Ripley Castle is a

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

14th-century country house in

Ripley, North Yorkshire Ripley is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire in England, a few miles north of Harrogate on the A61 road towards Ripon. The village name derives from Old English and is believed to mean wood of the ''Hrype'' or Ripon people. Until 1 ...

, England, north of

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and civil parish in the North Yorkshire District, district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist de ...

. The house is built of coursed squared gritstone and ashlar with grey slate and stone slate roofs. A central two-storey block is flanked by a tower at one end and a three-storey wing at the other. A gatehouse which stands some to the south of the main buildings is also Grade I listed, whilst the two weirs over Ripley Beck (and the bridges that straddle them) are Grade II listed and the grounds and gardens are also listed at Grade II. The castle has been the seat of the Ingilby baronets for centuries. In June 2024 it was announced that it was to be sold.

History

Sir Thomas Ingleby () married the heiress Edeline Thwenge in 1308/9 and acquired the Ripley Castle estate with its medieval manor house as her

dowry A dowry is a payment such as land, property, money, livestock, or a commercial asset that is paid by the bride's (woman's) family to the groom (man) or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price ...

. His oldest son, also called Thomas (1310–1369), saved the king from being gored by a

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...

whilst on a hunting expedition and was knighted in return with the boar's head symbol as his crest. His descendant Sir John Ingleby (1434–1499) inherited the estate at the age of five from his father William and built the castle gatehouse, before becoming a monk at Mount Grace Priory, near Northallerton, and later the

Bishop of Llandaff The Bishop of Llandaff is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff. Area of authority The diocese covers most of the County of Glamorgan. The bishop's cathedra, seat is in the Llandaff Cathedral, Cathedral Chu ...

. His son Sir William Ingleby was raised by his deserted mother. Sir John's grandson, Sir William Ingleby (1518–1578), was

High Sheriff of Yorkshire The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred elsewhere o ...

in 1564–65. Sir William added the tower to the building in 1548. Two of his sons were fervent Catholics on the run from the authorities.

Francis Francis may refer to: People and characters *Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church (2013–2025) *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Francis (surname) * Francis, a character played by YouTuber Boogie2 ...

, a priest, was caught, sentenced and

hanged, drawn and quartered To be hanged, drawn and quartered was a method of torture, torturous capital punishment used principally to execute men convicted of High treason in the United Kingdom, high treason in medieval and early modern Britain and Ireland. The convi ...

in York in 1586; David escaped to die on the Continent. Stephen Proctor captured another priest, Christopher Wharton, in the park at Ripley in 1598. Wharton was executed at York. Sir William Ingleby (1546–1618) was knighted by

James VI of Scotland James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...

when the king was en route to his coronation as James I of England in 1603. Later that year he captured one of the fugitive brothers of the Earl of Gowrie at

Kirkby Malzeard Kirkby Malzeard () is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. There has been a creamery in the village making Wensleydale cheese for almost 100 years, first owned by Mrs Mason, then Kit Calvert, of Hawes, subsequen ...

. In 1605 he was involved in the

Gunpowder Plot The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was an unsuccessful attempted regicide against James VI and I, King James VI of Scotland and I of England by a group of English ...

, allowing the plotters to stay at Ripley whilst they procured horses. One of the conspirators, Robert Winter, was his nephew. Ingleby was arrested and charged with treason, but acquitted. Sir William Ingleby (1594–1652) supported Charles I during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, and was made Baronet Ingleby in 1642. He fought at

Marston Moor The Battle of Marston Moor was fought on 2 July 1644, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms of 1639–1653. The combined forces of the English Parliamentarians under Lord Fairfax and the Earl of Manchester and the Scottish Covenanters unde ...

in 1644, when the King's forces were totally routed, making his escape to Ripley and hiding in a priest hole while

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...

billeted himself there for the night, held at gunpoint in the library by Sir William's sister, Jane Ingleby. On the death of the 4th Baronet in 1772, the baronetcy became extinct but was revived in 1781 for his illegitimate son

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

(1758–1815). Ripley Castle 1

Sir John undertook a major rebuild of the castle in 1783–86 by William Belwood but got into debt and fled overseas in 1794 for several years. During this time the estate was managed by its long-serving steward, Ralph Robinson, who sold timber from the estate to raise money. Sir John was High Sheriff for 1782–83 and Member of Parliament (MP) for

East Retford East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sunrise, Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact ...

from 1790 to 1796. His son

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

(1783–1854) was a great eccentric, drinker and gambler and MP for East Retford from 1807 to 1812 and High Sheriff in 1821. He adopted the surname of Amcotts-Ingilby (his mother was Elizabeth Amcotts) and demolished and rebuilt the village of Ripley, complete with a Continental-style hôtel de ville. Having no heir he left the Ripley estate to his first cousin, Henry John Ingilby. The baronetcy was extinguished a second time. Henry was created 1st Baronet Ingilby of the third creation in 1866. Ripley then descended to the present 6th Baronet. The castle is still privately owned, now by the 6th Baronet, Sir Thomas Colvin William Ingilby. The gardens and grounds are open to the public, and guided tours of the castle were previously available, but there are no longer any guided tours "Due to the upcoming sale of the Estate". The property was managed as an event venue by Emma Ingilby and Sir Thomas. In October 2021, the castle was one of 142 sites across England to receive part of a £35-million injection from the government's

Culture Recovery Fund The Culture Recovery Fund is a grants programme issued by the UK Government as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The fund aims to financially support cultural organisations in England (such as theatres, museums, and music venues) which had bec ...

. In June 2024, it was announced that the castle and estate were to be put on the market in the autumn. It was put up for sale with a guide price of £21 million.

In popular culture

The

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

children's series ''

The Flaxton Boys ''The Flaxton Boys'' is a British historical children's television series set in the West Riding of Yorkshire and covering a timespan of almost a century. The series was made by Yorkshire Television and was broadcast on ITV between 1969 and ...

'' (1969–1973) used Ripley Castle as the fictional Flaxton Hall. It was used in the 1976

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

film '' Escape from the Dark'', as the home of Lord Harrogate, played by

Alastair Sim Alastair George Bell Sim (9 October 1900 – 19 August 1976) was a Scottish actor. He began his theatrical career at the age of thirty and quickly became established as a popular West End performer, remaining so until his death in 1976. S ...

. The

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...

series ''

Gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...

'' (2017) used the castle as a location. In 2021 Ripley Castle featured in the Channel 5 television miniseries ''

Anne Boleyn Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the Wives of Henry VIII, second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and execution, by beheading ...

''.

References

External links

Official website
{{coord, 54.0410, -1.5680, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Grade I listed houses in North Yorkshire Country houses in North Yorkshire *