West Riding of Yorkshire

Arms of the County Council of the West Riding of Yorkshire

The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of the three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, northern England, United Kingdom. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county, County of York, West Riding (West Riding County Council), was based closely on the historic boundaries. The lieutenancy at that time included the City of York and as such was named West Riding of the County of York, and the City and County of the City of York.

Its boundaries roughly correspond to the local government areas of West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, the Craven, Harrogate and Selby districts of North Yorkshire, along with some smaller parts in Lancashire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester and, since 1996, the unitary East Riding of Yorkshire.

Ancient divisions

The West Riding spans 1,771,562 acres (7,169 km²) from Sheffield in the south to Sedburgh in the north and from Slaidburn in the west to Adlingfleet in the east.

Unlike most English counties which were divided into hundreds, Yorkshire due to its size is divided first into three ridings (North, East & West) and the City of York (the definition of which is inside the city walls), which is not part of any Riding. Beneath this each riding was then devided into wapentakes, a division comparable to the hundreds. The wapentakes of the West Riding were Agbrigg and Morley, Barkston Ash, Ewcross, Claro, Osgoldcross, Skyrack, Staincliffe, Staincross, Strafforth, Tickhill.

Of its area the southern industrial district, considered in the broadest application of the term, could be seen to extend northwards from Sheffield to Skipton and eastwards from Sheffield to Doncaster, covering rather less than one-half of the Riding. Within this district are Barnsley, Batley, Bradford, Brighouse, Dewsbury, Doncaster, Halifax, Huddersfield, Keighley, Leeds, Morley, Ossett, Pontefract, Pudsey, Rotherham, Sheffield, Todmorden (partly in Lancashire), and Wakefield. Major centres elsewhere in the riding include Harrogate, and Ripon.

Within the industrial region other urban districts include Bingley, Castleford, Cleckheaton, Elland, Featherstone, Handsworth, Hoyland Nether, Liversedge, Mexborough, Mirfield, Normanton, Rawmarsh, Rothwell, Saddleworth, Shipley, Skipton, Sowerby Bridge, Stanley, Swinton, Thornhill, Wath-upon-Dearne, Wombwell and Worsborough. Outside the industrial region are Goole, Ilkley, Knaresborough and Selby. It also contains a large rural area to the north including the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Modern history

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