The medieval cross base, known as the ‘Weeping Cross’, would appear to be a unique survivor of many such crosses in England. The place name ‘Weeping Cross’ still exists in Stafford, Banbury and Shrewsbury but no physical evidence remains. The age of this ancient and venerable relic is not known. It is certainly as old as the church, and perhaps much older if it was brought from  the ’sinking chapel’ site. There is no cross now, but the socket where it fitted is clearly seen in the top of the upper stone. Iconoclasts may have removed the original cross (possibly a crucifix) at the time of the Reformation.

The manner of which the ‘Weeping Cross’ was used has been a subject of considerable debate among antiquarians. The Shrewsbury cross is known to have been the focus of a procession of the Blessed Sacrament by the monastic and secular clergy on the Festival of Corpus Christi, before the celebrations of the Holy Eucharist took place at one of the neighbouring churches. After the Reformation, the festival became secular and later an annual fair. The Ripley cross being located close to a church may have had a similar role in pre-Reformation times. The eight recesses, most likely for the head of kneeling devotees, would tend to support the idea of such group usage.

The term ‘weeping cross’ also seems to  indicate the expression of grief, remorse or repentance. This may relate to the death of Christ and the Festival of Corpus Christi. However the public expression of such emotions in atonement for sins or crimes was not uncommon in medieval times and may be an alternative explanation. *

Since the leaflet was written a simply wooden cross has been placed has been placed on top of the stone.

*Information from a church leaflet – A Short History of  All Saints’ Church Ripley

A quiet village just north of Harrogate, with a magnificent stately castle, surrounded by lovely gardens and parkland. Ripley Castle and All Saints Church face each other across the village’s cobbled square. The church contains the tombs of several of the Ingilby family, who’s descendants still live in the castle today. Within the churchyard is one of the few remaining ‘weeping’ crosses in Britain – a pedestal with a hole in the top for the reception of a larger cross and surrounded by small recesses where penitents could kneel in certain discomfort.

I will share more information and photos of the church in my next post.

After breakfast our first port of call was Ripley where we enjoyed a stroll round the village. Although Mr C wasn’t particularly taken with it, I enjoyed the church which had some interesting historical features including the base of  a medieval cross known as ‘the weeping cross’ and which is thought to be a unique survival of a structure of this type.

The next village on our list was Pateley Bridge where we went for a brief walk along a pathway by the river Nidd to find the Pillars Past sculpture before exploring the town.

Before we left the area I suggested that we made a detour to view Coldstones Cut, a massive sculpture with viewing platforms looking over the nearby quarry and surrounding countryside.  The effort of climbing the short steep walk to get to the monument rewarded us both with a WOW moment!

We had walked up an appetite so we headed to Ripon for lunch which we enjoyed sitting on a bench in the gardens by the war memorial. After lunch we toured Ripon Cathedral which I had not been to before. Over 10,000 origami angels were suspended from the ceiling. I learned that it was a project called ‘A Wing and A Prayer’ which had been designed in the early days of lockdown to recognise the work done by keyworkers and those on the front line. I found the installation breathtaking.

Whilst there I was able to get the first stamp in my 2020 Year of Cathedrals Pilgrim Passport. At the beginning of 2020 it had planned to visit many Cathedrals this year. Maybe next year…

We weren’t ready to go back to the hotel so we detoured via Knaresborough. We walked through the town spotting the window murals known as the ‘Knaresborough windows’ ending up by the castle and war memorial which due to their elevated position treated us to spectacular views of the Victorian aqueduct and the gorge below. We returned to the car via the Bebra Gardens where I spotted a beautiful memorial bench.

Back at the hotel we had our last evening chill out before dinner in the restaurant. When we arrived at the restaurant we were told that our table wasn’t quite ready. I said that’s OK and suggested that a seat could be found for us and we would order a pre-dinner drink. There were no seats were available so with our agreement we were taken to an outside table to wait with our pre-dinner drink. Our drinks didn’t arrive a promptly as we expected and, after some time, we were seated in a back room away from the bar area and restaurant, not quite what we expected as hotel residents who had booked.

As time passed, we found ourselves alone in that area with two tables of loud non-residents. In normal circumstances we would have moved to a more ambient area but due to Covid-19 rules we stayed put rather than introducing more cleaning areas for the hotel staff. A lovely waitress that had been looking after us during our stay was a bit put out that we had been sidelined into a back room and made a point of coming to say goodbye to us before she clocked off for the evening. How special was that!

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