Chapel of St Mary Magdalen, Ripon

The Chapel of St Mary Magdalen, Ripon (sometimes listed as St Mary Magdalene, or St Mary Magdalen (Leper) Chapel, Ripon), is an active Anglican church on Magdalens Road in the city of Ripon, North Yorkshire, England. The chapel is quite close to Ripon Cathedral (which is 0.75-mile (1.21 km) to the southwest), and belongs to the cathedral's benefice, deanery and archdeaconry. The chapels' origins lie in the 12th century when it was built at the behest of Archbishop Thurstan. It was situated opposite the St Mary Magdalen Hospital grounds, becoming the chapel to the hospital and the church for lepers initially, and then later, blind priests.

St Mary Magdalen's, Ripon
Chapel of St Mary Magdalen, Ripon
Chapel of the Hospital of St Mary Magdalene St Mary Magdalen (Leper) Chapel, Ripon
St. Mary Magdalen Leper Chapel
54.140°N 1.515°W / 54.140; -1.515
OS grid reference	SE318717
Location	Ripon, North Yorkshire
Country	England
Denomination	Church of England
Website	Official website
History
Founder(s)	Archbishop Thurstan
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Architectural type	Early English Perpendicular
Years built	c. 1139-1140
Specifications
Length	48 feet 2 inches (14.68 m)
Width	16 feet 6 inches (5.03 m)
Administration
Parish	Ripon Cathedral Parish with Littlethorpe
Benefice	Ripon Cathedral
Deanery	Ripon Cathedral
Archdeaconry	Ripon Cathedral
Diocese	Leeds
Clergy
Vicar(s)	Reverend Cliff Bowman
Listed Building – Grade I
Designated	27 May 1949
Reference no.	1150194

Most of the present church dates to the 15th century and consists of hammer-dressed limestone. The chapel has been renovated at least four times; firstly in the 15th century, then in the 17th, then in 1917, and most recently between 1985 and 1990. The chapel is now a grade I listed structure, and is noted for being the only structure associated with Ripon's Medieval hospitals that is still standing.

History

Archbishop Thurstan is said to have founded the St Mary Magdalen Hospital, north east of Ripon Cathedral, sometime between 1115 and 1139.[1] The chapel dates from around the same time and is noted as being the only intact part of any of the Medieval hospitals left in the city of Ripon.[2][note 1][4] Whilst no documentary evidence exists to attest to date or origin of the chapel, inquisitions held in the early 14th century had witnesses who testified that their elders and forefathers had told them Thurstan had paid for the hospital and that it should be a Leprosarium, attending to all lepers who were born in the Liberty of Ripon (omnes leprosos in Ripschire procreatos et genitos).[5][6] Later, it tended to blind clergy from the same geographical area.[7][8] Leper hospitals were traditionally dedicated to St Mary Magdalen, who was seen as an "outcast who was welcomed by Christ".[9]

It is believed that almost 300 leper hospitals were built in the Middle Ages, with the chapel of St Mary Magdalen at Ripon being one of the few survivors, and so is important to archaeology.[10] Not all leper hospitals had a resident priest, but in common with other cities and towns that had an abundant clerical community (such as at Canterbury and York), the chapel at the hospital in Ripon was afforded one.[11]

Originally, the road that the chapel was located on was called Stammergate,[12] but it is now called Magdalens Road.[13][9] The chapel is some 0.75-mile (1.21 km) north east of the cathedral in Ripon,[14] close to the River Ure, and on the opposite side of the road to what was the hospital site.[15] Its relative remoteness from the cathedral is believed by scholars to be because of its function as a leper hospital. At that time, the hospital was set in countryside and less built up than it is in modern times.[16][17] When "Leprocy[sic] became less prevalent, it was converted to the use of brethren under the governance of a master".[18]

At the west end, the chapel has a single buttress and a bellcote above the door. The west end also had another building adjoining it which was the leper-house. It is unknown when this was demolished, but the chapel now stands alone.[19] Parts of the chapel, particularly on the westward side, are in the Early English Style, with other parts being Norman and Perpendicular.[20] The length of the chapel is 47 feet 10 inches (14.58 m), its width as 17 feet 10 inches (5.44 m), and its height 18 feet 7 inches (5.66 m).[21][note 2] The chapel has been described as an "oblong parallelogram....with no tower, aisles, porch, or vestry."[20] The west end of the chapel is said to be the only original part of the building; the east end, with its tessellated floor, was rebuilt after a devastating raid by the Scots in 1321.[23] The tessellated floor underneath the altar is thought to have partially come from a Roman building, as excavations of Roman-period structures in the region have revealed similar designs.[24][25]

