West Riding of Yorkshire#Current usage

File:West Riding of Yorkshire coat of arms, Wetherby (Taken by Flickr user 6th July 2014).jpg, now in West Yorkshire.]]

The West Riding encompassed 1,771,562 acres (7,169 km²) from Sheffield in the south to Sedbergh in the north and from Dunsop Bridge in the west to Adlingfleet in the east.

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 (partly in Lancashire until 1888, when fully incorporated into Yorkshire) 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, Otley and Selby. The West Riding also contained a large rural area to the north including part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park (the remainder of the park being in the North Riding).

The subdivision of Yorkshire into three ridings or "thirds" ({{langx|non|Þriðungr}}) is of Scandinavian origin. The West Riding was first recorded (in the form West Treding) in the Domesday Book of 1086.{{cite book |last=Smith |first=A. H. |author-link=Albert Hugh Smith |title=The Place-names of the West Riding of Yorkshire |volume=7 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1962 |pages=117–118}}

Unlike most English counties, Yorkshire, being so large, was divided first into the three ridings (East, North and West) and, later, the city of York (which lay within the city walls and was not part of any riding). Each riding was then divided into wapentakes, a division comparable to the hundreds of southern and western England and the wards of England's four northernmost historic counties.

{{OSM Location map

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|title=Settlements of The West Riding

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|caption=All cities in the historic West Riding appear in bold, as well as:
12px The settlements now in the ceremonial county of West Yorkshire - Blue
12px The settlements now in the ceremonial county of South Yorkshire - Red
12px The settlements now in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire - Orange
12px The settlements now in the administrative East Riding - Green
12px The Ainsty of York - White
12px The settlements now in different administrative counties - Purple

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| label1 = Leeds

| shape-color1 = blue

| mark-coord1 = {{coord|53.7974|-1.5437}}

| mark-title1 = Leeds

| label-pos1 = top

| label2 = Huddersfield

| shape-color2 = blue

| mark-coord2 = {{coord|53.64666|-1.78219}}

| mark-title2 = Huddersfield

| label-pos2 = left

| label3 = Bradford

| shape-color3 = blue

| mark-coord3 = {{coord|53.7944|-1.7519}}

| mark-title3 = Bradford

| label-pos3 = left

| label4 = Wakefield

| shape-color4 = blue

| mark-coord4 = {{coord|53.6830|-1.4966}}

| mark-title4 = Wakefield

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| label5 = Halifax

| shape-color5 = blue

| mark-coord5 = {{coord|53.72296|-1.86044}}

| mark-title5 = Halifax

| label-pos5 = right

| label6 = Keighley

| shape-color6 = blue

| mark-coord6 = {{coord|53.8685|-1.9020}}

| mark-title6 = Keighley

| label-pos6 = bottom

| label7 = Selby

| shape-color7 = orange

| mark-coord7 = {{coord|53.78410|-1.06879}}

| mark-title7 = Selby

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| label8 = Harrogate

| shape-color8 = orange

| mark-coord8 = {{coord|53.99217|-1.53912}}

| mark-title8 = Harrogate

| label-pos8 = left

| label9 = Knaresborough

| shape-color9 = orange

| mark-coord9 = {{coord|54.01005|-1.46176}}

| mark-title9 = Knaresborough

| label-pos9 = top

| label10 = Goole

| shape-color10 = green

| mark-coord10 = {{coord|53.7036|-0.8715}}

| mark-title10 = Goole

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| label11 = Sheffield

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| label12 = Rotherham

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| mark-title12 = Rotherham

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| label13 = Tadcaster

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| mark-title13 = Tadcaster

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| label14 = Skipton

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| mark-coord14 = {{coord|53.96190|-2.01593}}

| mark-title14 = Skipton

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| label15 = York

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| mark-coord15 = {{coord|53.9592|-1.0815}}

| mark-title15 = York

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| label16 = Barnsley

| mark-coord16 = {{coord|53.55288|-1.48276}}

| mark-title16 = Barnsley

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| label17 = Ilkley

| shape-color17 = blue

| mark-coord17 = {{coord|53.925|-1.82444}}

| mark-title17 = Ilkley

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| label18 = Doncaster

| mark-coord18 = {{coord|53.5229|-1.1336}}

| mark-title18 = Doncaster

| label-pos18 = top

| label19 = Holmfirth

| shape-color19 = blue

| mark-coord19 = {{coord|53.57045|-1.78699}}

| mark-title19 = Holmfirth

| label-pos19 = bottom

| label20 = Ripon

| shape-color20 = orange

| mark-coord20 = {{coord|54.1363|-1.5238}}

| mark-title20 = Ripon

| label-pos20 = top

| label21 = Pateley Bridge

| shape-color21 = orange

| mark-coord21 = {{coord|54.08723|-1.75965}}

| mark-title21 = Pateley Bridge

| label-pos21 = top

| label22 = Bentham

| shape-color22 = orange

| mark-coord22 = {{coord|54.118|-2.510}}

| mark-title22 = Bentham

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| label23 = Todmorden (part)

| shape-color23 = blue

| mark-coord23 = {{coord|53.71382|-2.09767}}

| mark-title23 = Todmorden

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| label24 = Barnoldswick

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| mark-coord24 = {{coord|53.91709|-2.18736}}

| mark-title24 = Barnoldswick

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| label25 = Settle

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| mark-title25 = Settle

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| label26 = Bolton-by-Bowland

