Ripon Cathedral, one of England's first stone churches
Just 20 miles southeast of Leyburn in the Yorkshire Dales lies the city of Ripon. Ripon Cathedral was begun in 660 AD by St. Wilfrid, the son of an Anglo Saxon noble. After living in a Celtic monastery at Lindisfarne, Wilfrid, at age 18, made the trip to Rome (still can't get over how these people managed to travel in those days!). The next three years there changed his life and he made the decision to become a monk.
Passageway to the Crypt, built in 672 by Wilfrid, who tried to replicate what he thought Christ's tomb would have looked like. He kept relics there for pilgrims to see, a place where they could pray and worship.
The Crypt
Beautiful wood structure surrounds the clerestory windows
Pipe Organ
We sat in on the noon prayers. We were among the five people present in this huge building. All the saints' statues were shrouded since it was the Lenten season.
We sat in on the noon prayers. We were among the five people present in this huge building. All the saints' statues were shrouded since it was the Lenten season.
Below the pipe organ, the wood hand, a mechanical choir director
A sign in the quire read '15th century misericords. Please do not touch.' The misericords are a little ledge on the bottom of the chair where, when the chair is folded up, still provide a slight ledge upon which the monks might rest during long periods of standing. This carving, above, represents a griffin chasing a rabbit down a rabbit hole. When Charles Dodgson aka Lewis Carroll was 20 years old, his father was Canon at Ripon Cathedral. It is thought that the carving (above) may have been inspiration for Alice in Wonderland.
Rood Screen, Dividing Quire from the Nave - right side of archway
Rood Screen - left side of archway
Stained glass - Melchizadek and Moses
Street in Ripon, looking toward the Cathedral
I loved the colorful flowers and buildings in Ripon
There's so much to see, so much history to learn, in England. And the connections! Lewis Carroll, an Anglican clergyman and mathematician, teaching for many years at Christ Church, Oxford. And it was George MacDonald's children's response to Carroll's tales that inspired him to get his work published? Isn't this stuff just so fascinating!!
When I was relating this to my husband, who views the world through a slightly different lens than I do, he responded,'Well, it IS a rather small island, you know.'
A sign in the quire read '15th century misericords. Please do not touch.' The misericords are a little ledge on the bottom of the chair where, when the chair is folded up, still provide a slight ledge upon which the monks might rest during long periods of standing. This carving, above, represents a griffin chasing a rabbit down a rabbit hole. When Charles Dodgson aka Lewis Carroll was 20 years old, his father was Canon at Ripon Cathedral. It is thought that the carving (above) may have been inspiration for Alice in Wonderland.
There's so much to see, so much history to learn, in England. And the connections! Lewis Carroll, an Anglican clergyman and mathematician, teaching for many years at Christ Church, Oxford. And it was George MacDonald's children's response to Carroll's tales that inspired him to get his work published? Isn't this stuff just so fascinating!!
When I was relating this to my husband, who views the world through a slightly different lens than I do, he responded,'Well, it IS a rather small island, you know.'
Check out my handcrafted soaps at Soap'n'Such
