Editing West Riding of Yorkshire

{{Short description|One of the historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England}}
{{about|the historic riding and former county subdivision|the modern county|West Yorkshire}}
{{Redirect|West Riding}}
{{For|the former parliamentary constituency|West Riding of Yorkshire (UK Parliament constituency)}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}}
{{Infobox historic subdivision
| Name                   = West Riding of Yorkshire
| HQ                     = [[Wakefield]]
| Motto                  = Audi consilium (Heed counsel)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.civicheraldry.co.uk/wriding_ob.html|title=Civic Heraldry of England and Wales - Yorkshire, West Riding (Obsolete)|website=Civicheraldry.co.uk}}</ref>
| Status                 = [[Riding (division)|Ancient riding]],<br />then [[administrative county]]
| Arms                   = [[File:Arms of West Riding County Council.svg|100px|Arms of the County Council of the West Riding of Yorkshire]]<br />''Coat of arms of West Riding County Council''
| Image                  = {{multiple images
|border=infobox|perrow=1/2/2/1 |total_width=250px
 | image1 = Leeds Dock - 47465206852.jpg
 | image2 = Sheffield Town Hall (27475677653).jpg
 | image3 = Huddersfield Railway Station (1).jpg
 | image4 = Weir on the River Don at Rotherham - geograph.org.uk - 5914895.jpg
 | image5 = The Alhambra Theatre Bradford.jpeg
 | image6 = Wakefield-1 (cropped).jpg
}}
| Start                  = {{ubl|Historic riding: AD&nbsp;889|Administrative county: 1889}}
| End                    = {{ubl|Historic riding: not abolished|Administrative county: 1974}}
| Replace                = {{ubl|[[West Yorkshire]]|[[South Yorkshire]]|[[North Yorkshire]]|[[Lancashire]]|[[Cumbria]]|[[Greater Manchester]]|[[Humberside]]}}
| Map                    = [[File:West Riding locator in England.svg|250px]]<br />1888–1974: County of York in England: West Riding (red), North Riding (light green), and East Riding (very pale green)
| AreaFirst              = {{convert|1685409|acre|km2}}
| AreaFirstYear          = 1911
| AreaLast               = {{convert|1621068|acre|km2}}
| AreaLastYear           = 1961
| PopulationFirst        = 1,538,572
| PopulationFirstYear    = 1901
| CodeName               = [[Chapman code]]
| Code                   = WRY
| common_name            = 
| image_caption          = From top to bottom, left to right; [[Leeds]], [[Sheffield]], [[Huddersfield]], [[Rotherham]], [[Bradford]], [[Wakefield]]
}}

The '''West Riding of Yorkshire''' was one of three historic subdivisions of [[Yorkshire]], England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an [[administrative county]] named '''County of York, West Riding'''. The [[Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire|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".<ref>Lewis, Samuel ''A topographical dictionary of England'' (Vol. IV, p. 618) S. Lewis & Co., London: 1831.</ref> The riding ceased to be used for administrative purposes in 1974, when England's local government was reformed.

Contemporary local government boundaries in Yorkshire largely do not follow those of the riding. All of [[South Yorkshire]] (except [[Finningley]]) and [[West Yorkshire]] were historically within its boundaries, as were the south-western areas of [[North Yorkshire]] (including [[Ripon]]), the [[Sedbergh]] area of [[Cumbria]], the [[Barnoldswick]] and [[Slaidburn]] areas of [[Lancashire]], the [[Saddleworth]] area of [[Greater Manchester]] and the part of the [[East Riding of Yorkshire]] around [[Goole]] and southwest of the [[River Ouse, Yorkshire|River Ouse]].

