Bakeries in Ripon

The baking story of Ripon

Ripon is one of England's smallest cities and one of its oldest: every night at nine o'clock the Hornblower sets the watch in the Market Square, a ceremony said to date back more than a thousand years. The square still hosts a weekly market, as it has for centuries, and the cathedral's crypt was built by St Wilfrid in the 7th century. Ripon stands at the gateway to the Yorkshire Dales, and the Dales fill its larder: Wensleydale cheese, Dales lamb and the rich fruit cakes North Yorkshire likes to serve with a wedge of cheese. Yorkshire spice bread and curd tarts fill local bakery windows, while the ruins of Fountains Abbey nearby are a reminder of how monks once farmed this land.

Local bakes to look out for

• Yorkshire spice bread – A rich, spiced fruit loaf traditionally baked for Christmas.
• Yorkshire curd tart – Sweet curd cheese and currants baked in a pastry case.
• Fruit cake with Wensleydale – A slab of dark fruit cake served with crumbly Wensleydale cheese.

Bakery hunter's tip: Arrive on market day for the stalls in the square, and stay until 9pm to watch the Hornblower set the watch.

Did you know? In Yorkshire, fruit cake is traditionally eaten with cheese — as the saying goes, 'Christmas cake without the cheese is like a kiss without the squeeze'.