193-693: Ripon ( / ˈ r ɪ p ən / ) is a cathedral city and civil parish in North Yorkshire , England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure , the Laver and Skell . Within the boundaries of the historic West Riding of Yorkshire , the city is noted for its main feature, Ripon Cathedral , which is architecturally significant, as well as the Ripon Racecourse and other features such as its market. The city
386-695: A municipal borough of the West Riding of Yorkshire with its headquarters at Ripon Town Hall in 1835, and remained an independent borough until 1974. That year, following the Local Government Act 1972 , the former area of Ripon borough was merged with Harrogate borough and several rural districts of the West Riding to form an enlarged Harrogate borough in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire . The lowest tier of governance in Ripon
579-517: A bishopric, and the creation of a new see neither constitutes the town concerned a city nor gives it any claim to the grant of letters patent creating it a city. In 1928, Plymouth submitted an application for city status. As the borough had more inhabitants than Portsmouth and had absorbed Devonport and East Stonehouse , the King agreed to the request. However, he indicated that he had "come to an end of city making", and Southampton's application in
772-525: A college of the University of Leeds in 1990. Between 1999 and 2001, all activities were transferred to York and the college received the name York St John University . One of York St John's buildings on its Lord Mayor's Walk campus was renamed 'Ripon' in June 2018 to commemorate Ripon Training College's "contribution to women's education" over 123 years of service. Evolve, a small, inclusive post-16 college
965-648: A day, rising to 2,700. By road Ripon is well connected; it is accessible from the north and south via the A1(M) motorway which connects to Ripon by the B6265 . Ripon is accessible from the east and west via the A61 which is the main road running through the city. Harrogate Bus Company 's route 36 links the city to Harrogate and Leeds , and there are also regular bus routes to Boroughbridge , York , Thirsk , Northallerton , Leyburn , Richmond and others. The Ripon Canal
1158-623: A fierce and powerful people and were often in conflict with the Vikings. To counter the Saxon aggression and solidify their own presence, the Danes constructed the huge defence fortification of Danevirke in and around Hedeby . The Vikings witnessed the violent subduing of the Saxons by Charlemagne , in the thirty-year Saxon Wars of 772–804. The Saxon defeat resulted in their forced christening and
1351-586: A group of Rus Vikings went so far south that, after briefly being bodyguards for the Byzantine emperor, they attacked the Byzantine city of Constantinople . Vikings also voyaged to Iran and Arabia . They were the first Europeans to reach North America, briefly settling in Newfoundland (Vinland). While spreading Norse culture to foreign lands, they simultaneously brought home slaves, concubines, and foreign cultural influences to Scandinavia, influencing
1544-461: A marker of prestige and confer local pride. The status does not apply automatically on the basis of any particular criterion, though until 1889 in England and Wales it was limited to towns with diocesan cathedrals . This association between having an Anglican cathedral and being called a city was established in the early 1540s when King Henry VIII founded dioceses (each having a cathedral in
1737-552: A medieval Swedish law, the Västgötalagen , from Västergötland declared no-one could inherit while staying in "Greece"—the then Scandinavian term for the Byzantine Empire—to stop the emigration, especially as two other European courts simultaneously also recruited Scandinavians: Kievan Rus' c. 980–1060 and London 1018–1066 (the Þingalið ). There is archaeological evidence that Vikings reached Baghdad ,
1930-559: A mile around the church. One of his successors was less well-disposed: after the Northumbrians rebelled against English rule in 948, King Edred had the buildings at Ripon burned. Prosperity was restored by the end of the 10th century, as the body of Saint Cuthbert was moved to Ripon for a while, due to the threat of Danish raids. After the Norman conquest , much of the north rebelled in 1069, even trying to bring back Danish rule;
2123-551: A number of applications, but in 1955 the borough's town clerk was told not to pursue the matter any further. Outside the boundaries of the county, the County Borough of Croydon made three applications, all of which were dismissed as it was not seen as being sufficiently separate from London. When the successor London Borough of Croydon applied in 1965 the Assistant Under Secretary of State summarised
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#17327648937812316-409: A number of local government districts which are not themselves towns. Each includes a number of towns and villages outside the urban area from which the district takes its name. In some of these cases city status was awarded to districts where the largest settlement had city status before 1974. In other cases a borough was formed to govern an area covering several towns and then city status was granted to