== Geography ==
[[File:West Riding of Yorkshire coat of arms, Wetherby (Taken by Flickr user 6th July 2014).jpg|thumb|left|A variation of the West Riding's coat of arms seen in [[Wetherby]], now in West Yorkshire.]]
The West Riding encompassed 1,771,562 acres (7,169&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) 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, West Yorkshire|Halifax]], [[Huddersfield]], [[Keighley]], [[Leeds]], [[Morley, West Yorkshire|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, South Yorkshire|Handsworth]], [[Hoyland Nether]], [[Liversedge]], [[Mexborough]], [[Mirfield]], [[Normanton, West Yorkshire|Normanton]], [[Rawmarsh]], [[Rothwell, West Yorkshire|Rothwell]], [[Saddleworth]], [[Shipley, West Yorkshire|Shipley]], [[Skipton]], [[Sowerby Bridge]], [[Stanley, West Yorkshire|Stanley]], [[Swinton, South Yorkshire|Swinton]], [[Thornhill, West Yorkshire|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 of Yorkshire|North Riding]]).

== History ==
The subdivision of Yorkshire into three [[Riding (division)|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.<ref>{{cite book |last=Smith |first=A.&nbsp;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}}</ref>

Unlike most English counties, Yorkshire, being so large, was divided first into the three ridings ([[East Riding of Yorkshire|East]], [[North Riding of Yorkshire|North]] and West) and, later,{{when|date=May 2025}} the city of [[York]] (which lay within the [[city walls]] and was not part of any riding).{{clarify|reason=If, "later, the city of York ... was not part of any riding", where did York fit in previously?|date=May 2025}} Each riding was then divided into [[wapentakes]], a division comparable to the [[hundred (country subdivision)|hundreds]] of [[Southern England|southern and western England]] and the [[ward (country subdivision)|wards]] of England's four northernmost historic counties.

=== Administrative county ===
{{OSM Location map
|coord={{coord|53.8333|-1.7654}}
|zoom=8
|width=418
|height=365
|title=Settlements of The West Riding
|float=left
|nolabels=1
|caption=All cities in the historic West Riding appear in bold, as well as: <br />[[File:Blue pog.svg|12px]] The settlements now in the ceremonial county of [[West Yorkshire]] - Blue<br /> [[File:Red pog.svg|12px]] The settlements now in the ceremonial county of [[South Yorkshire]] - Red<br /> [[File:Orange pog.svg|12px]] The settlements now in the ceremonial county of [[North Yorkshire]] - Orange<br /> [[File:Green pog.svg|12px]] The settlements now in the administrative [[East Riding of Yorkshire|East Riding]] - Green<br /> [[File:White pog.svg|12px]] The Ainsty of York - White<br /> [[File:Purple pog.svg|12px]] The settlements now in different administrative counties - Purple

| shapeD           = circle
| shape-colorD     = red
| label-colorD     = dark blue
| number-colorD     = red
| shape-outlineD   = white
| label-sizeD      = 10
| label-posD       = left
| mark-sizeD       = 10

| 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]]
| label-pos4       = top

| label5           = Halifax
| shape-color5     = blue
| mark-coord5      = {{coord|53.72296|-1.86044}}
| mark-title5      = [[Halifax, West Yorkshire|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]]
| label-pos7       = top

| 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]]
| label-pos10       = top

| label11           = '''Sheffield'''
| mark-coord11      = {{coord|53.3807|-1.4702}}
| mark-title11      = [[Sheffield]]
| label-pos11       = bottom

| label12           = Rotherham
| mark-coord12      = {{coord|53.43112|-1.35515}}
| mark-title12      = [[Rotherham]]
| label-pos12       = top

| label13           = Tadcaster
| shape-color13     = orange
| mark-coord13      = {{coord|53.88538|-1.25952}}
| mark-title13      = [[Tadcaster]]
| label-pos13       = right

| label14           = Skipton
| shape-color14     = orange
| mark-coord14      = {{coord|53.96190|-2.01593}}
| mark-title14      = [[Skipton]]
| label-pos14       = top

| label15           = York
| shape-color15     = white
| mark-coord15      = {{coord|53.9592|-1.0815}}
| mark-title15      = [[York]]
| label-pos15       = top

