Ripon Parks is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, or SSSI, situated north of Ripon, to the west of the River Ure and to the east of the village of North Stainley, in North Yorkshire, England. It was once part of the land held since the Middle Ages as a deer park by the archbishops of York (including Cardinal Wolsey) and the canons of Ripon. The site was designated as an SSSI in 1983, because its varied habitats are valued for their breeding birds, amphibians and varied flora. The woods here are "of note" for the parasitic flowers of common toothwort and yellow star-of-Bethlehem. A small part of the site is accessible via public footpaths; there are no public facilities or dedicated car parks. The site incorporates the High Batts Nature Reserve, which is privately run for training, recording and educational purposes, and accessible to members only, except for its annual open day. Ripon Parks is now owned by the Ministry of Defence, and parts of the site are used as military training areas.
Site history
Ripon Parks forms part of a tranche of land owned by the Church since the 7th century, when the King of Northumbria – possibly Aldfrith – gave it the Liberty of St Wilfred. Archbishop John Kemp of York claimed the fishing rights and the warren on this land in 1439; there had already been complaints of poaching there. From 1320 the park was managed by wakemen of Ripon. Mary, Queen of Scots travelled from Bolton Castle to Sheffield Castle via this park in 1569.
From the Reformation, the Church maintained its hold on the land via the archbishop of York, and subsequently the canons of Ripon. In 1516 Miles Staveley and his son John became keepers of the park, which was at that time a "reserved hunting park" for Cardinal Wolsey, who had by then acquired the archbishopric of York, and the bishoprics of Winchester and Durham. When hunting, the archbishops originally used Horseman's Lodge, and later a summer palace, which still exists as a school at Ripon, in a deer park called New Park. The Staveley family remained keepers of the Park until 1647, when it was enclosed and had previously ceased to be a hunting park. Much of the land is still in the possession of the Church Commissioners, who inherited it from the Canons of Ripon.
Before enclosure, there were three hunting lodges: Chief Lodge in the south, Horseman's Lodge in the middle, and North Lodge. Enclosure divided the park into three farms, and the lodges became farmhouses. The Horseman's Lodge, next to the old fish ponds, was renamed Middle Parks, and it retains a Tudor wing. North Parks farmhouse has been cement rendered, and South Parks Farmhouse was demolished in the 1970s. In 1647 a survey recorded nearly a thousand "decayed oak trees," plus maple, hazel, hawthorn and ash, although by then the deer were all gone. Ripon Park was possibly once fenced in with a palisade or perhaps a hedge on an earthen bank. The Lord Mayor of London owned Ripon Parks between 1649 and 1660, then it reverted to the Church, which retained it until 1926. The southern section of Ripon Parks passed through several ownerships, and part of South Parks still belongs to Ripon City Golf Club.
Along with Laver Banks and Ellington Banks, Ripon Parks is owned by the Ministry of Defence, and these sites are known as HG Ripon Training area, commanded from Deverell Barracks. It is used for "low level infantry dry training," plus training in use of earth-moving equipment and cross-country vehicles, and in building bridges. "The habitat in all DTE North (East) training areas is carefully managed with the best interests of the flora and fauna given full consideration."
Site location and designation
Ripon Parks is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). It follows a line along the River Ure, from just north of Ripon, North Yorkshire, to a point just east of North Stainley. Its habitats are all river-related, and include calcareous grassland, pasture, ponds, marsh, scrub woodland, riverbanks and streams, besides the river itself.
The site was notified on 1 February 1983. All the habitats are noted for their varied flora, but all have their specialities. The "relatively undisturbed reach of river ... is important for breeding birds." The wetlands are "important for amphibians." This is a Magnesian Limestone area, with overlying calcareous grassland and its typical species. The woodlands are "of note" for toothwort and yellow star-of-Bethlehem. A small part of the site is accessible via public footpaths, but there are no public facilities.