Subscribe to trusted local news
If you are accessing this story via Facebook but you are a subscriber then you will be unable to access the story. Facebook wants you to stay and read in the app and your login details are not shared with Facebook. If you experience problems with accessing the news but have subscribed, please contact subscriptions@thestrayferret.co.uk. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.
- Subscription costs less than £1 a week with an annual plan.
Already a subscriber? Log in here.
05
Jun
Ripon pub unveils new Victorian prison cell expansion
A Ripon pub has opened a new extension which will see punters able to enjoy a pint behind bars.
The Portly Pig on Kirkgate has opened its expansion with four Victorian prison cells and a transformed prison yard all as part of the pub’s new look.
For this expansion they have increased their seating areas and floorspace by moving into the adjacent building however, these cells are the star attraction of these changes.
The cells and prison yard were part of the building they expanded into, which was once the Borough Police station and later Ripon council's principal office.
The pub, which received the Harrogate and Ripon CAMRA Pub of the Year title in April of this year, is ran by Stuart and Katie Ross, after taking it over in November of 2024.
Mr Ross said:
We knew the building had housed a Borough Police station between 1875 and 1887 and had been Ripon council’s principal office - among other occupancies recorded on the Civic Society’s green plaque, but it wasn’t until we saw the four prison cells with their vaulted ceilings that we realised that they could give us an added wow factor.
Stuart Ross and Laura Allen in what was the prison yard, now an outdoor covered door seating area. Image credit: Tim Flanagan of the Rejoicing in Ripon Blog for Ripon BID
Ms Ross, who took the lead on the interior decoration said:
We thought that by introducing modern day comforts -such as tables, chairs and electric lighting to this heritage space, we could provide our regular customers and visitors to the city, with a taste of times past.
I’m pleased to report that we already have our first bookings for tomorrow (Saturday 6th June) when two of the cells, or pigpens as we call them, will be in use.
0