Great Ribston, Yorkshire, England. Further historical information.

GREAT RIBSTON

GREAT RIBSTON, in the parish of Hunsingore, upper-division of Claro; (Ribston Hall, the seat of Sir Henry Goodricke, Bart.) 3 miles SE. of Knaresborough, 4 from Wetherby. Pop. including Walshford, 155, which being united, form a township.

After the conquest the manor of Ribstone was in the possession of William de Percy, and Ralph Pagnel. Robert Lord Ross became possessed of it in the reign of Henry III. and in 1224, he settled this estate upon the Knights Templars, where they had a preceptory, and which they enjoyed till the dissolution of their order; when it was granted to the renowned Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk; of whom it was purchased by Henry Goodricke, Esq. in 1542; and here this ancient family, which previously flourished for several generations at Nottingley, in Somersetshire, have been settled ever since. The present Baronet is the seventh: Sir Henry Goodricke, Knight, who took arms in the cause of Charles I. being the first Baronet, created August 14, 1641.

Ribstone Hall is situated upon an eminence, almost encompassed by the River Nidd, and commanding an extensive and beautiful prospect. The house is well finished, convenient, and elegant. In the Drawing Room are several good family Portraits; and in the Saloon are a number of excellent Pictures, copied by eminent artists, from the best originals in the churches, chapels, and palaces of Rome. In the Chapel are some monuments in memory of the Goodricke family; and in the churchyard is that sepulchral monument of the standard bearer to the ninth Roman legion, which was dug up in Trinity Gardens, near Micklegate, in York, in the year 1688; and is described by Drake in his Eboracum.

Ribstone is remarkable for being the place, where that delicious apple called the "Ribstone Pippin," was first cultivated in this kingdom. The original tree was raised from a pippin, brought from France; from which tree, such numbers have been propagated, that they are now to be met with in almost every orchard in this, and many other counties. --Hist. Knaresborough.