| label16           = Barnsley
| mark-coord16      = {{coord|53.55288|-1.48276}}
| mark-title16      = [[Barnsley]]
| label-pos16       = top

| label17           = Ilkley
| shape-color17     = blue
| mark-coord17      = {{coord|53.925|-1.82444}}
| mark-title17      = [[Ilkley]]
| label-pos17       = left

| 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, North Yorkshire|Bentham]]
| label-pos22       = top

| label23           = Todmorden (part)
| shape-color23     = blue
| mark-coord23      = {{coord|53.71382|-2.09767}}
| mark-title23      = [[Todmorden]]
| label-pos23       = left

| label24           = Barnoldswick
| shape-color24     = purple
| mark-coord24      = {{coord|53.91709|-2.18736}}
| mark-title24      = [[Barnoldswick]]
| label-pos24       = bottom

| label25           = Settle
| shape-color25     = orange
| mark-coord25      = {{coord|54.06908|-2.27634}}
| mark-title25      = [[Settle, North Yorkshire|Settle]]
| label-pos25       = top

| label26           = Bolton-by-Bowland
| shape-color26     = purple
| mark-coord26      = {{coord|53.941|-2.329}}
| mark-title26      = [[Bolton-by-Bowland]]
| label-pos26       = left

| label27           = Wetherby
| shape-color27     = blue
| mark-coord27      = {{coord|53.9287|-1.3869}}
| mark-title27      = [[Wetherby]]
| label-pos27       = top

| 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]]
| label-pos30       = right

| label31           = Yeadon
| shape-color31     = blue
| mark-coord31      = {{coord|53.8649|-1.6848}}
| mark-title31      = [[Yeadon, West Yorkshire|Yeadon]]
| label-pos31       = top

| label32           = Pontefract
| shape-color32     = blue
| mark-coord32      = {{coord|53.69186|-1.31045}}
| mark-title32      = [[Pontefract]]
| label-pos32       = bottom

| label33           = Snaith
| shape-color33     = green
| mark-coord33      = {{coord|53.691223|-1.0282200}}
| mark-title33      = [[Snaith]]
| label-pos33       = top

| label34           = Sedbergh
| shape-color34     = purple
| mark-coord34      = {{coord|54.32365|-2.52836}}
| mark-title34      = [[Sedbergh]]
| label-pos34       = top

| label35           = Penistone
| mark-coord35      = {{coord|53.52477|-1.62972}}
| mark-title35      = [[Penistone]]
| label-pos35       = bottom
}}
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 borough]]s 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, Wakefield|County Hall]] in Wakefield, which was inherited by the [[West Yorkshire County Council|West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council]] in 1974.<ref>New Municipal Buildings at Wakefield, ''[[The Times]]'', 23 February 1898.</ref>

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 into areas historically in [[Derbyshire]] such as [[Dore, South Yorkshire|Dore]].

[[Fingerpost]]s 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]],<ref>Viner, D. 2007 ''Discover Dorset: Roads, Tracks and Turnpikes'' Wimborne: The Dovecote Press, p.68</ref> 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.

