Seeking solace in Ripon Cathedral's realm as candles are lit to reflect on the death of our Queen

What has been notable, said the Dean of Ripon, the Very Rev John Dobson, is that many are ex-Forces.

To them, there is a strong sense of having "given their life" to the Queen, he said. Now they come, from across the region, to Ripon. To join others, to remember a loved one, or for a quiet place to reflect.

"It's a privilege to provide a space, just to be," he said.

"The cathedral speaks of things which are beyond our understanding, it speaks of the eternal. It speaks of confidence. All of that matters, when death strikes its blow.

"We have all lost something of ourselves in the Queen’s death."

Bouquets of flowers began to appear in the days after it was announced. Handwritten cards, a Paddington Bear.

Some come to light a candle. To add their careful tribute. Lois Powell came to pray for King Charles, that he may inherit his mother's "strength, wisdom and grace".

Ms Powell was a little girl when the Queen came to the throne. Now aged 76, she said: "I'm not mourning, I'm grateful. That we have had the constant monarch that we have. She laid down her life."

Many within the cathedral are of an age when they can remember the Queen's coronation. One, Elizabeth, won a raffle ticket at school to attend when she was just 17.

"We saw the whole procession," the now 86-year-old said. "I remember it rained. I was six hours, sitting on a wall."

Her mother spoke often of the Queen's visit to Ripon in 1985, and she can recall another in 2004. She said: "I'm not sad. I'm glad we had her."

Sheila Skelhorn also remembers the Queen's Coronation when, aged 11, she watched a young Prince Charles as his mother was crowned.

Her husband Harold, 84, can remember King George's reign over 70 years ago.

"I was 14 years old, called into the school hall, when I heard the radio say: 'The King is dead, long live the Queen'," he said. "It's something I have never forgotten."

There is sadness, etched onto the faces of many as they view the flowers laid outside.

Mayor Sid Hawke, struck by the sight for the first time in living memory, said: "She was our majesty, our sovereign lady."

To the owner of Newby Hall, Richard Compton, as deputy lieutenant, this time is necessary, as a nation, to grieve.

"The Queen stood as the pillar of the family temple,” he said. “That pillar has fallen.

“It needs, gradually, to be rebuilt. The King will see it so."

Mr Compton, a former high sheriff of North Yorkshire, said the Queen is the only person that we have ever known on the throne.

"Above politics, she was wise and calm. The King, I know, will be exactly the same."