A Conversation for Lewis Carroll - Logician, Nonsense Writer, Mathematician and Photographer

Forget the Oxford-Stratford debate, let's talk Oxford-Ripon

Post 1

Hikaru Poet

Oxford may be "home" to Charles Lutwidge Dodgson/Lewis Carroll, but Ripon, Yorkshire, the Cathedral City of the Dales, also lays claim to influences on Carroll's creative genius. In the 1850s and 60s, Dodgson spent part of each year in Ripon, where his father had been appointed canon while also serving as archdeacon of Richmond and rector of Croft on the Yorkshire-Durham border.

Some of the ornamentation in the cathedral connected with Carroll's writings can still be seen in the cathedral today. These include a griffin chasing a rabbit down a whole, a pig playing bagpipes, a queen of hearts and Cheshire cat. Carroll also did some of his writing at the "new" canon's residence that that his family occupied from 1858 to 1868 (no longer standing).

For further information, see "Lewis Carroll's Ripon," a booklet by Maurice H. Taylor (self-published 1998, reprinted 2002 by Ripon Cathedral). Taylor also wrote and provided the pcitures in the "Discover Ripon On Foot" pamphlet that includes "Lewis Carroll's Ripon" as one of five self-guided historic walking tours of Ripon.


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Forget the Oxford-Stratford debate, let's talk Oxford-Ripon

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