==Divisions==
===Ancient riding===
==== Earlier ====
In the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086 they were 
eleven wapentakes, these were as follows:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://epns.nottingham.ac.uk/browse/West+Riding+of+Yorkshire|access-date=1 February 2024|title=West Riding of Yorkshire}}</ref>
{|class="wikitable sortable"
!Domesday name!!Later name!!Also known as/ division names
!colspan=2|Other status post-Domesday
|-
|Agbrigg
|||
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"| [[Agbrigg and Morley]] (temporarily)
|-
|Morley
|||Blackston Edge, Bradfordale or Sowerbyshire
|-
|[[Ainsty]]|| Ainsty of York||
|colspan=2|Joined the City of York outside the Riding system in the 15th century 
|-
|Barkston||[[Barkston Ash Wapentake|Barkston Ash]]||
|colspan="2" rowspan="3"| Jointly known as [[Elmet]]
|-
|Rowspan=2|[[Skyrack]]||Skyrack Upper
|Rowspan=2|[[Airedale]]
|-
|Skyrack Lower
|-
|rowspan=2|Burghshire (of Aldborough)||[[Claro Wapentake|Claro]] Upper
|rowspan=2|[[Wharfedale]], [[Nidderdale]], of Knaresborough, Riponshire or Kirbyshire
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|[[Liberty (division)|Liberty]] and Honour
|-
||Claro Lower
|-
|rowspan="2"|Strafforth||[[Strafforth and Tickhill]] Upper
|rowspan="2"|of Mexborough, of Tickhill, Hallam or [[Hallamshire]]
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Liberty or Honour
|-
|Strafforth or Tickhill Lower
|-
|rowspan=2|[[Craven in the Domesday Book|Craven/ Cravenshire]]||Staincliffe West||[[Ribblesdale]] or [[Forest of Bowland|Bowland]]
|rowspan=3|Temporarily merged into [[Staincliffe and Ewecross]]
|rowspan="2"| Honour 
|-
|Staincliffe East||Staincliffe, of Skipton or Craven
|-
|[[Ewecross]]||||||
|-
|[[Osgoldcross Wapentake|Osgoldcross]]||||Marshland
|colspan=2| Liberty
|-
|[[Staincross Wapentake|Staincross]]
|||
|colspan=2|
|}

====Later====
{{see also|List of wapentakes in Yorkshire}}
[[File:Wapentakes of the West Riding of Yorkshire.png|320px|right|Wapentakes]]
In the end of regular use, the wapentakes were:
{{columns-list|colwidth=15em|
# Ewcross
# Staincliffe West
# Staincliffe East
# Claro Lower
# Strafforth and Tickhill Lower
# Morley
# Skyrack Upper
# Claro Upper
# Skyrack Lower
# Barkston Ash
# Agbrigg
# Staincross
# Osgoldcross
# Strafforth and Tickhill Upper
}}
===Riding as a county===
<!--Would be good to have the boroughs and districts on a west riding map than the two maps of counties that came into existence when the districts and boroughs depicted in them became defunct when they were created.-->
{{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 district council|Urban districts]] and [[municipal boroughs]] were under the administrative county while [[county boroughs]] were in the wider geographic county.

==Current usage==<!-- This section is linked from [[Riding (division)|Riding]] -->
[[File:West_Riding_flag.svg|alt=Official flag of the West Riding of Yorkshire|thumb|200x200px|The Official West Riding flag registered with the Flag Institute (2013)]]
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,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wrsc.org.uk/|title=West Riding Sailing Club &#124; Yorkshire &#124; England|website=Wrsc.org.uk}}</ref> [[the Ramblers]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ramblersyorkshire.org/|title=Home|website=Ramblersyorkshire.org}}</ref> the [[West Riding County Football Association]], and the [[Freemasonry|Freemasons]].<ref>{{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 }}</ref> It is also retained in the name of some [[British Army]] squadrons, such as the 106 (West Riding) Field Squadron,<ref>{{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}}</ref> and some historical re-enactment groups.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://33rdfoot.co.uk/|title=His Majesty's 33rd Regiment of Foot|website=33rdfoot.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{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 }}</ref>
A flag designed to represent the West Riding was registered with the [[Flag Institute]] charity in 2013.<ref>{{cite web |title=Yorkshire – West Riding |url=http://www.flaginstitute.org/wp/flags/yorkshire_west-riding/ |access-date=13 March 2015 |publisher=[[Flag Institute]]}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire|List of Lords Lieutenant of the West Riding]]
*[[Custos Rotulorum of the West Riding of Yorkshire]] – List of Keepers of the Rolls

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{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''
{{coord|53.86|-1.15|region:GB|display=title}}
{{Yorkshire}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:West Riding Of Yorkshire}}
[[Category:West Riding of Yorkshire| ]]
[[Category:History of local government in Yorkshire]]
[[Category:History of Yorkshire]]
[[Category:Administrative counties abolished in 1974|Yorkshire, West Riding]]