South Yorkshire

Although the modern county of South Yorkshire was not created until 1974, the history of its constituent settlements and parts goes back centuries. Prehistoric remains include a Mesolithic "house" (a circle of stones in the shape of a hut-base) dating to around 8000 BC, found at Deepcar, in the northern part of Sheffield.[11] Evidence of even earlier inhabitation in the wider region exists about 3 miles (5 km) over the county boundary at Creswell Crags in Derbyshire, where artefacts and rock art found in caves have been dated by archaeologists to the late Upper Palaeolithic period, at least 12,800 years ago.[12] The region was on the frontier of the Roman Empire during the Roman period.[13]

The main settlements of South Yorkshire grew up around the industries of mining and steel manufacturing. The main mining industry was coal which was concentrated to the north and east of the county. There were also iron deposits which were mined in the area. The rivers running off the Pennines to the west of the county supported the steel industry that is concentrated in Sheffield, Stocksbridge and Rotherham. The proximity of the iron and coal also made this an ideal place for steel manufacture.

Although Christian nonconformism was never as strong in South Yorkshire as in the mill towns of West Yorkshire, there are still many Methodist and Baptist churches in the area. Also, South Yorkshire has a relatively high number of followers of spiritualism. It is the only county that counts as a full region in the Spiritualists' National Union.[14]

Redcliffe-Maud Report

The Local Government Commission for England presented draft recommendations, in December 1965, proposing a new county—York and North Midlands—roughly centred on the southern part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and northern parts of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. The review was abolished in favour of the Royal Commission on Local Government before it was able to issue a final report.

The Royal Commission's 1969 report, known as the Redcliffe-Maud Report, proposed the removal of much of the then existing system of local government. The commission described the system of administering urban and rural districts separately as outdated, noting that urban areas provided employment and services for rural dwellers, and open countryside was used by town dwellers for recreation.[15]

Redcliffe-Maud's recommendations were accepted by the Labour government in February 1970.[16] Although the Redcliffe-Maud Report was rejected by the Conservative government after the 1970 general election, there was a commitment to local government reform, and the idea of a metropolitan county of South Yorkshire.

post-1974		pre-1974
Metropolitan county	Metropolitan borough	County boroughs	Non-county boroughs	Urban districts	Rural districts
South Yorkshire is an amalgamation of 32 former local government districts, including four county boroughs.	Barnsley	Barnsley	–	Cudworth • Darfield • Darton • Dearne • Dodworth • Hoyland Nether • Penistone • Royston • Wombwell • Worsbrough	Hemsworth • Penistone • Wortley (part)
	Doncaster	Doncaster	–	Adwick le Street • Bentley with Arksey • Conisbrough • Mexborough • Tickhill	Doncaster • East Retford (part) • Thorne • Worksop (part)
	Rotherham	Rotherham	–	Maltby • Swinton • Rawmarsh • Wath upon Dearne	Kiveton Park • Rotherham
	Sheffield	Sheffield	–	Stocksbridge	Wortley (part)

The metropolitan county borders Derbyshire, West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, the East Riding of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire. The terrain of the county is mostly distinguished by the Pennines and its foothills which rise in the west of the county and gradually descend into the Humberhead Levels in the east of the county. Geologically, the county lies largely on the carboniferous rocks of the Yorkshire coalfield in the outer Pennine fringes, producing a rolling landscape with hills, escarpments and broad valleys. In this landscape, there is widespread evidence of both current and former industrial activity. There are numerous mine buildings, former spoil heaps and iron and steel plants. The scenery is a mixture of built up areas, industrial land with some dereliction, and farmed open country. Ribbon developments along transport routes including canal, road and rail are prominent features of the area although some remnants of the pre industrial landscape and semi-natural vegetation still survive.[24] The Pennines in the west of the county are mostly inside the Peak District National Park and also contain carboniferous rocks, with the underlying geology primarily being millstone grit sandstones of the Dark Peak rising from the Yorkshire coalfield and the terrain is mostly moorland plateaus and gritstone edges.[25] The inner Pennine fringes between the Dark Peak and Yorkshire coalfield are distinguished by many steep valleys, and a transition from uplands and rural landscape to lowlands and urban landscape towards the east of the county.[26] Major rivers which cross the area are the Dearne, Rother and Don. To the east, in the Doncaster area the landscape becomes flatter as the eastward dipping carboniferous rocks of the coalfield are overlain by the lacustrine deposits of the Humberhead Levels.[27] There is very little evidence of glaciation in the area as it lies largely beyond the limit of the last glaciation.

The table below outlines many of the county's settlements, and is formatted according to their metropolitan borough.

