West Riding of Yorkshire
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- For the historic Parliamentary constituency, see West Riding of Yorkshire (UK Parliament constituency)
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| County Town: York |
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The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of the three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county, County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of 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.
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[edit] Ancient divisions
The West Riding spans 1,771,562 acres (7,169 km²) from Sheffield in the south to Sedbergh 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 Thrydings (ancient Norse word for thirds), which are now called 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 divided into wapentakes, a division comparable to the hundreds of southern England. 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, Bolton on Dearne, 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.
[edit] Modern history
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| Administration | |
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| Status: | Administrative county |
| HQ: | Wakefield |
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| History | |
| Created: | 1889 |
| Abolished: | 1974 |
| Succeeded by: | West Yorkshire South Yorkshire North Yorkshire Lancashire Cumbria Greater Manchester Humberside |
| Area | |
| 1911: | 1,685,409 acres |
| 1961: | 1,621,068 acres |
| Population | |
| 1901: | 1,538,572 |
| 1971: | 1,924,853 |
The administrative county was formed in 1889 by the Local Government Act 1888, and covered the historic West Riding except for the larger urban areas: which were county boroughs with the powers of both a municipal borough and a county council. Initially there were four in number, Bradford, Leeds, Halifax and Sheffield. The City of York (also a county borough) was included in the county for census and lieutenancy purposes. The number of county boroughs increased over the years: Rotherham gained this status in 1902, Barnsley and Dewsbury in 1913, Wakefield in 1915 and Doncaster in 1927. The boundaries of existing county boroughs were also widened.
From 1898 West Riding County Council was based at County Hall in Wakefield, which was inherited by the West Yorkshire County Council in 1974.[1]
The Local Government Act 1888 included the entirety of Todmorden with the West Riding administrative county, and also in its Lieutenancy area ("county"). Other boundary changes in the county included the expansion of the county borough of Sheffield southwards in areas historically in Derbyshire such as Dore.
By 1971 1,924,853 people (or 50.85% of the West Riding's population) lived in the administrative county, against 1,860,435 (or 49.15%) in the ten county boroughs.
[edit] Current usage
The term West Riding is still used in the names of the following clubs and organisations:
- 49 (West Riding) Signal Squadron (Volunteers), a squadron of 34 (Northern) Signal Regiment (Volunteers) based at New Carlton Barracks in Leeds
- 106 (West Riding) Field Squadron (Air Support) (Volunteers), a squadron of 73 Engineer Regiment (Volunteers) based in Greenhill, Sheffield and Manningham Lane, Bradford
- 219 (West Riding) Squadron, a squadron of 150 (Yorkshire) Transport Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps (Volunteers), based at Londesbrough St Barracks in Hull
- 269 (West Riding) Battery RA(V), a Surveillance and Target Acquisition battery of 101 (Northumbrian) Regiment Royal Artillery (Volunteers) based at Old Carlton Barracks in Leeds
- 609 (West Riding) Squadron RAuxAF, a Royal Auxiliary Air Force squadron based at RAF Leeming
- Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding) Regimental Museum
- Leeds - West Riding Cricket League
- Provincial Grand Lodge of Yorkshire, West Riding, a province in Freemasonry
- West Riding County Football Association
- West Riding Girls Football League
- The West Riding Grammar School
- West Riding Opera
- West Riding Organics, manufacturers of Soil Association certified peat free organic composts and fertilisers
- West Riding Ramblers Association
- West Riding Sailing Club
[edit] References
- ^ New Municipal Buildings at Wakefield, The Times, February 23, 1898.
