The North Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions (ridings) of the English county of Yorkshire, alongside the East and West ridings. From the Restoration it was used as a lieutenancy area, having been previously part of the Yorkshire lieutenancy. Each riding was treated as a counties for many purposes, such as quarter sessions.
An administrative county, based on the riding, was created with a county council in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888. In 1974 both the administrative county and the North Riding of Yorkshire lieutenancy were abolished, replaced in most of the riding by the non-metropolitan county and lieutenancy of North Yorkshire.
The riding’s highest point is at Mickle Fell with 2,585 ft (788 metres).
History
Archives from 1808 record that the “north-riding of York-shire” had once consisted of “fifty-one lordships” owned by Robert the Bruce. During the English Civil War, the North Riding predominantly supported the royalist cause, while other areas of Yorkshire tended to support the parliamentarians.
Governance and administration
The County of York, North Riding administrative county was formed in 1889. In 1894 it was divided into municipal boroughs, urban districts and rural districts under the Local Government Act 1894. Middlesbrough had already been incorporated as a municipal borough in 1853 and formed a county borough, exempt from county council control, from 1889. Richmond and Scarborough had been incorporated as municipal boroughs in 1835, with Thornaby-on-Tees added in 1892.