Ripon MuseumsThe Yorkshire Law and Order Museums |
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Ripon MuseumsThe Yorkshire Law and Order Museums |
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A number of historical buildings associated with the upholding of law and order within Ripon since mediaeval times may be seen in a convenient stroll around the city by following the Law and Order Trail.
The Obelisk, the earliest free-standing obelisk in the country, was built by John Aislabie of Studley Royal in 1702, replacing the mediaeval market cross. Here the Hornblower sounded his horn to 'set the watch' as night fell - a ceremony which continues to this day. Designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor the Obelisk is crowned by a golden horn - the symbol of the city - and a rowel (a spiked wheel attached to a spur) a reference to the manufacture of spurs for which the town had a reputation in the 17th and 18th centuries. As the inscription reminds us, it was restored by Aislabie's son William in 1781.
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The Town Hall, designed by James Wyatt, was completed in 1801 as a town house and public Assembly Room for Mrs Elizabeth Allanson of Studley Royal (William Aislabie's daughter). The Corporation kept their records and met in the lower rooms until 1897 when the 1st Marquess of Ripon (a successor to the Aislabies), gifted the building to the City to celebrate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee and commemorate his year in office as Mayor. Its front bears the city's motto 'Except the Lord keep the City, the Wakeman waketh in vain'.
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Between 1836 and 1851 Corporation meetings were excluded from the Assembly Rooms by its owner due to 'political differences'. During this period the building at the corner of 5 Kirkgate and Duck Hill became the Corporation Town House and a town lock-up was built under the pavement with access from Duck Hill. This was used until 1877, when new cells were added at the back of the Police Station in Kirkgate above. The site of the lock-up is marked by the doorway at the bottom of the steps on Duck Hill.
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In 1875 the small Ripon Police Force was enlarged and the Police Station was moved to 5 Kirkgate. In 1876 a prisoner suffocated in the lock-up and as a result, in 1877, a new suite of cells were added to the rear of the police station (the barred windows and the stone plaque which carried a carved horn can be seen from Duck Hill). The building served as Ripon City Police Station until 1887 when the Ripon City Police Force was amalgamated within the West Riding Constabulary.
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In mediaeval times the area to the north of the west front of the cathedral was the site of the Archbishop's summer palace and administrative centre. This included courthouses for the dispensing of both religious and secular justice. The church dispensed justice at the Archbishop's Courthouse until the 17th century when it then served as a debtors' prison until the mid-19th century. The courtroom was situated on the upper floor with cells on the lower floor and an underground chamber.
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Secular justice was dispensed at the Ripon Liberty Courthouse - the early courthouse being replaced by the present courthouse in 1830. After Quarter Sessions ceased in 1953 it remained a working courthouse until it was closed in 1998. It is now the Ripon Courthouse Museum.
In 2005 its interiors were redecorated in the original colour scheme used when the building opened at Michelmas 1830.
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Ripon Cathedral was a collegiate church or Minster until 1836, when the Ripon Diocese was created, and in mediaeval times enjoyed the privilege of granting sanctuary to offending clerics who were tried at the consistory court. Although sanctuary rights were abolished in the late 15th century and although the case may be heard elsewhere the consistory court is still sited symbolically in the cathedral. A curfew was imposed on those who had sought sanctuary and to this day the curfew bell is rung each night at nine o'clock to coincide with the setting of the watch in the Market Place.
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The buildings on this site have served Ripon in the maintenance of law and order for three centuries. The House of Correction was built in 1686 for the setting to work of 'Rogues, Vagabonds and Idle Fellows'. In 1816 a new prison was added and the old building became the governor's residence. The prison was closed in 1878 and became the Ripon Police Station until 1959. Today the House of Correction is a private residence and the Prison/Police Station is the Ripon Prison and Police Museum.
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Although the 'new' Poor Law was enacted in 1834 it was not until 1854 that the Ripon Union of the 32 local townships was formed and the Ripon Workhouse was built on the site of the earlier Poor House in Allhallowgate. All the buildings survive - the main building is now the offices of the Ripon Social Services, the previous hospital block is being converted to a Community Centre and the earlier Mens' Vagrant block to the east of the gatehouse is now the Ripon Workhouse Museum.
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The current police station was opened on the 27th August 1959, serving the West Riding Constabulary (Ripon Section, Claro Division) which went on to become the West Yorkshire Constabulary (Ripon Section, Harrogate Division). Following Local Government reorganisation in April 1974 the station then served the North Yorkshire Police (Ripon Section, Northallerton Division). The police station is now the Western Area Headquarters for North Yorkshire Police.
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