Northumbrian and Viking period During its prehistory the area which later became Ripon was under the control of the
Brigantes, a
Brythonic tribe. Three miles (5 km) north at Hutton Moor there is a large circular
earthwork created by them. The
Romans did not settle Ripon, but they had a military outpost around away at
North Stainley. Solid evidence for the origins of Ripon can be traced back to the 7th century, the time of the
Anglian kingdom of
Northumbria. The first structure built in the area, known at the time as
Inhrypum, was a
Christian church dedicated to
St Peter, with the settlement originating in 658. This was founded by
Wilfrid, a Northumbrian nobleman, who later became
Archbishop of York; he was granted the land by King
Alhfrith. The earliest settlers were stonemasons, glaziers and plasterers that Wilfrid brought over to help construct the Ripon monastery, from
Lyon in
Francia and Rome, which was then under
Byzantine rule. The years following the death of Wilfrid are obscure in Ripon's history. After the invasion of the
Great Heathen Army of
Norse Vikings in Northumbria, the
Danelaw was established and the
Kingdom of Jórvík was founded in the
Yorkshire area. In 937,
Athelstan, then
King of England, granted the privilege of sanctuary to Ripon, for a mile around the church. One of his successors was less well-disposed: after the Northumbrians rebelled against English rule in 948, King
Edred had the buildings at Ripon burned. Prosperity was restored by the end of the 10th century, as the body of Saint
Cuthbert was moved to Ripon for a while, due to the threat of
Danish raids.
Normans and the Middle Ages After the
Norman conquest, much of the north rebelled in 1069, even trying to bring back Danish rule; the suppression that followed was the
Harrying of the North, which resulted in the death of approximately one-third of the population of the
North of England. Ripon is thought to have shrunk to a small community around the church following the suppression. The lands of the church were transferred to
St Peter's Church at York as the
Liberty of Ripon and it was during this time that a grand
Collegiate Church was built on top of the ruins of Wilfrid's building. Eventually developed in the
Gothic style, the project owed much to the work of
Roger de Pont L'Evêque and
Walter de Gray, two
Archbishops of York during the
Plantagenet era. During the 12th century Ripon built up a booming
wool trade, attracting Italian trade merchants, especially
Florentines, who bought and exported large quantities. Ripon's proximity to
Fountains Abbey, where the
Cistercians had a long tradition of sheep farming and owned much grazing land, was a considerable advantage. After English people were forbidden from wearing foreign cloth in 1326, Ripon developed a cloth industry which was third in size in Yorkshire after York and
Halifax. Due to conflict with
Scotland, political emphasis was on the North during the time of
Edward I and
Edward II, as Scottish invaders attacked numerous northern English towns. Ripon had a wakeman to make sure the residents were safely home by
curfew and law and order was maintained; however, it was forced to pay 1,000
marks to the Scots to prevent them from burning down the town on one occasion.
Reformation and Tudor times Ripon, which relied heavily on its religious institutions, was badly affected by the
English Reformation under the
Tudor king
Henry VIII. The
Abbot of Fountains, William Thirske, was expelled by Henry and replaced; Thirske went on to become one of the leaders of the
Pilgrimage of Grace popular rising. The people of Northern England were quite traditional in their beliefs and were unhappy about Henry's intention to break with Rome; the Pilgrimage of Grace was the manifestation of this sentiment. The revolt failed and Henry followed through with the break from
Rome and the
Dissolution of the Monasteries, which included
Fountains Abbey. After
Mary, Queen of Scots, fled Scotland to
Northern England she stayed at Ripon on her journey. The mainly Catholic North supported her, and there was another popular rising known as the
Rising of the North; this began six miles (10 km) away at
Topcliffe and was led by
Thomas Percy, the 7th
Earl of Northumberland and
Charles Neville, the 6th
Earl of Westmorland. The rebels stayed at Ripon on 18 November 1569, but the rising eventually failed resulting in 600 people being executed, 300 of whom were
hanged at Gallows Hill in Ripon during January 1570. Plans were drawn up to make Ripon a centre of education, a
University of the North, to rival
Oxford and
Cambridge. Although chief advisers
Lord Burghley and
Archbishop Sandys supported the idea,
Elizabeth I did not follow it through. The scheme was revived in 1604 by Sandys' widow Cicely, under the patronage of
Anne of Denmark and
Bess of Hardwick without success.
Civil War and Restoration stayed in 1617 Ripon replaced its old textiles industry with one for the manufacture of
spurs during the 16th century. They were so widely known that they gave rise to the
proverb "as true steel as Ripon Rowels". At the time, spurs did not just serve as functional
riding accessories, they were also fashionable; an expensive pair was made for King
James I when he stayed at Ripon in 1617. It was James who granted Ripon a
Royal Charter in 1604 and created the first Mayor of Ripon. After the
Bishops' Wars in Scotland, a
treaty was signed at Ripon in 1640 to stop the conflict between
Charles I and the Scottish
Covenanters. Although Ripon was not in the main line of fighting which was to the east, it remained loyal and
royalist during the
English Civil War. There was an incident in 1643, when
parliamentarian forces under
Thomas Mauleverer entered Ripon and damaged the Minster, but
John Mallory and the royalist forces soon settled the matter after a skirmish in the Market Place. The royalists were eventually defeated in the Civil War and Charles I spent two nights as a prisoner in Ripon.
Oliver Cromwell visited the city twice on his way to battle, once on the way to the
Preston and also on the way to the
Battle of Worcester. By the time of the
English Restoration, several strains of
non-conformist Christian practices had appeared, although they were not common in Ripon, the majority of people being
Anglicans with a
Catholic minority. After the
Revolution of 1688, which overthrew
James II, there were
Jacobite risings in the
British Isles; some Riponmen were jailed in February 1746 upon "suspicion of corresponding with Prince
Charles Edward Stuart". The founder of
Methodism,
John Wesley, preached in Ripon and a small community of followers was established. During the
Georgian era Ripon, unlike several other cities, was not significantly affected by the
Industrial Revolution despite the existence of various
guilds. Although more widely known for his activities outside of Ripon,
John Aislabie, during his time as Member of Parliament for Ripon, created the
Studley Royal Park with its
water garden and erected the
Ripon Obelisk (designed by
Nicholas Hawksmoor). The town had a similar though smaller role during the Second World War and, in recognition of this, the
Royal Engineers were presented with the
Freedom of the City in 1947. Since the War, Ripon has gone through some remodelling and has grown in size; it attracts thousands of tourists each year who come to see its famous buildings with their long Christian heritage, nearby Studley Park,
Ripon Racecourse, and in recent times the theme park
Lightwater Valley. File:T and R Williamson Ltd - Varnish and Enamel Works - geograph.org.uk - 1246120.jpg|The T & R Williamson Ltd Varnish and Enamel Works File:The Arcade, Ripon - geograph.org.uk - 724791.jpg|The Arcade shopping centre File:Flats on Allhallowgate, Ripon (geograph 6039756).jpg|Apartment building on Allhallowgate == City status ==