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"Sometimes you eat the boar…sometimes the boar eats you."

King Edward III of England (1300’s) spent a lot of time in North Yorkshire, having both a military and romantic attachment to the area. He first met his wife Philippa of Hainaut at York when he was a teenager, during a campaign against the Scots and for a wedding endowment gave her Knaresborough Castle near Harrogate to the east of York (see Knaresborough Castle Ruins). While on a visit to Yorkshire, during a boar hunt the king fell from his horse and was about to be gored by the nasty beasty when he was saved by a local fellow, Thomas Ingilby of Ripley. Edward rewarded his rescuer with a knighthood. But that was not Sir Thomas Ingilby’s only luck, he had managed to marry himself to a lady with a castle.

Ripley Castle, nestled in acres of woodland and gardens is located on the edge of the beautiful rolling verdant hills of the Yorkshire Dales and the Nidder River Valley, and while not a major player in English history, has had more than its share of historical curiosities. Several relatives and friends of the Ingilby’s were central to the Gunpowder Rebellion of 1605 and York local boy Guy Fawkes (See Tower of London), and Oliver Cromwell found his proud self held at gunpoint in the castle’s library by royalist lady "Trooper" Jane Ingilby. Bullet pock marks can still be found in the castle walls from the attack by Cromwell’s forces. The castle contains some original arms from the Battle of Marston Moor and a secret hiding chamber in a wall that wasn’t discovered until the 1960’s.

The Boar's Head

In the 1800’s Sir William Ingliby decided his castle needed a village, so he had designed and built his idea of the ideal village, which now surrounds the castle environs, making for a quite unique little town all of a style. Sir William's town at Ripley once had three drinking houses including a coaching inn. In 1991, the current lord of the manor, the present Sir Thomas and Lady Emma Ingilby, who still live in the castle with the family, refurbished the coaching inn and named it the Boar’s Head after the famed legend of the founding of the family and the symbol of family crest.

The Boar’s Head Inn is listed as one of the Great Inns of Britain, and an ideal romantic getaway to the past, its rooms furnished by Lady Ingilby with original furniture from the family attics, giving the hotel the feel of staying in someone’s cared for home. The common rooms are also decorated with family portraits and Sir Thomas’ book on Stately Homes can be found on the lounge coffee table. The Inn has two restaurants, a fine dining menu in the main dining room and a late night menu in the traditional pub bar taking up a former stable, with the original horse stalls providing quiet booths. And for troublemakers, the village stocks are located in the parking square right out the inn’s front door.

The Boars Head is well situated for exploring the Yorkshire Dales, nearby upscale English resort town of Harrogate with its ancient “waters”, Fountains Abbey in Ripon and Knaresborough Castle ruins. A castle tour can be arranged for inn guests. Ripley Castle is open all year around for public tours and also hosts weddings and corporate events. Ripley Castle and the Boars Head Inn are located on A61 between Harrowgate and Ripon, 30 minutes from Leeds Bradford airport, 46 minutes from York and about an hour and a half from Manchester or Midlands airports.

And should you want to pay respects to the original Sir Thomas and Lady Ingilby, they can still be found resting in their tombs with quite well preserved effigies in the Ripley village church directly across from the inn. Events are held at the castle throughout the year and special tours for children are offered on Sundays during the summer. © Bargain Travel Europe

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Other North England Castle Hotels

LUMLEY CASTLE - Durham County
LANGLEY CASTLE - Northumberland
MUNCASTER CASTLE - West Lake District
REDWORTH HALL - Durham County
ETTINGTON PARK HOTEL - Warwickshire

See Also:

FAMILY ANCESTRY TRAVEL IN BRITAIN

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