Metropolitan county	Metropolitan borough		Centre of administration	Other places
South Yorkshire	Barnsley (borough)		Barnsley (town)	Billingley, Birdwell, Bolton-upon-Dearne, Cudworth, Darfield, Darton, Dodworth, Goldthorpe, Great Houghton, Grimethorpe, Hoyland Nether, Royston, Penistone, Thurnscoe, Wombwell, Worsbrough
	Doncaster (borough)		Doncaster (town)	Adwick le Street, Armthorpe, Askern, Auckley, Balby, Barnby Dun, Bawtry, Bentley, Bessacarr, Braithwell, Branton, Cantley, Carcroft, Conisbrough, Cusworth Denaby, Dunscroft, Dunsville, Edenthorpe, Edlington, Finningley, Fishlake, Hatfield, Hyde Park, Intake, Kirk Sandall, Loversall, Marr, Mexborough, Micklebring, Moorends, Scawsby, Scawthorpe, Skellow, Stainforth, Rossington, Sykehouse, Norton, Thorne, Tickhill, Wadworth, Warmsworth, Wheatley, Wheatley Hills
	Rotherham (borough)		Rotherham (town)	Anston, Aughton, Brinsworth, Dinnington, Harthill, Kiveton Park, Maltby, Rawmarsh, Scholes, Swinton, Thorpe Hesley, Todwick, Treeton, Thurcroft, Wales, Wath-upon-Dearne, Woodsetts, Whiston
	City of Sheffield		Sheffield City Centre	Beighton, Chapeltown, Highlane, Mosborough, Oughtibridge, Stocksbridge, Wharncliffe Side

Of these settlements above, South Yorkshire has three main urban areas: the Dearne Valley which covers Barnsley and surrounding area; the Sheffield urban area which covers Sheffield, Rotherham and surrounding area; and the Doncaster urban area which covers Doncaster and surrounding area.

The coat of arms of the former South Yorkshire County Council.

The South Yorkshire County Council was abolished and its districts effectively became unitary authorities; they are the City of Sheffield, the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham.[28]

In 1986, throughout England the metropolitan county councils were abolished. The functions of the county council were devolved to the boroughs. In practice many functions are jointly administered by joint authorities containing representatives of the four councils. The joint authorities cover fire, police and public transport.

In the case of South Yorkshire, these authorities are:

• South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
• South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (the Sheffield City Region Combined Authority is the transport authority)
• South Yorkshire Pensions Authority
• South Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel

These authorities are supported by the South Yorkshire Joint Secretariat based in Barnsley. South Yorkshire is the only metropolitan county in the UK that has established a formal joint secretariat.[29]

Although the county council was abolished, South Yorkshire remains a metropolitan and ceremonial county with a Lord Lieutenant of South Yorkshire and a High Sheriff.

The South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority was established in 2014 to bring the leaders of the four councils that make up South Yorkshire together on a statutory basis. It is led by the directly elected Mayor of South Yorkshire.

In the 2016 referendum on the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union, South Yorkshire voted 62% leave and 38% remain, making it one of the most heavily Leave areas in the country.

As one of the least prosperous areas in Western Europe, South Yorkshire has been targeted for funding from the European Regional Development Fund. This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of South Yorkshire at current basic prices with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.[30]

However, the county has experienced a recent growth in the services sector. In the FDI European Cities and Regions of the Future 2022/23 Awards, Doncaster was ranked the best small city in Europe for investment.

Key
	Abbey/Priory/Cathedral
	Accessible open space
	Amusement/Theme Park
	Castle
	Country Park
	English Heritage
	Forestry Commission
	Heritage railway
	Historic House
	Places of Worship
	Museum (free/not free)
	National Trust
	Theatre
	Zoo

• Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet, Sheffield
• Brodsworth Hall and Gardens
• Cannon Hall Museum, Park & Gardens, Barnsley
• Chapel of Our Lady of Rotherham Bridge ("Chapel on the Bridge"), Rotherham
• Clifton Park Museum, Rotherham
• Conisbrough Castle
• Cusworth Hall
• Doncaster Minster
• Doncaster Mansion House
• Elsecar Steam Railway
• Howden Moors
• Kelham Island Museum, Sheffield
• Magna Science Adventure Centre
• Meadowhall Centre, Sheffield
• Monk Bretton Priory
• Pot House Hamlet
• Sheffield Winter Gardens
• Roche Abbey
• Rotherham Minster
• Rother Valley Country Park
• RSPB Old Moor Wetland Centre
• Sheffield Cathedral
• Ulley Reservoir & Country park
• Wentworth Castle & Gardens, Barnsley
• Wentworth Woodhouse
• Weston Park Museum & Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield
• Woodlands model village
• Worsborough Mill and Country Park
• Wortley Top Forge
• Yorkshire Wildlife Park

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for South Yorkshire.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to South Yorkshire.

• Official website
• Images of South Yorkshire Archived 10 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine at the English Heritage Archive
• South Yorkshire at Curlie
• South Yorkshire Police