2509-720: A number of other boroughs, but only Cardiff was successful in being designated a city in 1905 and granted a Lord Mayoralty as "the Metropolis of Wales". The London Government Act 1899 abolished the existing local authorities within the County of London and replaced them with 28 metropolitan boroughs . Among the bodies to be dissolved was the Court of Burgesses of the City of Westminster . William Burdett-Coutts , one of Westminster's members of parliament, brought forward an amendment at
2702-502: A pool of unmarried men who are willing to engage in risky status-elevating and sex-seeking behaviors. The Annals of Ulster states that in 821 the Vikings plundered an Irish village and "carried off a great number of women into captivity". One common theory posits that Charlemagne "used force and terror to Christianise all pagans", leading to baptism, conversion or execution, and as a result, Vikings and other pagans resisted and wanted revenge. Professor Rudolf Simek states that "it
2895-617: A shortage of women available to the Viking male. Consequently, the average Viking man may have felt compelled to seek wealth and power to have the means to acquire suitable women. Several centuries after Dudo's observations, scholars revived this idea, and over time it became a cliché among scholars of the Viking Age. Viking men would often buy or capture women and make them into their wives or concubines; such polygynous marriages increase male-male competition in society because they create
3088-610: A small community of followers was established. During the Georgian era Ripon, unlike several other cities, was not significantly affected by the Industrial Revolution despite the existence of various guilds . Although more widely known for his activities outside of Ripon, John Aislabie , during his time as Member of Parliament for Ripon, created the Studley Royal Park with its water garden and erected
3281-529: A system of districts created. The four districts of Aberdeen , Edinburgh , Dundee and Glasgow had City included in their titles by the Act. The 1975 districts were replaced with the present council areas in 1996 by the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 , and the same four cities were designated. Since the 1996 reorganisation, four more Scottish cities have been designated: Inverness as part of
3474-582: A tiny portion of the Nidderdale AONB to the north west, is considered to be the limits of the city. It contains the third lowest population of all the cities in England, however it falls to seventh place when taking the whole of the UK into consideration. Using 2011 ONS census statistics, Ripon has the third smallest city council area but the fourth lowest urban area of any city in England. Ripon became
3667-498: A variety of criteria, including population size. The abolition of some corporate bodies as part of successive local-government reforms, beginning with the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840 , has deprived some ancient cities of their status. However, letters patent have been issued for most of the affected cities to ensure the continuation or restoration of their status. At present, Rochester and Elgin are
3860-578: A wakeman to make sure the residents were safely home by curfew and law and order was maintained, yet it was forced to pay 1,000 marks to the Scots to prevent them from burning down the town on one occasion. Ripon, which relied heavily on its religious institutions, was badly affected by the English Reformation under the Tudor king Henry VIII . The Abbot of Fountains, William Thirske,
4053-710: A walled city, which was named "Londonderry" in recognition of the London Guilds that established the Society. In 1887, the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria was celebrated, and the Borough of Belfast submitted a memorial to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland seeking city status. Belfast based its claim on its similarity to two English boroughs that had received the honour—the seaport of Liverpool and
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#17327648937814246-431: Is "clear evidence" that it was used as a synonym, while Eric Christiansen avers that it is a mistranslation made at the insistence of the publisher. The word wicing does not occur in any preserved Middle English texts. The word Viking was introduced into Modern English during the 18th-century Viking revival, at which point it acquired romanticised heroic overtones of "barbarian warrior" or noble savage . During
4439-575: Is a group of about 30 runestones in Sweden which refer to Viking Age voyages to England. They constitute one of the largest groups of runestones that mention voyages to other countries, and they are comparable in number only to the approximately 30 Greece Runestones and the 26 Ingvar Runestones , the latter referring to a Viking expedition to the Middle East. They were engraved in Old Norse with
