Place:North Yorkshire, England

North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan county (or shire county) and largest ceremonial county in England. The population of North Yorkshire (as estimated by the UK Office of National Statistics) was 602,300 in mid 2016. (This did not include the unitary authorities of York, Middlesbrough, Stockton and Redcar and Cleveland).

Created by the Local Government Act 1972, it covers an area of 8,654 square kilometres (3,341 sq mi), making North Yorkshire the largest county in England by area. The majority of the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors lie within North Yorkshire's boundaries, and around 40% of the county is covered by National Parks. The largest towns are Middlesbrough (174,700), York (152,841), Harrogate (73,576) and Scarborough (61,749); the county town of Northallerton has a population of 16,832.

With the Local Government Act 1972 the descriptions of municipalities were overhauled. Ancient parishes, county boroughs, municipal boroughs, urban and rural districts all ceased to exist although civil parishes remained. Local government in rural areas was carried out by "local government districts" (listed below) with the area divided into "wards" and by "parish councils". Many large urban areas and some rural ones have since disposed of local government districts and adopted the unitary authority model instead. In the list to the right, these titles remain because the description is dependent on the types of municipality a settlement fell into during the whole course of its history.

Divisions and environs

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The area under the control of the county council, or shire county, is divided into a number of local government districts; they are

• Craven District
• Hambleton District
• Harrogate District
• Richmondshire District
• Ryedale District
• Scarborough District
• Selby District

The largest settlement in the administrative county is Harrogate, the second largest is Scarborough, while in the ceremonial county, the largest is York.

There are also three unitary authorities:

• York
• Middlesbrough
• Redcar and Cleveland

These form part of the ceremonial county for various functions such as the Lord Lieutenant of North Yorkshire, but do not come under county council control. Another unitary authority,

• Stockton on Tees

is split between North Yorkshire and County Durham for ceremonial purposes.

Middlesbrough, Stockton on Tees, and Redcar and Cleveland boroughs were part of the short-lived county of Cleveland from 1974 until 1996.

Template:North Riding Research Tips The Victoria County Histories was a publication project that began in the early 20th century. Some volumes (but not all) are available online through the Institute of Historical Research of the School of Advanced Study of the University of London. They contain a great deal of information about the ownership of manors within individual parishes and quite often include family trees of the landowning inhabitants. The volumes available for Yorkshire cover the North and East Ridings and the City of York and are as follows:

A History of the County of York: the City of York
The volume takes both a chronological and a thematic approach to the history of the City of York from before the Norman Conquest to the twentieth century.

A History of the County of York: Volume 3
A part volume from the VCH, dealing with religious houses in the County of York, including York and Beverley minsters, and the prominent Cistercian houses Rievaulx and Fountains.

A History of the County of York East Riding: Volume 1, the City of Kingston Upon Hull A chronological and thematic account of the history of the city of Hull, along with topographical accounts of several outlying villages.

A History of the County of York East Riding: Volume 3, Ouse and Derwent Wapentake, and Part of Harthill Wapentake
The volume covers a large area in the Vale of York, lying to the south and east of the city. The area stretches from Catton in the north to Hemingborough in the south, and includes some areas which now form suburbs of York, including Fulford and Heslington.

A History of the County of York East Riding: Volume 6, the Borough and Liberties of Beverley
Beverley stood high among the provincial towns of medieval England, with the great minster church and the college of St. John.

A History of the County of York East Riding: Volume 7, Holderness Wapentake, Middle and North Divisions
Covers the area of the East Riding between the north sea to the east and the the river Hull to the west, bordering the borough of Kingston-upon-Hull.

A History of the County of York North Riding: Volume 1
The first of two volumes, covering six wapentakes in the western half of the North Riding. It includes an account of the borough of Richmond.

A History of the County of York North Riding: Volume 2
Describes five wapentakes, mainly in the north and east of the North Riding. It includes accounts of the borough of Scarborough and the liberty of Whitby, as well as the North Yorkshire moors and parts of Cleveland.