The windows on the east side are Perpendicular, with the single trefoiled window on the west side said to be Early English. Set in the middle of the north wall is a smaller window which is believed to have been a lychnoscope, which has been adapted into a normal window.[26][note 3] The font, of Norman origin, was returned to the chapel after being used as a water trough.[28]

The original building was made from gritstone, but renovations, particularly those in the 15th century, have seen the use of hammer-dressed limestone.[29] The religious authorities did not own any quarries in Ripon, but there are records of vast quantities of stone being bought from William de Kirkby in the late 14th/early 15th centuries. Whilst most of this was undoubtedly intended for the rebuilding of the cathedral, it is believed that stone purchased from de Kirkby was also used in the building of the hospital and the chapel.[30] Detailed examinations have revealed that stone from the Quarry Moor workings, just south of Ripon, was used in the renovations.[31]

After the dissolution, which many of the religious houses in Ripon were spared, the Canon of Ripon Cathedral became The Master of the hospital. One notable Master was Marmaduke Bradley, who was also the last abbot at Fountains Abbey.[32] Since 1608, the priest appointed as Canon of Ripon was selected by the Archbishop of York, and since 1686, the post has been known as the Dean of Ripon Cathedral.[33] In the 19th century, the chapel fell into disuse, even being used as a pig-sty. A second chapel was built opposite the current structure in the 1860s when the original chapel became unusable.[34] This was paid for by one of the trustees of the hospital, the Reverend George Mason after the reorganisation of the chapel in 1864.[35]

It is known that the rood screen was in position in 1875, but by 1902, the chapel had fallen into disuse and the screen had been removed, with the suggestion that it had been installed in the cathedral.[21] In 1917, the chapel underwent another restoration overseen by George Bland, an architect from Harrogate.[36]

It was renovated from 1985 onwards, and was rededicated in 1989.[37] Whilst the chapel does not possess a burial ground, during the 1980s archaeological investigations, several skeletons were unearthed but without burial containers or goods.[38] It was also determined that none had showed signs of leprosy, but they were among 13th century pottery shards, so were of the era when the hospital was dealing with lepers.[39] The investigations also revealed that the floor level was lower than the present day one and that many of the original boulders used in the chapel were replaced with magnesian limestone under a building programme conducted by Richard Hooke during the second half of the 17th century.[40]

The current incumbent is the Reverend Cliff Bowman, but during the 1990s, the Reverend John Langdon was in charge. Since its rededication, the priest in charge at St Magdalen is also in charge at St John the Baptist (in Bondgate), another chapel in the city that formerly served a Medieval hospital.[41] Besides being used for regular worship, the chapel is occasionally used as a venue, such as in the Ripon Poetry Festival.[42][43]

The Wooden Bell of Ripon

In his book, Yorkshire Oddities, the author Sabine Baring-Gould relates a tale when the chapel was not used for worship, with the residents of the almshouses having to go to the cathedral for prayers. The dean, who was fond of port, sold the bell as he was short of funds. The parishioners demanded he returned the bell, which with much anger, he did. It was later found to be a bell made of wood and painted with gun-metal; the original bell had gone to the foundry and the scrap sold to fund the drinking habits of the dean.[44] The chapel still retains a wooden bell.[28]

Notes

1. At least two other hospitals were built in the Medieval period in the town; the Hospital of St Anne in Agnesgate and the Hospital of St John the Baptist in Bondgate.[3]
2. The measurements are also given as 48 feet 2 inches (14.68 m) and its width is 16 feet 6 inches (5.03 m).[22] However, the 1875 survey by an architect is thought to be more exacting.
3. Other sources state that the lychnoscope was in the south wall.[27]

