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"), 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 County of the City of York.
Its boundaries roughly correspond to the present ceremonial counties of West
Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and the Craven, Harrogate and Selby districts of
North Yorkshire, along with smaller parts in Lancashire, Cumbria, Greater
Manchester and, since 1996, the unitary East Riding of Yorkshire.
Geography The West Riding encompasses 1,771,562
acres from Sheffield in the south to Sedbergh in the north and from Dunsop
Bridge in the west to Adlingfleet in the east.
Unlike most English counties that were divided into hundreds, Yorkshire, being
so large, was divided first into thrithjungar, which were called the
three ridings and, later, the City of York. Each riding was then divided into
wapentakes, a division comparable to the hundreds of Southern England and the
wards of England's four northern-most historic counties. The wapentakes of the
West Riding were Agbrigg and Morley, Barkston Ash, Ewcross, Claro,
Osgoldcross, Skyrack, Staincliffe, Staincross, Strafforth and Tickhill.
The southern industrial district, considered in the broadest application
of the term, extended northward from Sheffield to Skipton and eastward from
Sheffield to Doncaster, covering less than one-half of the riding. Within this
district were Barnsley, Batley, Bradford, Brighouse, Dewsbury,
Doncaster, Halifax, Huddersfield, Keighley, Leeds, Morley, Ossett,
Pontefract, Pudsey, Rotherham, Sheffield, Todmorden and Wakefield.
Major centres elsewhere in the riding included Harrogate and Ripon.
Within the industrial region, other urban districts included 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 were Goole, Ilkley, Knaresborough and Selby. The West Riding also
contained a large rural area to the north including part of the Yorkshire
Dales National Park. Modern history
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 five in number: Bradford, Leeds, Huddersfield,
Halifax, and Sheffield. The City of York 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. Beginning in 1898, the West Riding
County Council was based at the County Hall in Wakefield, which was inherited
by the West Yorkshire County Council in 1974.
The Local Government Act 1888 included the entirety of Todmorden with the West
Riding administrative county, and also in its lieutenancy area. Other boundary
changes in the county included the expansion of the county borough of
Sheffield southward in areas historically in Derbyshire such as Dore.
Fingerposts erected in the West Riding until the mid-1960s had a distinctive
style. At the top of the post was a roundel in the form of a hollow circle
with a horizontal line across the middle, displaying "Yorks W.R.", the
name of the fingerpost's location, and a grid reference. Other counties, apart
from Dorset, did not display a grid reference and did not have a horizontal
bar through the roundel. From 1964, many fingerposts were replaced by ones in the
modern style, but some of the old style still survive within the West Riding
boundaries. By 1971 1,924,853 people lived in the
administrative county, against 1,860,435 in the ten county boroughs.
Ancient divisions Unlike most counties in England, which
historically were divided into hundreds, Yorkshire was first divided into
Thrydings, meaning 'Thirds', which were the three historical ridings of
Yorkshire and then into wapentakes. = Wapentakes=
Within the West Riding of Yorkshire there were ten wapentakes in total, four
of which were split into two divisions, those were— Claro, Skyrack, Strafforth
and Tickhill and Staincliffe. The wapentake of Agbrigg and Morley was
created with two divisions but was later split into two separate wapentakes. A
wapentake known as the Ainsty to the west of York, was until the 15th century
a wapentake of the West Riding, but since then has come under the
jurisdiction of the City of York Current usage
The term West Riding is still used in the names of the following clubs, and
organisations: 33rd Foot, First Yorkshire West Riding
Regiment , a re-enactment group based in Halifax who depict this Regiment during
the Napoleonic Wars 49 Signal Squadron, a squadron of 34
Signal Regiment based at Carlton Barracks in Leeds
51st Light Infantry , a re-enactment group based in the West Midlands who
depict this Regiment during the Napoleonic Wars
106 Field Squadron, a squadron of 72 Engineer Regiment based in Greenhill,
Sheffield and Manningham Lane, Bradford 269 Battery Royal Artillery, a
Surveillance and Target Acquisition battery of 101 Regiment Royal Artillery
based at Carlton Barracks in Leeds 609 Squadron RAuxAF, a Royal Auxiliary
Air Force squadron based at RAF Leeming Duke of Wellington's Regiment Regimental
Museum West Riding Cat Rescue
Leeds - West Riding Cricket League Provincial Grand Lodge of Yorkshire,
West Riding, a province in Freemasonry West Riding County Amateur Football
League West Riding County Football Association
West Riding Girls Football League 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 See also
List of Lord Lieutenants of the West Riding
Custos Rotulorum of the West Riding of Yorkshire - List of Keepers of the Rolls
References