North Yorkshire (pop. 615,491) is a unitary authority (local government district) in northeastern England. It is one of England’s largest local government areas, extending from the North Sea in the east to the Pennines in the west, and from the River Tees in the north to the River Ouse in the south. North Yorkshire is a picturesque, mainly rural area. Agriculture, tourism, and service industries are among its most important economic activities.
North Yorkshire was originally part of the larger historical county of Yorkshire, which was divided into three administrative areas called ridings (thirds). These ridings were the North Riding, the East Riding, and the West Riding. In 1974, the ridings were abolished as administrative districts. In addition, Yorkshire was reduced in size and split into three counties: North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, and West Yorkshire. In 1996, the City of York and the Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, and Stockton-on-Tees areas became unitary authorities separate from North Yorkshire. In 2023, the North Yorkshire county council joined with seven North Yorkshire district and borough councils to form the North Yorkshire unitary authority.
People and government
Local customs.
Traditional annual events in North Yorkshire include the Blessing of the Boats ceremony at Whitby in July and Whitby Regatta in August. Many villages and market towns in North Yorkshire hold annual agricultural shows, such as the Ryedale Show held each July at Kirkbymoorside. Local farmers demonstrate their skills in plowing and crafts, such as dry-stone walling. Many farmers compete in horticultural competitions or sheepdog trials.
Richmond has an annual First Fruits harvest ceremony, which takes place in the town’s marketplace. At the ceremony, the farmer who has produced the finest sample of the year’s wheat crop receives a gift of wine.
North Yorkshire’s many cultural events include the Harrogate International Festival, one of the United Kingdom’s leading arts festivals, held in July or August. Scarborough is famous for the Stephen Joseph Theatre-in-the-Round and its association with the playwright Alan Ayckbourn. The Ryedale Festival of Music and Drama is held each year at Beadlam, near Helmsley.
Recreation.
A variety of sports are played in North Yorkshire. Local village cricket teams play against one another during the summer months. People born in North Yorkshire are eligible to play for the Yorkshire County Cricket team, one of the most successful first-class cricket teams in the history of the game. Thirsk has a famous horse-racing track. Other sports in North Yorkshire include association football (soccer).
Residents and visitors enjoy the many opportunities for fishing, sailing and walking in North Yorkshire. The North York Moors National Park lies within North Yorkshire, and visitors also have access to the Yorkshire Dales National Park, part of which lies within North Yorkshire. The remote uplands are known for their spectacular limestone and gritstone crags and limestone caves.
Local government.
North Yorkshire’s administrative center is in Northallerton. The unitary authority of North Yorkshire was formed in 2023. It absorbed the county of North Yorkshire and seven local government districts: Craven, which included Skipton; Hambleton, which included Northallerton; Harrogate, which included Ripon and Knaresborough; Richmondshire, which included Richmond; Ryedale, which included Helmsley, Kirkbymoorside, Malton, Norton, and Pickering; Scarborough, which included Whitby; and Selby. Harrogate and Scarborough were classified as boroughs.
Economy
The economy of North Yorkshire was once based on the agriculture and coal mining industries. Service industries—such as retailing, the hotel and restaurant trade, public administration, education, and health—have gained importance. In the 1900’s, high-technology industries moved into the region.
Tourism.
Many of North Yorkshire’s service industries are connected with tourism. North Yorkshire’s attractive coastal and rural scenery draws many visitors each year. The North Yorkshire coast has several seaside resorts, of which the best known is Scarborough. Nearby Whitby is famous as a center for sailing and boating. Many tourists visit the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors national parks, or historical towns, such as Ripon and Richmond.
Manufacturing and mining.
Manufacturing activities in the area include brewing, engineering, and food processing. North Yorkshire’s coal-mining industry was one of the most important in the United Kingdom for many years. Large coal deposits lie beneath the Vale of York, between Selby and York. However, the British coal-mining industry was reorganized in the 1980’s, and the coal industry in Yorkshire faded in importance.
The other chief mining industry is the quarrying of limestone. This material, which is quarried in the Yorkshire Dales, is used mainly in the steel industry.
Agriculture.
Agriculture is a valuable part of the economy of North Yorkshire. Farmers raise crops and livestock throughout North Yorkshire. The main areas for raising field crops are in the lowlands of the Vale of York and in the Vale of Pickering. Wheat and barley are the main crops. Potatoes, other vegetables, and sugar beets are important in the southern part of the Vale of York.
In most lowland areas, farmers raise crops and raise animals, particularly cattle and hogs. In the higher areas, especially the Pennine moorlands, sheep graze on the rougher pastures. Cattle raising is common in the valleys. Wensleydale, the valley of the River Ure, is famous for its cheese.
Transportation and communication.
North Yorkshire has transport links with the rest of the United Kingdom and overseas. The A1, the main north-south highway for eastern England and southern Scotland, passes through North Yorkshire. The East Coast rail service from London to Edinburgh also passes through the area.
People in North Yorkshire have access to international air travel from Leeds/Bradford airport at Yeadon, in West Yorkshire. The ports of Teeside and Hull provide seagoing passenger and freight links to the mainland of Europe.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and independent television and radio companies serve North Yorkshire. The larger towns have evening or weekly newspapers.
Land and climate
Location and size.
