000, the kitchen was demolished, and public toilets were constructed on the site. The building has two main storeys and an attic. It is timber-framed throughout, with a stone slate roof. The front of the building has oriel windows on both floors, while the attic has a window in its gable end. Inside, the staircase has balusters with a pattern of circles and rectangles. A local tradition claims that the building is haunted by the ghost of Hugh Ripley, even though he never lived in the building. When it reopened in the 1920s after restoration, there was a ceremony at which the city hornblower performed. Several members of the crowd claimed to have seen the ghost at an upstairs window.