4632-795: Is also home to Ripon Rugby Union Football Club who were founded in 1886 and currently play in Yorkshire 2 , the eighth tier of the English Rugby Union league . Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC Yorkshire and BBC North East and Cumbria on BBC One & ITV Yorkshire and ITV Tyne Tees on ITV1 . Television signals can be received from either Emley Moor or Bilsdale TV transmitters. Local radio stations are BBC Radio York , Greatest Hits Radio Yorkshire (formerly Stray FM ), 'Your Harrogate' which broadcast from Harrogate and BFBS that provides radio programmes for His Majesty's Armed Forces . The Ripon Gazette
4825-507: Is based in the centre of Ripon, which works alongside Craven College , which is based in Skipton . On the outskirts of Ripon there is the specialist autism education school called Spring Hill. The school offers day and boarding places. Current pupil numbers are 22. These include 17 boys, 5 girls, and 6 boarders. Spring Hill is owned by Cambian group PLC which is a large UK provider of specialist provision for children and adults. Spring Hill
5018-604: Is better attested linguistically, and the term most likely predates the use of the sail by the Germanic peoples of northwestern Europe. In the Middle Ages, viking came to refer to Scandinavian pirates or raiders. The earliest reference to wicing in English sources is from the Épinal-Erfurt glossary ( c. 700 ), about 93 years before the first known attack by Viking raiders in England. The glossary lists
5211-644: Is exceeding the national average of GCSE results. On the site of the Old Ripon Racecourse in Whitcliffe Lane was St Olave's Preparatory School. This site was taken over by an independent co-ed preparatory school founded in 1960 called the Cathedral Choir School. The choir school closed in 2012 and the site has now had approval for the building of new residential dwellings. Ripon previously had higher education facilities in
5404-530: Is in the majority, with two parishes: the ancient Ripon Cathedral and Holy Trinity Church. Ripon was the episcopal see of the Diocese of Ripon and Leeds represented by the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds , created in 1836 with just Ripon in its title but adapted to include Leeds in 2000. In 2014 it became part of the Diocese of Leeds , with Ripon Cathedral serving as one of its three cathedrals of equal status. During
5597-525: Is not a coincidence if the early Viking activity occurred during the reign of Charlemagne". The ascendance of Christianity in Scandinavia led to serious conflict, dividing Norway for almost a century. However, this time period did not commence until the 10th century. Norway was never subject to aggression by Charlemagne and the period of strife was due to successive Norwegian kings embracing Christianity after encountering it overseas. Another explanation
5790-530: Is taken to have been the period from the earliest recorded raids by Norsemen in 793 until the Norman conquest of England in 1066. Vikings used the Norwegian Sea and Baltic Sea for sea routes to the south. The Normans were descendants of those Vikings who had been given feudal overlordship of areas in northern France, namely the Duchy of Normandy , in the 10th century. In that respect, descendants of
5983-407: Is that the Vikings exploited a moment of weakness in the surrounding regions. Contrary to Simek's assertion, Viking raids occurred sporadically long before the reign of Charlemagne; but exploded in frequency and size after his death, when his empire fragmented into multiple much weaker entities. England suffered from internal divisions and was a relatively easy prey given the proximity of many towns to
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6176-523: Is the Ripon City Council, a parish council with twelve members, three for each of four wards. In 2019, four councillors are Conservative , and the rest are independent . Ripon was represented by the Member of Parliament for Yorkshire until it had its own parliamentary borough established on a permanent basis in 1553. Ripon was able to elect two MPs to represent its parliamentary borough;
6369-690: Is the town’s weekly local newspaper. A character in Downton Abbey refers to becoming a partner in a Ripon firm of solicitors . The historical drama also refers to the nearby towns of Easingwold and Thirsk . The city was previously served by Ripon railway station on the Leeds-Northallerton Line that ran between Leeds and Northallerton . It was once part of the North Eastern Railway and then London & North Eastern Railway . The Ripon to Harrogate Line
6562-510: The 2001 United Kingdom Census figure of 15,922. It is located 11 miles (18 km) south-west of Thirsk , 16 miles (26 km) south of Northallerton and 12 miles (19 km) north of Harrogate . As well as its racecourse and cathedral, Ripon is a tourist destination because of its proximity to the UNESCO World Heritage Site which consists of the Studley Royal Park and Fountains Abbey . During its pre-history
