Yorkshire
This article is about the British county. For other uses, see Yorkshire (disambiguation).Yorkshire is the largest
traditional county of Great Britain, covering some 6,000
sq. miles (
15,000 km²) with a population of some five million. The highest point in Yorkshire is
Mickle Fell at 788
m (2585
ft). It is bordered by
County Durham (along the
River Tees),
Lincolnshire (along the
Humber),
Nottinghamshire,
Derbyshire,
Lancashire (along the
Pennines),
Westmorland and the
North Sea and is traditionally divided into
West,
North and
East Ridings (from
Old Norse þriðing, "third part", a legacy of the area's
ninth century Scandinavian settlers). The
county town,
York, is not part of any riding.
In modern terms, a large part of Yorkshire together with a small part of Lincolnshire forms the
English Region of
Yorkshire and the Humber, and is itself divided into several administrative counties. The bulk of historic Yorkshire is part of the ceremonial counties of
North Yorkshire,
West Yorkshire,
South Yorkshire and
East Riding, with small parts in the
Teesdale district of County Durham, the
South Lakeland district of
Cumbria, the
Ribble Valley and
Pendle districts of
Lancashire, and the
Metropolitan Borough of Oldham of
Greater Manchester.
The emblem of Yorkshire is the
White Rose of the
House of York, and there is a
Yorkshire Day celebrated on
1 August. Amongst the celebrations there is a Civic gathering of Lord Mayors, Mayors and other Civic Heads from across the county and convened by the
Yorkshire Society, in 2004 it was held in Leeds and in 2005 it was held in Bradford. The people of
Penistone will be hosting the Civic gathering in 2006. There is also an "anthem" for the county in the form of the
folk song "
On Ilkla Moor Baht'at" (on
Ilkley Moor without a hat).
Main article History of YorkshireIn early Anglo-Saxon times,
Elmet, a British (Celtic) kingdom around modern Leeds/Sheffield, held out against the invading English (
Angles) for long enough to ensure that the kingdoms of
Mercia and
Northumbria on either side developed separately.
Note the use of the word "Angles". "Saxon" is often used as though it is simply an abbreviation for "Anglo Saxon" - but the Saxons settled in southern England, not the Midlands or North. In Yorkshire (or even as far north as southern Scotland, see below) the local Anglo Saxons were Angles. Elmet eventually succumbed, and all of what is now modern Yorkshire became the Anglian ("English") kingdom of
Deira. Later, Deira merged with (also Anglian)
Bernicia to form the English
Kingdom of Northumbria. At its greatest extent,
Northumbria stretched from the
Irish Sea to the
North Sea and from
Edinburgh down to
Hallamshire (the district around modern Sheffield, where the names "Hallam" and "Hallamshire" are still used for - amongst other things - hospitals, pubs, and radio stations).
In
Viking times, the Danes occupied the southern half of Northumbria (but not Bernicia) to create the Danish city and kingdom of
Jorvik (the Danish version of Roman "
Eboracum") from which stem the names of York and Yorkshire ("Eurvicscire" in the
Doomsday Book).
After around 100 years of Yorkshire independence, the English crown nominally regained sovereignty, and Yorkshire became again part of Northumbria - which was now an almost-independent
earldom, rather than a separate kingdom. Even as late as the centralising
Tudors the monarch ruled the former Northumbria at arms length - via the
Council of the North based in
York.
Various small boundary changes happened over the years, but a shakeup in 1974 (see below) was more fundamental. Yorkshire councils lost administrative control of most of their territory west of the Pennines (
Saddleworth to
Greater Manchester, parts of
Craven and
Bowland to
Lancashire, and
Dent/
Sedbergh to
Cumbria), some chunks in the northeast (to
County Durham and the new
Cleveland) and the southeast (to the new
Humberside). Internally: the North Riding became North Yorkshire, swallowing the East Riding; and the West Riding lost a chunk to North Yorkshire, and was split into West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. Within twenty years, many of these changes had been reversed: in particular, the East Riding emerged again, and Cleveland and Humberside disappeared. Also several towns and cities became "
Unitary Authorities".
Today, the southern boundary of Yorkshire is not much different from the ancient one formed by the
River Don and the
River Sheaf. However, Sheffield has expanded southwards, crossing these rivers and absorbing several Derbyshire villages. The Yorkshire boundary still marks the start of the North of England, with strong traces of the old Anglian/Danish amalgam of character and
dialect which once made it so different from southern (Saxon) England - though it is related to the areas of Anglian
Mercia in the modern
East Midlands which were also ruled by Danes, though for a shorter time.
When, in 2005, the people of the
North East England region voted to reject the proposition that their regional assembly become an elected body, plans for a similar referendum in the
Yorkshire and the Humber region were shelved, and the regional assembly remains an unelected body.
