South Yorkshire

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South Yorkshire

Geography
Status	Ceremonial and Metropolitan county (no county council)
Origin	1974
Region	Yorkshire and the Humber
Historic county	Yorkshire (West Riding)
Area - Total	Ranked 38th 1,552 km²
ONS code	2C
NUTS 3	UKE3
Demographics
Population - Total (2005 est.) - Density	Ranked 10th 1,285,600 829 / km²
Ethnicity	95.0% White 2.6% S.Asian 2.4% Black
Politics
Members of Parliament	Kevin Barron Clive Betts David Blunkett Richard Caborn Michael Clapham Nick Clegg Jeff Ennis Caroline Flint John Healey Eric Illsley Denis MacShane Ed Miliband Meg Munn Angela Smith Rosie Winterton
Districts
Sheffield Rotherham Doncaster Barnsley

South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county, located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, in the north. The county was created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972^[1] and in 2001 covered an area of 155,205 hectares.^[2]

Contents 1 Divisions and Environs 2 History 3 Economy 4 Towns and villages 4.1 Main settlements 4.2 Urban areas 4.2.1 Dearne Valley 4.2.2 Doncaster 4.2.3 Sheffield 4.3 Other towns and villages 5 Places of interest 6 Notes

[edit] Divisions and Environs

South Yorkshire is divided into four local government districts; they are the City of Sheffield, the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham.^[3] The county borders Derbyshire, West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, East Riding of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire.

[edit] History

The main settlements of South Yorkshire grew up around the industries of mining and steel manufacturing. The main mining industry was coal which was concentrated to the north and east of the county. There were also iron deposits which were mined in the area. The rivers running off the Pennines to the west of the county supported the steel industry that is concentrated in the city of Sheffield. The proximity of the iron and coal also made this an ideal place for steel manufacture.

Although Christian nonconformism was never as strong in South Yorkshire as in the mill towns of West Yorkshire, there are still many Methodist and Baptist churches in the area. Also, South Yorkshire has a relatively high number of followers of spiritualism. It is the only county that counts as a full region in the Spiritualists' National Union.^[4]

South Yorkshire was created as a metropolitan county in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, from the southern part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and the former county boroughs of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield. It initially had a two tier structure of local government with a strategic-level county council and four districts providing most services.^[5]

In 1974, as part of the South Yorkshire Structure Plan of the environment, conservation and land use, South Yorkshire County Council commissioned a public attitudes survey covering job opportunities, educational facilities, leisure opportunities, health and medical services, shopping centres and transport in the county.^[6]

In 1986, throughout England the metropolitan county councils were abolished. The functions of the county council were devolved to the boroughs; joint-boards covering fire, police and public transport; and to other special joint arrangements.^[7] The joint boards continue to function and include the South Yorkshire Police Authority and the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive^[8]

Although the county council was abolished, South Yorkshire continues to form a metropolitan and ceremonial county with a Lord Lieutenant of South Yorkshire and a High Sheriff.

[edit] Economy

As one of the least prosperous areas in Western Europe, South Yorkshire has been targeted for funding from the European Regional Development Fund. This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of South Yorkshire at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

Year	Regional Gross Value Added[9]	Agriculture[10]	Industry[11]	Services[12]
1995	10,453	67	3,690	6,696
2000	13,187	53	4,181	8,954
2003	15,799	57	4,772	10,971

[edit] Towns and villages

[edit] Main settlements

The principal settlements of South Yorkshire are:

• Sheffield, an industrial city known for steel and cutlery
• Doncaster, an old Roman town known for railways and horse racing;
• Rotherham, an industrial town bordering Sheffield on the River Don;
• Barnsley, a market town on the River Dearne, the former administrative centre of the metropolitan county.

[edit] Urban areas

South Yorkshire is made up of three main urban areas. Dearne Valley is made up of Barnsley and a number of villages and towns. The Sheffield urban area is made up of Sheffield and Rotherham while the Doncaster urban area is Doncaster and surrounding areas.