6755-514: The Anglian kingdom of Northumbria . The first structure built in the area, known at the time as Inhrypum , was a Christian church dedicated to St Peter , with the settlement originating in 658. This was founded by a Northumbrian nobleman known as Wilfrid , who later became Archbishop of York ; he was granted the land by King Alhfrith . The earliest settlers were stonemasons, glaziers and plasterers that Wilfrid brought over to help construct
6948-639: The Cistercians had a long tradition of sheep farming and owned much grazing land, was a considerable advantage. After English people were forbidden from wearing foreign cloth in 1326, Ripon developed a cloth industry which was third in size in Yorkshire after York and Halifax . Due to conflict with Scotland , political emphasis was on the North during the time of Edward I and Edward II , as Scottish invaders attacked numerous northern English towns. Ripon had
7141-691: The Danelaw , including Scandinavian York, the administrative centre of the remains of the Kingdom of Northumbria , parts of Mercia , and East Anglia . Viking navigators opened the road to new lands to the north, west and east, resulting in the foundation of independent settlements in the Shetland , Orkney , and Faroe Islands; Iceland; Greenland ; and L'Anse aux Meadows , a short-lived settlement in Newfoundland , circa 1000. The Greenland settlement
7334-592: The Diocese of Leeds in the Harrogate deanery and the church is an architecturally significant building. There are also around two places of worship for Methodism in Ripon, as well as a couple of evangelical churches including Bethel Church and Zion Baptist Church. Market day is held on a Thursday, and there are 120 stalls. In celebration of the city's founder the Wilfrid Procession is held every year; it originated in 1108 when King Henry I granted
7527-601: The Dissolution of the Monasteries , which included Fountains Abbey . After Mary, Queen of Scots , fled Scotland to Northern England she stayed at Ripon on her journey. The mainly Catholic North supported her, and there was another popular rising known as the Rising of the North ; this began six miles (10 km) away at Topcliffe and was led by Thomas Percy , the 7th Earl of Northumberland and Charles Neville ,
7720-677: The English Civil War . There was an incident in 1643, when parliamentarian forces under Thomas Mauleverer entered Ripon and damaged the Minster, but John Mallory and the royalist forces soon settled the matter after a skirmish in the Market Place. The royalists were eventually defeated in the Civil War and Charles I spent two nights as a prisoner in Ripon. Oliver Cromwell visited the city twice on his way to battle, once on
7913-480: The Greater London area have been granted city status. The Home Office had a policy of resisting any attempt by metropolitan boroughs to become cities even when their populations, and other proposed claims as qualifying criteria, might otherwise have made them eligible. It was felt that such a grant would undermine the status of the two existing cities in the capital. The Metropolitan Borough of Southwark made
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8106-497: The Industrial Revolution —notably Wells (population about 10,000) and St Davids (population about 2,000). After the 16th century, no new dioceses (and no new cities) were created until the 19th century in England ( a further city was created in Ireland during the rule of King James I in the 17th century). A long-awaited resumption of creating dioceses began in 1836 with Ripon . Ripon Town Council assumed that this had elevated
8299-599: The Laver and the Skell , which meet in the west of the city. As they flow through the city, the Skell feeds water into the basin of Ripon Canal . East of the city, the Skell meets the River Ure , and both the Ure and canal head south-eastwards towards Boroughbridge . The Ure was the traditional boundary between the old West and North Ridings of Yorkshire. As the city is at the meeting point of three rivers, it has flooded often in
8492-659: The Long Sword dance and Morris dance . The market square is the site of the Ripon Obelisk , erected in 1702 by John Aislabie and designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor . It stands 80 ft (24 m) in height and is capped with a weathervane bearing a representation of the wakeman's horn. It is Grade I listed and reputed to be the oldest in England. The tradition of the Ripon Hornblower has endured since 886 and continues on to this day. It originates with
8685-585: The Lord Chancellor , who makes recommendations to the sovereign. Competitions for new grants of city status have been held to mark special events, such as coronations , royal jubilees or the Millennium . Some cities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have the further distinction of having a lord mayor rather than just a mayor – in Scotland, the equivalent is the lord provost. Lord mayors have
8878-417: The Mediterranean , North Africa , the Middle East , Greenland , and Vinland (present-day Newfoundland in Canada , North America ). In their countries of origin, and some of the countries they raided and settled in, this period is popularly known as the Viking Age , and the term "Viking" also commonly includes the inhabitants of the Scandinavian homelands as a whole. The Vikings had a profound impact on
