This site is to the north of Ripon Cathedral in the Cathedral Garth and immediately south of the Courthouse Museum and Stonemason’s Yard. This area was held as part of the Archbishop of York’s manor of Ripon from the 11th century and is known to have been the site of the Archbishop’s manor house and court. Some medieval elements survive – specifically the Old Courthouse (west of the precinct) and stonework reused in the western boundary of Minster Gardens South. The current Courthouse Museum is known to have replaced a medieval building that would have formed part of the manorial complex. Beyond this, however, little is known of the layout and character of the medieval manor house; much of this area has remained as open ground (bowling green, garths, gardens). The 1854 OS map (Figure 1) shows the former bowling green – still extant in 1839 - to have been laid out as a formal garden. It was further developed in the second half of the 19th century (Figure 2).
