Discover Ripon
The Hornblowing Custom
At 9 o’clock every night of the year, without fail, a horn is blown at the four corners of the Obelisk in Ripon Market Place to set the ‘watch’ and then outside the house of the current Mayor.
The duty of performing the ancient tradition of ‘Setting the Watch’ has been kept up nightly. The ceremony commemorates the time in the Middle Ages when Ripon’s first citizen, the Wakeman, was responsible for crime prevention in the city from 9pm until dawn and had to compensate burglary victims.
The Wakeman had constables to patrol the streets, and to cover the cost of this, had the right to collect taxes from houses according to the number of outside doors they had: 4d a year for doors facing the street, 2d a year for doors at the back or the side.
The Wakeman continued until 1604 when the city received the first written Charter from James I, proudly displayed in the Council Chamber of the Town Hall, and made the last Wakeman (Hugh Ripley) the first Mayor. As he was now the First Citizen, he handed the job over to the Hornblower to attend to the Mayor and blew three times to him to signify that the watch had been set; this duty is still done today.
Photo credit: © Paul Oldham Photographer
Except Ye Lord Keep Ye Cittie Ye Wakeman Waketh in Vain
Though the office of Wakeman became that of Mayor in 1604 and the maintenance of law and order became the responsibility of the police force in the 19th century, the importance of the horn in the civic life of the City continues.
In addition to the nightly blasts, it was ordered that (so that city folk might see it) it should be carried in front of the Mayor to church on five Horn Days: Candlemas, Easter Monday, Wednesday in Rogation week, the Sunday after Lammas and St Stephen’s Day, and it is still borne in front of the Mayor when attending the Cathedral on great festivals.
References to expenditure for repairing and beautifying the horn and the baldric (the wide belt from which the ceremonial horn hangs) occur repeatedly in the City records.
A representation of the horn was long ago adopted as the City’s unofficial coat of arms – it has become the symbol of Ripon, a talisman for the City’s good governance.
The ancient horn was replaced by a larger horn in 1690. It cost them 6s/8d – 34p in today’s money – it is still in use today. A second horn (of African origin and with silver fittings) was purchased by the Council to commemorate the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.
Ripon City Council considers itself the custodian of the ancient tradition, and it employs a team of hornblowers to ensure that the tradition continues long into the future.