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| mark-coord26 = {{coord|53.941|-2.329}}

| mark-title26 = Bolton-by-Bowland

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| label27 = Wetherby

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| mark-coord27 = {{coord|53.9287|-1.3869}}

| mark-title27 = Wetherby

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| label28 = Gawthrop

| shape-color28 = purple

| mark-coord28 = {{coord|54.281|-2.473}}

| mark-title28 = Gawthrop

| label-pos28 = bottom

| label29 = Saddleworth

| shape-color29 = purple

| mark-coord29 = {{coord|53.55|-2}}

| mark-title29 = Saddleworth

| label-pos29 = top

| label30 = Garforth

| shape-color30 = blue

| mark-coord30 = {{coord|53.7907|-1.3919}}

| mark-title30 = Garforth

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| label31 = Yeadon

| shape-color31 = blue

| mark-coord31 = {{coord|53.8649|-1.6848}}

| mark-title31 = Yeadon

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| label32 = Pontefract

| shape-color32 = blue

| mark-coord32 = {{coord|53.69186|-1.31045}}

| mark-title32 = Pontefract

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| label33 = Snaith

| shape-color33 = green

| mark-coord33 = {{coord|53.691223|-1.0282200}}

| mark-title33 = Snaith

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| label34 = Sedbergh

| shape-color34 = purple

| mark-coord34 = {{coord|54.32365|-2.52836}}

| mark-title34 = Sedbergh

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| label35 = Penistone

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| mark-title35 = Penistone

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}}

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 (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.

Beginning in 1898, the West Riding County Council was based at the County Hall in Wakefield, which was inherited by the West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council in 1974.New Municipal Buildings at Wakefield, The Times, 23 February 1898.

The Local Government Act 1888 included the entirety of Todmorden with the West Riding administrative county, and also in its lieutenancy area ("county"), though the postal address for Todmorden was Lancashire. 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,Viner, D. 2007 Discover Dorset: Roads, Tracks and Turnpikes Wimborne: The Dovecote Press, p.68 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 (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.

In the Domesday Book of 1086 they were

eleven wapentakes, these were as follows:{{cite web|url=http://epns.nottingham.ac.uk/browse/West+Riding+of+Yorkshire|access-date=1 February 2024|title=West Riding of Yorkshire}}

{{see also|List of wapentakes in Yorkshire}}

File:Wapentakes of the West Riding of Yorkshire.png

In the end of regular use, the wapentakes were:

{{columns-list|colwidth=15em|

1. Ewcross
2. Staincliffe West
3. Staincliffe East
4. Claro Lower
5. Strafforth and Tickhill Lower
6. Morley
7. Skyrack Upper
8. Claro Upper
9. Skyrack Lower
10. Barkston Ash
11. Agbrigg
12. Staincross
13. Osgoldcross
14. Strafforth and Tickhill Upper

}}

{{multiple image

| perrow = 2

| width = 300px

| image1 = West Yorkshire County.png

| caption1 = The system of districts and boroughs of the West Riding which formed West Yorkshire

| image2 = South Yorkshire County.png

| caption2 = The system of districts and boroughs of the West Riding which formed South Yorkshire

}}

During the West Riding's time as a county; rural districts, Urban districts and municipal boroughs were under the administrative county while county boroughs were in the wider geographic county.

==Current usage==

File:West_Riding_flag.svg

The term "West Riding" continues to be used by organisations based in the historic area of the riding, such as the West Riding Sailing Club,{{Cite web|url=https://www.wrsc.org.uk/|title=West Riding Sailing Club | Yorkshire | England|website=Wrsc.org.uk}} the Ramblers,{{Cite web|url=https://ramblersyorkshire.org/|title=Home|website=Ramblersyorkshire.org}} the West Riding County Football Association, and the Freemasons.{{Cite web |url=http://www.wrprovince.co.uk/ |title=Masonic Province of Yorkshire, West Riding |access-date=11 February 2013 |archive-date=11 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100211102701/http://www.wrprovince.co.uk/ |url-status=dead }} It is also retained in the name of some British Army squadrons, such as the 106 (West Riding) Field Squadron,{{Cite web |title=Army Reserve Units {{!}} Sheffield Greenhill |url=https://jobs.army.mod.uk/army-reserve/find-a-reserve-centre/north-east/sheffield-greenhill/ |access-date=27 December 2023 |website=Army}} and some historical re-enactment groups.{{Cite web|url=http://33rdfoot.co.uk/|title=His Majesty's 33rd Regiment of Foot|website=33rdfoot.co.uk}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.51stlight.co.uk/ |title=51stlight.co.uk |access-date=11 February 2013 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304032822/http://www.51stlight.co.uk/ |url-status=dead }}

A flag designed to represent the West Riding was registered with the Flag Institute charity in 2013.{{cite web |title=Yorkshire – West Riding |url=http://www.flaginstitute.org/wp/flags/yorkshire_west-riding/ |access-date=13 March 2015 |publisher=Flag Institute}}

• List of Lords Lieutenant of the West Riding
• Custos Rotulorum of the West Riding of Yorkshire – List of Keepers of the Rolls

{{Reflist}}

• {{Commons category-inline}}
• [http://wikishire.co.uk/map/#west_riding/base=outline Map of the West Riding of Yorkshire] on Wikishire
• [https://imfromyorkshire.uk.com/guide-to-yorkshire/west-riding/ Information on the West Riding of Yorkshire] on I'm From Yorkshire

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{{Yorkshire}}

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Category:History of local government in Yorkshire

Category:History of Yorkshire

Yorkshire, West Riding