Ripley Castle like many other historic buildings is still used today as a family.  Being such it is only by a guided tour can you look inside the house.  But far from taking away, the well conducted tour only managed to add to the visit.

Also like many other places you cannot take photography inside of the house, and unfortunately the lakeside walk, which would give good views of the castle, was closed on the day I visited.  Therefore I have only included external pictures on this page from the guidebook and postcards purchased in the castle shop.

Ripley Castle is in fact part of the village of Ripley, a village that, were it not for the cars and power cables, you could easily believe that time had forgotten.

Hidden away in North Yorkshire Ripley Castle is the home of the Ingilby family and has been since the early 1300's.

Ripley is often remembered as being the only village in Yorkshire with no public house for a number of years after Sir William Ingilby, the owner at the time, ordered that no pubs open on a Sunday and the three village pubs closed through lack of profit.

Little bits of information like this are relayed by the guide as you tour the Ingilby family home.  Many humourous and most brought to life by the portraits throughout the castle.

For Ripley Castle is one thats history is told through the people who have lived there over the last seven centuries.  From Thomas Ingilby who saved King Edward III from a wild boar (and was knighted on the spot) to the women of the family, such as "Trooper" Jane, who, after the battle of Marston Moor in 1644 met Oliver Cromwell at the door to Ripley Castle with a pair of pistols.

The Castle itself is styled in two very different periods.

The first that we see is the Georgian part of the castle which comprises of the Entrance Hall, Inner Hall, Dining Room, The Round Drawing Room, and The Large Drawing Room.  Each of the rooms is in it's own way unique and beautiful, the Dining Room (certainly, and maybe others) can also be hired for private functions.

After the tour of the Georgian rooms we then go through The Lower Staircase Hall and head upstairs to the Tudor Tower.

In the Tudor Tower there is my favourite room of any building - The LIBRARY (of course!) - and The Tower Room and The Knight's Chamber.  These rooms are all distinctly different from the Georgian rooms and again there is plenty of information to be had from the guide including that one fo the wooden floors came from a ship.  There is also a back spiral staircase for the energetic visitors, (I don't recommend climbing it in sandals BTW), and a Priest Hole hidden behind one of the panels.

There is also a collection of armour and weapons on display, (on a billiard table - to the amusement of some of the visitors).

As I said above this Castle is one thats story is told through the people who lived there and to relate all their stories here would be, while interesting, not as good as visiting the castle itself.

And after the tour, which takes just over an hour, there is plenty more to see in the picturesque village including the gift shop, All Saints' Church, The Birchwood Farm Museum, Cromwell's Eating House, the Walled Gardens, and the village shops.

A visit to Ripley Castle is not complete without a walk around the village and there is plenty to see and do after your tour is over.