Church of St Wilfrid

The Church of St Wilfrid is a Roman Catholic church built between 1858 and 1862, designed by I A Hansom. It consists of a nave and aisles, west "transepts" with polygonal ends and hipped roofs, a raised chancel with a polygonal apse, and chancel chapels. The unusual and dramatic design of the chancel roof is thought to be influenced by Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin's chapel at Alton Castle and the 12th-century church of Les Saintes de la Mer in Provence.

The interior of the four-bay nave features a west gallery. The three-bay choir is shorter. The architectural details are in the earliest French Gothic style, characterized by pointed arches, geometrical ornament, and foliate capitals with crockets. An elaborate arcaded reredos, designed by Edward Welby Pugin, depicts sculpted scenes from the life of St Wilfrid in high relief. A bowl-shaped font sits on a thick central column with four thinner pink marble columns. The pulpit has a simple balustrade of pink marble columns. The communion rail is made of brass and delicate wrought iron. The altar to Our Lady of Fountains, originally in the private chapel of the 1st Marquess of Ripon at Studley Park, was given to St Wilfrid’s by the 2nd Marquess (a Protestant) in 1909 when clearing his father’s possessions.

The history of the Catholic community in Ripon dates back to penal times, with regular Masses held at Bishop Thornton in Nidderdale. Mary Ward, the foundress of the IBVM and Bar Convent in York, came from the area between Bishop Thornton and Pateley Bridge. The community was strengthened by Ulster immigrants working at Mickley Flax Mill and patronized by the Vavasours of Hazlewood Castle. Before the church's construction, a warehouse in Heath's Court, Low Shellgate, served as a chapel. Father Robert Garstang purchased the site for St Wilfrid's, with assistance from Mr Bradwell to avoid anti-Catholic prejudice. His successor, Father Philip Vavasours, built the church, school, and presbytery. The foundation stone was laid on 21 November 1860 by the Vicar-General of the Diocese of Beverley, and the church was opened on 23 April 1863 at a cost of £5,000, although the cost may not have been fully settled at that time as the church was not consecrated until 1912. The conversion of the 1st Marquess of Ripon to Catholicism in 1878 enhanced the prestige of the Catholic community in Ripon.