Ripley, North Yorkshire

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Ripley may not be the largest tourist Mecca in the world but, acre for acre, it probably has more to offer the curious, the connoisseur and the casual caller than any other village in the country.

The castle itself is famously owned by the Ingilby family. Set in a 1,700-acre estate, which takes in the entire village, much of their land is shared with the public, who can enjoy seasonal events like fairs, flower displays, shows and concerts, or simply take a stroll through a history which is more chequered than the peaceful village countenance suggests.

For Ripley village, which tends to be overlooked in lesser guide books, is as fascinating and visually attractive as the castle which overshadows it, a glorious combination of stone cottages and cobbled squares, past relics and modern reminders of a community which is seasonally under siege. And those who head straight for the castle without so much as a second glance at the glories right in front of them, risk missing out on some of the quirkier aspects of this blink-and-you'll-miss-it North Yorkshire treasure.

At the 15th century church of All Saints, for example, are a series of marks on the east wall created by Cromwell's soldiers as they executed Royalist prisoners after the battle of Marston Moor. And according to The North Yorkshire Village Book, written by the regional Federation of Women's Institutes, the village was so decimated by the plague in the 1620s that it had to be virtually rebuilt by one of the Ingilby ancestors, Sir William Amcotts Ingilby, who styled the stone terraced cottages on the villages of Alsace-Lorraine which had so inspired him during his travels. This strange French connection in the heart of Yorkshire simply adds to its charm, as do the stocks and weeping cross in the churchyard which remind new visitors of old punishments.

It's certainly no punishment to stay at the Boar's Head Hotel, one of the country's celebrated inns was named in remembrance of King Edward III's brush with death when he fell from his horse in the forest and was nearly gored by a wild boar. Thomas Ingilby of Ripley, hero of the hour, swiftly killed the animal which was promptly turned into the main course at the ensuing banquet, and earned himself a knighthood and family crest for his trouble. The hotel wasn't opened until 1990, however, when Lord and Lady Ingilby re-opened the former Star Inn after a 75-year dry period. There was such relief among the villagers that the vicar called in on the opening night and blessed the beer taps.

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