The Old Courthouse

The Old Courthouse is a building that likely dates back to the medieval period, although the roof structure and masonry details do not provide definitive evidence for its age. It is constructed of hammer-dressed stone and features pantiled and sprocketed roofs. The building has two storeys and consists of three bays plus a southern extension that has a timber-framed first floor.

At the north end, there is a round-arched doorway, which is probably from the 18th or 19th century and is now blocked, though it once had an iron-studded door. On the first floor, there is a 19th-century two-centred arched door accessed by a flight of steps with a simple iron balustrade. The ground floor includes one old slit window, while the rest of the windows are 18th or 19th-century casements and sashes.

Inside, the first floor retains a courtroom, while the ground floor has cells with iron-plated ceilings and two iron-studded doors. Historically, the building was likely constructed as the courthouse for the Archbishop of York's Liberty of Ripon, situated near the Archiepiscopal Palace. By the 18th century, it had become the Liberty gaol, with the earliest reference dating back to 1713. In the 19th century, it may have served as a Debtors' Prison, as evidenced by various references from the 1830s and 1840s, including the name of Thomas Harrison, who was noted as the gaoler, scratched on the walls.