Ripon Cathedral Part 2: Down the Rabbit Hole

In Ripon cathedral's choral room there are wood carvings called miserichords. These carvings are on little half-seats so that those who need to, could lean their weary bum on them during service, and still "stand" for the entire service or religious ceremony. 

Each miserichord is very different from the next, and there are 32 in total, each carved in the 14th century. Yes, this church is that old. (Actually, some of it is much older than that!)

I took a picture of the most famous miserichord of Ripon cathedral. It's not as easy to see in the photo, but perhaps you can make out the rabbit being chased down the rabbit hole by the griffin. 

Rabbit miserichord

A small portion of the St. Wilfrid's crypt is available for the public to walk through. The crypt is the oldest part of the church, and was built in 672. Not 1672, but 672. It's cold and dank down there. In fact, there was a couple in front of me, and after descending the stairs into the crypt, I heard the wife say "Yeah, I'm not going in there!" and passed me as she walked back up the steps. It worked out great for me as the husband hustled through and I got to spend several minutes in the crypt by myself. I didn't find it spooky at all, but I didn't linger in there too long either :-)

This photo was taken of the hallway you see once you descend the stairs. There's a light in the crypt hallway now, but you can see how it looks like it gets smaller towards the end. Can you imagine walking around down there without lighting or with a torch? It could certainly make your hair stand on end. 

St. Wilfrid's Crypt

Charles Dodson was a cannon at Ripon cathedral from 1836 − 1900, and his son, Charles Lutwidge Dodson grew up spending many, many hours in the cathedral. Years later, the younger Dodson wrote a book under the pen name Lewis Carroll called Alice in Wonderland. Not only did "Lewis Carroll" use the daughter of Ripon College's principal for the image of Alice (he even got permission for the artist to use a photograph of her), but legend has it that the rabbit down the rabbit hole miserichord, as well as the seemingly shrinking underground tunnel helped inspire Alice in Wonderland. And the gift shop has many Alice - inspired trinkets for your purchasing pleasure...