Ripon Cathedral — Local services in England

I have visited the Cathedral a few times over the years but had not realised that it has connections with Lewis Carroll and Wilfred Owen. We were fortunate to have the above connections explained by staff there. Lewis Carroll's father had been a prominent figure at the Cathedral and had taken a young Lewis Carroll to spend sometime there. It is thought that he had perhaps taken some of his ideas for his book Alice in Wonderland from parts of the cathederal. eg the crypt is like a underworld or Warren and there are carvrings of a Griffin chasing a rabbit that is then followed by a rabbit escaping down a hole. These carvings are found on the back of a seating area near the organ. There is also a Cheshire cat. If you look up towards where the organ originally used to be you will notice a carved hand that is lit up. This hand enabled the organ player to motion the hand up or down, which gave direction to the choir eg to stand up or sit down. The connection with Wilfred Owen is that when he was injured in the 1st World War he came to Ripon to convalesce and it is believed that he had written some of his works there or gained inspiration while being at the Cathedral. There is also a carving of a monkey on the seating area near to the rabbit carvings. It was done by a man who lived in Ripon and his door to his house faced onto the road. Those with doors in this position were to be taxed. So, the man moved his door to the side of his house and closed up the front door to prevent paying this tax and to show his anger for this he carved a monkey into the seating post to annoy the man who would sit there as he was the one who introduced such a tax. There are thousands of crochet poppies around Ripon and outside the Cathedral that look spectacular. Worth a visit to see...

Saint Wilfrid Rocked , or should I say Rocks ! Ripon Cathedral is awesome . I have been fortunate enough to visit twice now and have been stunned by the beauty of this place both times . Saint Wilfrid was a dood in the real sence of the word in times much harsher and harder than ours he achieved so much more than I could ever dream of today . No cars , no electricity just faith and belief in something good . I admire these Monks of yore more than I could possible say not just Wilfrid but many of his contemporaries too . I read somewhere that the two towers at the front of these magnificent buildings date back to Charlemagne and represent the equality of power between the spiritual and the secular Bishops and Kings . We in our wisdom seem to have dumped the spiritual which I believe to be a big mistake . The Crypt alone remains from Wilfrids time 670 the rest of the building was built between the 13th and 16th centuries and only gained Cathedral status in 1836 . The screens are amazing with various Saints and Kings featuring on them . Being a big fan myself I was thrilled to see the man himself and star of many a show Athelstan . The statues themselves apparently were only unveiled in 1947 after the restoration of the 15th century screen . The pulpit was installed in 1913 and is great I can't say if it is one of a kind but I myself have never seen another like it . We are so lucky in this country to have such fine places to visit. The staff were very nice and welcoming also very proud of their magnificent Cathedral and City and quite rightly too . I for one had a great day and they helped make it so...

I was so disappointed when we visited this cathedral. We entered the open door area as 30 other people were visiting ahead of us in a group and the entire space was taken as they were progressing to the inside of the cathedral. I hope they enjoyed the visit. It was too cold for us to wait for our turn inside.

The cathedral is surrounded by many buildings, few of which seemed compatible with the pictures I had in my head of what I thought would be built nearby such a religeous icon. Many would no doubt disagree with me but from where I was standing outside the building is was lacking an area where you can stand in safety looking up to see its glorious hight and width.

From what I have read in the reviews the visitors are very impressed by the whole cathedral both inside, which seem to retain a historic aura and the magnificent outside..

This.years visit will now be changed to June as the 75 Anniversary of the D Day Landings were looked upon in Ripon as something to spend time attending. They were admired by many people from Ripon who were pleased to be there at the moment of the laying of the wreathes and the playing of the last post by a female trumpeter who was very professional. Some tears were seen as the Anniversary was drawing to an end and the people left silently. I am so pleased we found...