We first read about Ripon when a group of Celtic monks was granted land equivalent to 30 or 40 farms by the prince of Northumbria to support a new monastery which, in the 650's, stood probably to the north east of the present Cathedral, near to the site now occupied by Ripon House. The guest-master became the famous Saint Cuthbert who, whilst at Ripon, 'understood that he had entertained an angel'.

Differences between the Celtic and Catholic traditions of the church came to a head in a meeting at Whitby in 664 where Saint Wilfrid successfully argued the case for Rome. By this time the Celtic monks at Ripon had been dispossessed and Wilfrid had been granted the monastery. In 665 he was consecrated Bishop of Northumbria, with his seat at York. He offended many people and was soon deposed to be re-instated in 669. The next ten years saw the rise of his great abbey churches at Ripon and Hexham and the restoration of his cathedral at York. Medieval Alabaster in Ripon Cathedral, thought to be St. Wilfred

Wilfrid had seen wonderful buildings during a journey to Rome and brought craftsmen to build one of the most impressive churches west of the Alps, dedicated about 672, but he was banished, vindicated, imprisoned, exiled, banished again, dispossessed and eventually, at the synod of the River Nidd (704/5), restored. The crypt survives as the older of only two places in the country where one can stand within walls and roofs built during the first century of English Christianity. The monastery church was adorned with the most magnificent craftsmanship of the age, including an illuminated copy of the gospels written in gold on purple parchment and set with precious gems. Recently the Ripon Jewel has been dated to approximately the same period. At Ripon Wilfrid established a school to teach the singing of Benedictine chant.

© Maurice H Taylor 2000 Please click here for details of the Author

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