[edit] Dearne Valley

Area	Metropolitan borough	Population
Barnsley	Barnsley	71,599
Conisbrough	Doncaster	15,361
Cudworth	Barnsley	11,644
Darfield	Barnsley	8,066
Darton	Barnsley	14,927
Dodworth	Barnsley	5,742
Hoyland Nether	Barnsley	15,497
Mexborough	Doncaster	14,750
Royston	Barnsley	9,375
Swinton	Rotherham	14,643
Wath upon Dearne	Rotherham	16,787
Wombwell	Barnsley	15,180
Worsbrough	Barnsley	9,516
Total population		207,726

[edit] Doncaster

Area	Metropolitan borough	Population
Armthorpe	Doncaster	12,630
Bentley	Doncaster	33,968
Doncaster	Doncaster	67,977
Kirk Sandall	Doncaster	13,276
Total population		127,851

[edit] Sheffield

Area	Metropolitan borough	Population
Aughton	Rotherham	13,456
Beighton	Sheffield	10,676
Chapeltown	Sheffield	22,665
Mosborough/Highlane	Sheffield	18,585
Rawmarsh	Rotherham	18,210
Rotherham	Rotherham	117,262
Sheffield	Sheffield	439,866
Total population		640,720

[edit] Other towns and villages

Area	Metropolitan borough	Population
Adwick le Street	Doncaster	16,142
Anston/Dinnington	Rotherham	19,086
Askern	Doncaster	5,434
Bawtry	Doncaster	3,775
Birdwell	Barnsley	2,989
Conisbrough	Doncaster	15,361
Dinnington	Rotherham	1,572
Finningley	Doncaster	4,048
Great Houghton	Barnsley	2,216
Grimethorpe	Barnsley	1,873
Harthill	Rotherham	1,728
Hatfield/Stainforth	Doncaster	20,232 (13,890/6,342)
Maltby	Rotherham	11,966
Rossington	Doncaster	13,255
Norton	Doncaster	2,111
Oughtibridge/Wharncliffe Side	Sheffield	4,602 (3,227/1,375)
Penistone	Barnsley	8,727
Scholes	Rotherham	2,403
Stocksbridge	Sheffield	13,316
Thorne/Moorends	Doncaster	16,338
Thorpe Hesley	Rotherham	4,609
Tickhill	Doncaster	5,112
Todwick	Rotherham	1,637
Treeton	Rotherham	2,514
Thurcroft	Rotherham	4,702
Thurnscoe	Barnsley	9,122
Wales	Rotherham	5,826
Woodsetts	Rotherham	1,802

[edit] Places of interest

See also: Culture of Sheffield

• Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet, Sheffield
• Barnsley Town Hall
• Cannon Hall Museum, Park & Gardens, Barnsley
• Chapel of Our Lady of Rotherham Bridge ("Chapel on the Bridge"), Rotherham
• Clifton Park Museum, Rotherham
• Conisbrough Castle
• Cusworth Hall
• Doncaster Mansion House
• Earth Centre
• Kelham Island Museum, Sheffield
• Monk Bretton Priory
• Sheffield Winter Gardens
• Roche Abbey
• Rother Valley Country Park
• Howden Moors
• St Lawrence Church, Adwick le Street
• Wentworth Castle & Gardens, Barnsley
• Wentworth Woodhouse
• Weston Park Museum & Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield
• Woodlands model village
• Worsborough Mill and Country Park

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Arnold-Baker, C., Local Government Act 1972, (1973)
2. ^ Vision of Britain - South Yorkshire area
3. ^ Vision of Britain - Components of South Yorkshire
4. ^ http://www.snu.org.uk/churches.htm
5. ^ Redcliffe-Maud & Wood, B., English Local Government Reformed, (1974)
6. ^ Courtenay, G. and Field, J., South Yorkshire structure plan: public attitude survey, (1975)
7. ^ Kingdom, J., Local Government and Politics in Britain, (1991)
8. ^ South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive
9. ^ Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
10. ^ includes hunting and forestry
11. ^ includes energy and construction
12. ^ includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured