Ripon’s long and involved history as a settlement around a Christian church dates from the 7th century when Wilfrid, later Archbishop of York, founded a church dedicated to St Peter. The crypt of Wilfrid’s church astonishingly survives beneath the magnificent later cathedral. It prospered from being near Fountains Abbey and became a medieval woollen cloth centre. Later it became a centre of non-conformist groups, and a market town, before becoming the cathedral centre of a new diocese. It had the many buildings associated with its local importance; its 19th-century workhouse is the most complete one surviving today. It also housed enormous army camps in both world wars.

The Historical Map of Ripon shows, on a multi-period map, how Ripon developed and includes its vanished buildings and earthworks, and sites of interest as well as those that remain. A comprehensive gazetteer on the map’s reverse, complete with many illustrations, explains how Ripon developed and introduces its buildings and sites of interest.