Yorkshire

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This article is about the former English county. For other uses, see Yorkshire (disambiguation).

Historic county of Yorkshire

North Riding West Riding East Riding
Geography
Area: (1831)	3,669,510 acres
Rank:	Ranked 1st (1831)
Administration
County town:	York
Chapman code:	YKS
Divisions:	Ridings, Wapentakes

Yorkshire is an historic county, in northern England - the largest in Great Britain.

It covers just under 6,000 sq. miles (15,000 km²)^[1] with a population of around five million^[2]. The highest point in Yorkshire is Whernside at 736 m (2415 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). Each of the ridings was then further subdivided into smaller units called Wapentakes, which were administered by an early experiment with democratic representation termed a "Thing". The county town, York, is not part of any riding.

The bulk of historic county of Yorkshire now forms 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 boroughs of Oldham and Tameside in Greater Manchester. The four current ceremonial counties, together with a small part of Lincolnshire, form the Government Office Region of Yorkshire and the Humber. Excluded from this region is the former-Cleveland area of North Yorkshire which is part of the North East Region.

The emblem of Yorkshire is the White Rose of the House of York. An annual Yorkshire Day celebration has been held every 1 August since 1975. 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 hosted 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), which is based on the popular feature of West Yorkshire.

Contents 1 History 2 Divisions of Yorkshire 3 Villages, towns and cities in Yorkshire 4 Local government areas in ceremonial Yorkshire 5 Traditions and stereotypes 6 Flags 7 See also 8 External links 9 References

[edit] History

Main article History of Yorkshire

In 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 Anglian 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).

v • d • e  Part of a series of articles on Yorkshire

County Town: York

The ridings:

East • North • West

Ceremonial counties

East Riding of Yorkshire

North Yorkshire

South Yorkshire

West Yorkshire

Further information

Accent & Dialect

Anthem

Cricket

Famous People

History

Places

White Rose

Yorkshire Day 1 August

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 Domesday 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.

During the Second World War, Yorkshire became an important base for RAF Bomber Command and brought the county into the cutting edge of the war.^[3]

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.

[edit] Divisions of Yorkshire

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 Strand
• City Of York

East Riding

• Buckrose
• Dickering
• Harthill — Bainton beacon, Holme beacon, Hunsley beacon and Wilton beacon
• Holderness South Middle and North
• Howdenshire
• Hullshire
• Hunsley Beacon
• Ouse and Derwent

West 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)^{[citation needed]}
• Cleveland (including parts of County Durham)

South and West Yorkshire are termed metropolitan counties, as they cover mostly built-up areas, although about two thirds of each county is rural. 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.

[edit] Villages, towns and cities in Yorkshire

See the list of places in Yorkshire.

[edit] Local government areas in ceremonial 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
    • Non-metropolitan districts: Craven, Hambleton, Harrogate, Richmondshire, Ryedale, Scarborough, Selby
• South Yorkshire
  • Metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, Sheffield
• West Yorkshire
  • Metropolitan boroughs: Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds, Wakefield

[edit] Traditions and stereotypes

Yorkshiremen (and women) are immensely proud of both their county (commonly referred to as "God's Own County") and their identity. It is sometime suggested that Yorkshire men identify more strongly with their county than they do with their country.

Yorkshiremen are often stereotyped as being warm and friendly but "bloody minded" (or stubborn) and argumentative.

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^{[citation needed]}.

Another stereotype often heard in connection with Yorkshire workers is the proverb "where there is muck, there is brass", which means that the people of Yorkshire, of whom quite a lot worked in the coal mining industry, are digging in the dirt to make money (brass).

Journalist and broadcaster Sir Bernard Ingham recently wrote a book Yorkshire Greats: The County's Fifty Finest, in which he proposed a list of the greatest ever Yorkshiremen and women. The list included the likes of James Cook, William Wilberforce and George Cayley.

"Tyke" is now a colloquialism for the Yorkshire dialect as well as the term some Yorkshiremen affectionately use to describe themselves, especially in the West Riding. "Tyke" was originally a term of abuse given by 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^{[citation needed]}.

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 Kaiser 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.

[edit] Flags

1. 
   Yorkshire is usually represented by the White Rose of York on a blue field[1].
2. 
   This new flag for Yorkshire was designed by Michael Faul, Director of the Flag Institute[2].

[edit] See also

• Yorkshire Forward
• 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

[edit] External links

• Yorkshire Forward - The Regional Development Agency for Yorkshire & Humber
• 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 memorabilia
• Yorkshire Dales Inns and Pubs

[edit] References

1. ^ genuki.org.uk, Description of Yorkshire from Pigots 1834 Gazetteer, accessed 23 September 2006. "...its area comprises 5,961 square miles, and 3,815,040 statute acres."
2. ^ statistics.gov.uk, Census 2001: YORKSHIRE AND THE HUMBER, accessed September 2006. Total of both males and females of all age groups: 4964833.
3. ^ Halpenny, Bruce Barrymore (1982). Action Stations: Military Airfields of Yorkshire v. 4. PSL. ISBN 978-0850595321.