Ripon combines insights into Victorian workhouse history and policing with routes along the Ripon Canal and River Skell. The Workhouse Museum is one of Britain’s most completely preserved Victorian workhouses. Other attractions include a courthouse museum, gardens and landscapes with different features. For your planning, you can see cultural history and nature trails as two ways to experience Ripon.
Museums: different perspectives on Ripon’s history
At the Workhouse Museum, you can follow an inmate’s journey: from admission in the Guardian’s Room, through baths and fumigation, to the cells where tramps slept. The sequence of stops brings the workhouse’s history to life through its actual rooms.
The Prison & Police Museum is housed in the former Ripon Liberty Prison, which later became Ripon Police Station. The museum presents the history of policing in Yorkshire from Anglo-Saxon times to the establishment of a professional police force. A photo-identification activity adds an interactive element to the historical focus.
At the Courthouse Museum, you can stand in the dock in the courtroom and learn what happened there in the 19th century. You can also learn about the Liberty of Ripon. The differences in subject matter can help you choose: the Workhouse Museum focuses on an inmate’s journey, the Prison & Police Museum on the history of policing, and the Courthouse Museum on court practice and the Liberty of Ripon.
Market square and gardens
The Workhouse Kitchen Garden grows historic food crops using gardening techniques from the 1860s. At the centre of Ripon’s market square stands the obelisk designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor in 1702. A market featuring craftspeople and regional produce is held there every Thursday. Check the current market day before your visit, as the market schedule may change.
Ripon Walled Garden was once part of the Bishop’s Palace. It includes a plant nursery, an old orchard and a woodland area. While the Workhouse Kitchen Garden focuses on historic food crops and growing methods, the Walled Garden brings together different garden areas and a historic connection to the palace.
Routes along the Ripon Canal and River Skell
The Canal Walk starts outside Ripon Town Hall and follows the Ripon Canal through Yorkshire countryside and urban surroundings. The City Centre & River Skell Discovery Trail passes historic buildings and the Spa Gardens, and follows a wildlife corridor along a section of the River Skell. The Canal Walk therefore focuses on the canal, while the Discovery Trail connects historic buildings and gardens with the river corridor.
The nature features also vary along the water. The River Skell feeds the basin of the Ripon Canal, and a section of the canal runs alongside a wetland for waterbirds. The Navigator’s Walk follows the canal and offers opportunities to encounter a variety of wildlife. The Hell Wath Nature Trail follows the River Skell through woodland clearings, meadows and hedgerows; Hell Wath is home to more than 400 plant species. So, along the canal, the focus is on wetlands and wildlife, while at Hell Wath it is on river landscapes and plant diversity.
Ripon Scenic Cruises offers narrowboat trips on the Ripon Canal. Check the current availability of trips before making your plans. Walking routes and narrowboat trips offer different ways to experience the canal landscape.
A UNESCO World Heritage Site as an addition
A short drive from Ripon is Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal Water Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. If you are looking for a hotel in Ripon, you can decide as you plan whether to focus on the city’s museums and trails or include this World Heritage Site as an additional destination.
Discover more destinations: Gristhorpe, Felixkirk, Redmire, Willerby, Oldstead, Carperby, Flaxton, Muker
For the broader travel overview: North Yorkshire.
