For centuries the purposed of the cross-shaped arrow slits at Ripon Cathedral have been a mystery. But now archery specialists believe they have partly found the answer.
Guy Wilson, formerly Master of the Armouries at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, and John Waller, a world authority on historic combat, volunteered to take a longbow and a crossbow to the battlements at the request of the cathedral’s archaeologist, Liz Humble.
“It has long been thought that the arrow slits had been placed into the battlements in the early fourteenth century to defend what was then Ripon Minster against a series of attacks by the Scots army of Robert the Bruce”, explained Liz.
“They besieged Ripon in 1318 when the Minster held out for three days before a ransom was paid after threats to burn the whole town. However, there is an alternative explanation that the slits were never intended to be used and were purely decorative features or were designed as sham defenses to give an impression of extra strength.”
The pair proved that the arrow slits could not have been used to defend the cathedral because the pitch of the medieval roof and its proximity to the slits meant that archers could not have stood far enough away at the correct angle to draw a longbow or use a crossbow.
“That seems conclusive” says Liz, “but in solving the bigger mystery we have uncovered a smaller one to which none of us has an answer.
“That is the question of why the arrow slits have been elaborately chamfered on the inside (normally done to enable an increased field of view for archers) as in this case it appears to be unnecessary and expensive. Was it because the masons wanted to show off their expertise, had the masonry been reused from another building, or was it perhaps done to the greater glory of God? We shall probably never know.”