North Yorkshire is bounded by the North Sea to the east, by the East Riding of Yorkshire and York unitary authorities to the southeast, and by the metropolitan counties of West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire to the south. Lancashire lies to the southwest. Two unitary authorities—Cumberland, and Westmorland and Furness—lie to the northwest. The unitary authorities of County Durham, Darlington, Stockton-on-Tees, Redcar and Cleveland, and Middlesbrough lie to the north.
Land features.
The western part of North Yorkshire includes a range of hills known as the Pennines, which rise to heights of more than 1,950 feet (595 meters). A series of geological faults run across the Pennines from east to west. The faults, called the Craven Faults, divide the Pennines into two regions. To the north of the faults are limestone hills, full of underground streams and caves. To the south of the faults is sandstone known as millstone grit. Parts of this area are badly drained and covered by peat moss.
The Vale of York runs north and south in the middle of North Yorkshire. At its widest, the vale is about 28 miles (45 kilometers) wide. It narrows in the north to 15 miles (24 kilometers), in an area called the Vale of Mowbray.
The eastern half of North Yorkshire has two hilly regions, the Cleveland Hills and the North York Moors. These regions are windswept moorlands that rise to a maximum height of about 1,500 feet (460 meters). The North York Moors National Park is in this area. The park contains the largest expanse of open heather moorland in England. To the south of the Cleveland Hills and North York Moors lies the Vale of Pickering, a broad, flat plain 30 miles (48 kilometers) long and approximately half as wide. Much of the vale is poorly drained and liable to flooding.
North Yorkshire’s coastline is rugged, with rocky headlands, such as Filey Brigg, and sandy bays, such as those at Scarborough and Whitby.
Rivers and lakes.
Most of the rivers in North Yorkshire rise in the Pennines and flow to the east. The upper valleys of the rivers form the Yorkshire Dales. The best-known dales include Airedale, Swaledale, Wensleydale, and Wharfedale. The River Ouse flows through the Vale of York, and on into the Humber estuary. The River Derwent rises in the Vale of Pickering, not far from the coast, and flows westward to join the Ouse near its meeting point with the Humber.
Climate.
In the higher parts of the Pennines, annual rainfall averages more than 60 inches (150 centimeters). In the Vale of York, rainfall averages between 25 and 30 inches (64 and 76 centimeters) per year. Most of the rain falls in late summer and in winter.
The average temperature is around 39 °F (4 °C) between December and March—slightly lower at higher elevations. The Vale of York is sheltered from cold continental winds, and its winter temperature averages more than 39 °F (4 °C). The average temperature in July and August is around 61 °F (16 °C).
History
Stone Age people moved into the North Yorkshire area in about 8000 B.C. Archaeologists have found flint tools and weapons in Victoria Cave, near Settle, and at many other places in the North York Moors and the Pennines. People of the Bronze Age also left many indications of their life in the area.
When the Romans arrived in the area, it was inhabited by the Brigantes, Iron Age people who were Celtic in origin. The Romans established their local headquarters at Eboracum (York). They constructed forts at Cataractonium (Catterick) and Derventio (Malton). They built roads connecting these and other forts with their lead mines in the Pennines. Roman roads included the Great North Road, forerunner of the present A1, which linked London with the north of England.
After the Romans left, the Angles invaded the area. Edwin, a king of the Angles, became a convert to Christianity in 625. Following this conversion, missionaries began to preach Christianity to Edwin’s subjects. In 664, a dispute between Celtic and Roman missionaries was settled, in favor of the Romans, at the Synod of Whitby.
The Vikings raided North Yorkshire frequently during the 700’s and 800’s. Danes ruled the whole area of the old county of Yorkshire from the late 800’s. They divided the area into three districts called ridings (from the Old Norse word thriding, meaning a third part): the North Riding, the East Riding, and the West Riding. North Yorkshire was part of the North Riding. After the Normans invaded England in 1066, they took several years to gain control of the area of North Yorkshire. They built many castles. The remains of some of these castles can be seen at Richmond and Scarborough.
During the Wars of the Roses in the 1400’s, supporters of the houses of Lancaster and York fought each other for the throne of England. Most of North Yorkshire was under the control of the Yorkists.
Yorkshire has a long tradition of prominence in British religious affairs. John Wycliffe, regarded by many as the founder of English Protestantism, was born in North Yorkshire in the early 1300’s (see Wycliffe, John). Many abbeys were built in North Yorkshire during medieval times. They were closed by King Henry VIII during the 1500’s, and most of them were destroyed. Beautiful ruins remain at Fountains, near Ripon, and at Rievaulx, near Helmsley.
During the English Civil War of the 1640’s, several important battles were fought in North Yorkshire. In 1644, Oliver Cromwell defeated Prince Rupert in the Battle of Marston Moor.
North Yorkshire underwent physical and economic changes in the Industrial Revolution of the 1700’s and early 1800’s. The development of the railroad system allowed greater transportation through Yorkshire, leading to economic growth of the towns and their surrounding areas. George Hudson, known as “the Railway King,” made his native city of York into a railroad center, profoundly affecting the surrounding area of North Yorkshire.
Famous people from North Yorkshire include the navigator and explorer Captain James Cook, who was born at Marton. Sir George Cayley, who developed the first successful glider, was born near Scarborough.