References

1. Fawcett 1844, p. 74.
2. Historic England. "St Mary Magdalens Chapel (53758)". PastScape. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
3. Walbran 1856, pp. 54–55.
4. Historic England. "Chapel of the Hospital of St Mary Magdalene  (Grade I) (1150194)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
5. Cullum 1989, p. 33.
6. Atkins, Rob; Popescu, Elizabeth (18 July 2013). "Excavations at the Hospital of St Mary Magdalen, Partney, Lincolnshire, 2003". Medieval Archaeology. 54 (1): 216. doi:10.1179/174581710X12790370815896.
7. "Hospitals: Rerecross, Richmond and Ripon | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
8. Cale 1989, p. 5.
9. Winpenny 2018, p. 73.
10. Roffey, Simon (18 July 2013). "Medieval Leper Hospitals in England: An Archaeological Perspective". Medieval Archaeology. 56 (1): 203–233. doi:10.1179/0076609712Z.0000000007.
11. Cullum 1989, p. 59.
12. Walbran 1856, p. 54.
13. "Ripon Conservation Area Appraisal" (PDF). harrogate.gov.uk. June 2009. p. 62. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
14. Baring-Gould, Sabine (1900). Yorkshire oddities : incidents and strange events. London: Methuen & Co. p. 318. OCLC 866747915.
15. Vickers, ed. (1839). The History of Ripon, with Historic Notices and Descriptions of Fountains Abbey. Ripon: Proctor & Vickers. p. 78. OCLC 504893829.
16. Clay, R M (1966). The Mediaeval hospitals of England. Routledge. p. 252. ISBN 0714612928.
17. Werronen 2013, p. 113.
18. Farrar 1801, p. 152.
19. Hallett 1901, pp. 138–139.
20. Fawcett 1844, p. 79.
21. Shires, B Priestley (October 1902). "The Ancient Chapel of St Mary Magdalene Stammergate, Ripon, Yorks". The British Architect. London: British Architect: 291. OCLC 648823854.
22. "Genuki: RIPON: The History of the Chapel of St. Mary Magdalen, Ripon, Yorkshire (West Riding)". www.genuki.org.uk. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
23. The tourist's guide; being a concise history and description of Ripon (2 ed.). London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co. 1838. p. 71. OCLC 57461759.
24. Hallett 1901, p. 140.
25. "Romans came, saw and settled here but the evidence is sparse". infoweb.newsbank.com. 25 November 2005. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
26. Huggon, Martin (2018). "52: Medieval Medicine, Public Health, and the Medieval Hospital". In Gerrard, Christopher M; Gutierrez, Alejandra (eds.). The Oxford handbook of later medieval archaeology in Britain. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 845. ISBN 978-0-19-874471-9.
27. Fawcett 1844, p. 80.
28. Winpenny 2018, p. 74.
29. Hallett 1901, p. 138.
30. Werronen 2013, p. 173.
31. McCall 1918, p. 219.
32. Cullum 1989, p. 426.
33. Butler, L A S (1990). The archdeaconry of Richmond in the eighteenth century : Bishop Gastrell's 'Notitia, ' the Yorkshire parishes, 1714-1725. Yorkshire Archaeological Society. p. 151. ISBN 0-902122-56-8.
34. "Genuki: The Alms Houses Chapel, Ripon, Yorkshire (West Riding)". www.genuki.org.uk. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
35. Historic England. "Chapel of St Mary Magdalene  (Grade II) (1295849)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
36. McCall 1918, p. 220.
37. "Turning up the heat on threat to church heritage". The Yorkshire Post. 27 July 2011. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
38. Cale 1989, p. 13.
39. Cale 1989, p. 22.
40. Cale 1989, p. 21.
41. Dobson, John (18 December 2015). "The Revd John Langdon". The Church Times. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
42. "Top names for Ripon Poetry Festival 2018". The Harrogate Advertiser. 27 April 2018. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
43. "Visit historic and architectural treasures throughout the district for free during this annual national celebration" (PDF). harrogatecivicsociety.org. September 2013. p. 12. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
44. Baring-Gould, Sabine (1900). Yorkshire oddities : incidents and strange events. London: Methuen & Co. pp. 318–321. OCLC 866747915.

Sources

• Cale, Kevin (1989). "Chapel of St Mary Magdalen, Ripon; archaeological Watching Brief". Grey Literature Scanning projects (North Yorkshire HER). English Heritage. doi:10.5284/1037821.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Cullum, Patrica Helena (1989). Hospitals and charitable provision in Medieval Yorkshire, 936-1547 (Report). York: University of York. OCLC 59074172.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Farrar, W (1801). The History of Ripon, Comprehending a Civil and Ecclesiastical Account of that Ancient Borough. Ripon: Farrar. OCLC 613645903.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Fawcett, Joshua (1844). Churches of Yorkshire. Leeds: T W Green. OCLC 977417249.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Hallett, Cecil (1901). The Cathedral church of Ripon; a short history of the church and a description of its fabric. London: G Bell & Sons. OCLC 459726710.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• McCall, H B (1918). "St Mary Magdalene's Chapel, Ripon". Yorkshire Archaeological Journal. Leeds: Yorkshire Archaeological Society. 24. ISSN 0084-4276.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Walbran, John Richard (1856). A Guide to Ripon, Harrogate, Fountains Abbey, Bolton Priory, and several places of interest in their vicinity (6 ed.). London: A Johnson & CO. OCLC 1061946608.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Werronen, Stephen (2013). Ripon Minster in its social context, c. 1350-1530 (Report). Leeds: University of Leeds. OCLC 879388757.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Winpenny, David (2018). Secret Ripon. Stroud: Amberley. ISBN 978-1-4456-7216-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

External links

• Local webpage
• Church Heritage Record 846003