Ripley Castle

Ripley Castle stands four and a half kilometres north of Harrogate in North Yorkshire. A 14th-century country house built of gritstone, it has been home to the Ingilby family for seven centuries. The gatehouse, added in the 15th century, still guards the entrance. Nearby stone buildings include a brewhouse, laundry, dairy and stables built in the 18th century. Formal gardens surround the house, and the grounds open to visitors. The castle’s past is woven with national events and colourful figures. Sir Thomas Ingleby saved the king from a wild boar and was knighted with a boar’s-head crest. Sir William Ingleby sheltered Gunpowder Plot conspirators and was tried for treason but acquitted. During the Civil War, Oliver Cromwell spent a night at Ripley while the owner hid in a priest hole. The castle has also appeared in television series such as Gunpowder and Anne Boleyn. Inside, the house mixes medieval tower and 18th-century rebuild. The tower has buttresses and an embattled parapet. The central block links to a three-storey wing and a two-storey orangery with round-arched windows and Ionic pilasters. Outside, the brewhouse and laundry show sash windows and pyramidal roofs. The stables form two stone ranges with embattled towers. The grounds offer quiet walks among gardens and parkland.