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15
Nov 2025

Here are the answers to this week's Sunday Picture Quiz. How well did you do?

Photo: Visit Ripon.
1. Gazebo, 7 & 8 Park Street, Ripon
This beautiful Mediterranean-looking structure was built around 1719 as a viewpoint to enjoy the countryside views.
It was commissioned by the Baynes family, who lived on Park Street between 1679 and 1791 and was once used as a banqueting house to entertain guests.
It was originally built as two towers, and the gallery walkway was added later.
Following the home’s conversion into two separate dwellings and the construction of newer housing around it, the gazebo fell into a state of serious disrepair.
To save it, Harrogate Borough Council issued a compulsory purchase order to buy the building and restored it with Ripon Civic Society in 1986.
It's now grade II listed and well worth a visit, but if you want to take a look, you'll have to wait a while. The gazebo stands on private land, accessible through Blossomgate Court, and is only open to the public through Ripon Civic Society as part of the national Heritage Open Days festival, which takes place every September.

2. False Tooth Bridge, Bewerley
Bridgework of a unique kind takes walkers by surprise in Nidderdale. On the edge of a small bridge that takes Peat Lane across Middle Tongue Dike, just before it joins Fosse Gill, is what appears to be complete sets of upper and lower human teeth, set – bafflingly – into the stone. There is no plaque (no pun intended) to explain the inclusion, leaving most visitors mystified.

The dentures are embedded in the concrete at the edge of the bridge.
In reality, the teeth are not real, and are set into concrete, not stone – despite appearances. Apparently, a builder dropped his denture into the cement mix when building the crossing, and it became a bit of an attraction. When repairs were made to the bridge and the denture (complete with pink palate visible) removed, there was something of an outcry, so a replacement double set was inlaid.

The white ring shows where the teeth are embedded in the edge of the bridge.
Incidentally, the bridge lies at one of the entrances to Skrikes Wood, which most likely owes its name to a dialect word for the mistle thrush.

3. Thompson family mausoleum, Little Ouseburn
In some parts of the world, mausoleums are fairly common, but Yorkshire isn't one of them, so this one at Holy Trinity Church in Little Ouseburn is quite a rarity.
It was built in 1743 by Henry Thompson of Kirby Hall, and was used for 24 burials, the last one in 1910.
Incredibly (given its rural location), the mausoleum suffered bomb damage during the Second World War when a Royal Canadian Airforce bomber crashed nearby and its payload of bombs exploded. It was repaired in the 1960s.
In 1997, the Friends of Little Ouseburn Mausoleum bought the mausoleum from the Thompson family, and then transferred ownership in 2009 to York Conservation Trust. It is now grade II* listed, meaning it is a "particularly important building of more than special interest".

4. Doric columns, RHS Harlow Carr
These columns were originally part of the Spa Rooms, built in 1835 where Hall M of Harrogate Convention Centre now stands.

Harrogate's Spa Rooms were built in 1835 and demolished in 1939.
That building was dismantled in 1939, and the columns were put into storage, and then erected in their current place at Harlow Carr in 1964.

Hall M of Harrogate Convention Centre.
When Hall M was built, there were plans to include these columns in the design, but in the event replicas were used instead.
Too easy or too difficult? Let us know what you think of our quiz by contacting us at letters@thestrayferret.co.uk.
Please do send us tricky pics of the area that we can include – and we'll credit your contribution. Thank you!
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