Yorkshire is traditionally divided into three
ridings, which were divided further into
wapentakes when used as the basis for administration. In about
1823 the wapentakes were:
North Riding*
Allertonshire*
Birdforth*
Bulmer*
Gilling East and West
*
Halikeld*Hang East and West
*
Langbaurgh East and West
*
Pickering Lythe*
Ryedale*
Whitby StrandEast Riding*
Buckrose*
Dickering*
Harthill — Bainton beacon, Holme beacon, Hunsley beacon and Wilton beacon
*
Holderness South Middle and North
*
Howdenshire*
Hullshire*
Hunsley Beacon*
Ouse and DerwentWest Riding*
Agbrigg and Morley (
Agbrigg and
Morley divisions)
*
Barkston Ash*
Ewcross*
Claro Lower and Upper
*
Morley*
Osgoldcross*
Skyrack Lower and Upper
*
Staincliffe East and West
*
Staincross*
Strafforth and Tickhill Lower and Upper
Apart from these there were the
Ainsty wapentake surrounding the
City of York (not part of any riding). Lesser boroughs were Yorkshire isolates;
Richmondshire and
Allertonshire in the North Riding,
Hallamshire in the West Riding and
Hullshire in the East Riding.
The Ridings were used as the basis of
administrative counties upon the introduction of
local government, in
1888, although many boroughs within the area were made
county boroughs in their own right.
In
1974 the local government system was reformed, with the bulk of the area being split between:
*
North Yorkshire (including Yorkshire's county town of York — although the county town of North Yorkshire is
Northallerton)
*
South Yorkshire*
West Yorkshire*
Humberside (including parts of
Lincolnshire although the county council was not established until 1976, with its county-town of
Beverley because of local upset over the original choice of county-town of
Kingston-upon-Hull)
*
Cleveland (including parts of
County Durham)
South and West Yorkshire are termed
metropolitan counties, as they cover mostly built-up areas. Additionally, small portions were ceded to the control of
Cumbria (
Sedbergh Rural District),
Lancashire (
Bowland Rural District,
Barnoldswick,
Earby, and part of
Skipton Rural District),
County Durham (
Startforth Rural District) and
Greater Manchester (
Saddleworth).
In
1986 the
county councils of West and South Yorkshire were abolished, and in
1996 Cleveland and Humberside were broken up into districts, which became independent administrative counties (
unitary authority areas) in their own right, as did an expanded
City of York. The bulk of the Yorkshire part of Humberside became known as the
East Riding of Yorkshire, with
Kingston upon Hull being independent.
For ceremonial purposes the districts previously covered by Cleveland now fall in the
ceremonial counties of North Yorkshire and County Durham, and the districts previously covered by Humberside now fall in the ceremonial counties of East Riding of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.
Much of Yorkshire is now represented by the
region of
Yorkshire and the Humber.
See the list of places in Yorkshire.Much of Yorkshire remains in the following four ceremonial counties with a
Lord Lieutenant appointed to each:
*East Riding of Yorkshire
**
East Riding of Yorkshire**
Kingston upon Hull*North Yorkshire
**
Middlesbrough**
York**
Redcar and Cleveland**
Stockton-on-Tees -
that part south of the River Tees is in North Yorkshire**
North Yorkshire ***Districts:
Craven,
Hambleton,
Harrogate,
Richmondshire,
Ryedale,
Scarborough,
Selby*
South Yorkshire**Districts:
Barnsley,
Doncaster,
Rotherham,
Sheffield*
West Yorkshire**Districts:
Bradford,
Calderdale,
Kirklees,
Leeds,
Wakefield"Tyke" is now a
colloquialism for the
Yorkshire dialect as well as the term some Yorkshiremen affectionately use to describe themselves, especially in West and South Yorkshire. "Tyke" was originally a term of abuse given by West Yorkshire people to Londoners, because they thought their speech made them sound like yapping mongrel dogs (tykes). Londoners turned this around and used the term to describe Yorkshire folk . The
social stereotype of a Yorkshireman has a tendency to include such accessories as a
flat cap and a
whippet, although these fashions were started in London, and were brought to Yorkshire by the engineers and workmen who came when the railways were being built out from London in the early 19th century . Among Yorkshire's unique traditions is the
Long Sword dance, a traditional dance not found elsewhere in England. In recent times Yorkshire has produced a number of popular bands,such as Kiaser Chiefs and Arctic Monkeys (leading NME to call this movement 'New Yorkshire') Yorkshire has been home to its own genre of techno music,
Yorkshire Bleeps and Bass. I
*
Duke of York*
Earl of York*
Famous Yorkshire people*
Jorvik*
Kings of Jorvik*
List of collieries in Yorkshire 1984-present with dates of closure*
North Yorkshire Moors*
Parkin*
Yorkshire County Cricket Club*
Yorkshire Dales*
Yorkshire Pudding*
Yorkshire Regiment*
Yorkshire Society*
Yorkshire Wolds*
Yorkshire dialect and accent*
Yorkshireisms*
Yorkshiremen*
The History of Yorkshire*
Samples of Yorkshire Dialect*
Yorkshire flags*
Yorkshire Images — a gallery of drawings depicting Yorkshire as it was in the 1800s.
*
Yorkshire Forward The Regional Development Agency for the Yorkshire and Humber.
