Welcome to the Parish of St Wilfrid, Ripon

A Mass centre was first established in Ripon in 1850. The present church was opened in 1862 and designed by J A Hansom. It is a Grade II* Listed Building and was consecrated in 1912. In 1909 fittings from the private chapel at nearby Studley Royal were transferred to St Wilfrid’s following the death of the Marquess of Ripon, who had previously created the Lady Chapel within the church. These include ten stained-glass windows installed along the north and south aisles and dating from 1878. The Marquess was also the first Mayor of Ripon since the Reformation. The sanctuary was remodelled following the Second Vatican Council although the ornate reredos designed by Edward Pugin remains unaltered. Today St Wilfrid’s is recognised as one of the finest Catholic parish churches in England.