9071-399: The Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840 . The only historic city with a charter in present-day Northern Ireland is Derry . The garrison town of Derry was attacked and destroyed by Cahir O'Doherty in 1608. The present city status is the result of a Royal Charter granted in 1615 to The Honourable The Irish Society as part of the Plantation of Ulster , providing for the building of
9264-461: The Ripon Obelisk (designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor ). Newby Hall was also created during this period by Christopher Wren . Communications were improved with the opening of Ripon railway station in May 1848. During the First World War a large military training camp was built in Ripon, the local community offering hospitality not only to soldiers' wives but to the Flemish refugees who became part of Ripon's community. The racecourse south-east of
9457-553: The Royal Commission on Local Government in England in 1966, city grants were again in abeyance in England. Attempts by Derby , Teesside and Wolverhampton to become cities were not proceeded with. In Wales, Swansea campaigned for city status throughout the 1960s. The campaign came to a successful conclusion in 1969, in conjunction with the investiture of Charles, Prince of Wales . The Local Government Act 1972 abolished all existing local authorities outside London (other than parish councils ) in England and Wales. This meant that
9650-400: The Slavic languages in the Viking settlements of Eastern Europe. It has been speculated that the reason for this was the great differences between the two languages, combined with the Rus Vikings' more peaceful businesses in these areas, and the fact that they were outnumbered. The Norse named some of the rapids on the Dnieper , but this can hardly be seen from modern names. The Norse of
9843-410: The United Kingdom Census 2001 professed the Christian faith. Ripon Cathedral is the main religious building in the city and contains a tomb said to contain the bones of Saint Wilfrid who founded a monastery here and with it the town. The Venerable William Gibson is another noted local figure, a Catholic martyr who was one of the eighty-five martyrs of England and Wales . The Church of England
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#173276489378110036-457: The Yorkshire Law and Order Museums ; it includes the Courthouse, the Prison and Police and the Workhouse Museums. In terms of sport, the most noted field of participation is horse racing with the Ripon Racecourse . The sport has a long history in Ripon, with the first recorded meeting on Bondgate Green in 1664, while its current location has been used as a racetrack since 1900. Ripon staged Britain's first race for female riders in 1723. The city
10229-433: The Younger Futhark . The Jelling stones date from between 960 and 985. The older, smaller stone was raised by King Gorm the Old , the last pagan king of Denmark, as a memorial honouring Queen Thyre . The larger stone was raised by his son, Harald Bluetooth , to celebrate the conquest of Denmark and Norway and the conversion of the Danes to Christianity. It has three sides: one with an animal image; one with an image of
10422-412: The committee stage to rename the proposed borough of Greater Westminster to ' City of Westminster '. This was intended to give "recognition to the title which the area ... had possessed for over three and a half centuries". He felt that if the status was not retained for the new borough it "must necessarily disappear altogether". The amendment was rejected by the committee, however, with the First Lord of
10615-612: The early medieval history of Scandinavia , the British Isles , France , Estonia , and Kievan Rus' . Expert sailors and navigators of their characteristic longships , Vikings established Norse settlements and governments in the British Isles , the Faroe Islands , Iceland , Greenland , Normandy , and the Baltic coast , as well as along the Dnieper and Volga trade routes across modern-day Russia, Belarus , and Ukraine , where they were also known as Varangians . The Normans , Norse-Gaels , Rus' people , Faroese , and Icelanders emerged from these Norse colonies. At one point,
10808-414: The see city ) in six English towns and granted them city status by issuing letters patent . A city with a cathedral is often termed a cathedral city . City status in Ireland was granted to far fewer communities than in England and Wales, and there are only two pre-19th-century cities in present-day Northern Ireland . In Scotland, city status did not explicitly receive any recognition by the state until
11001-642: The 10th and 11th centuries, the exposed family trees, the self-images, and the ethical values that are contained in these literary writings. Indirectly, the Vikings have also left a window open onto their language, culture and activities, through many Old Norse place names and words found in their former sphere of influence. Some of these place names and words are still in direct use today, almost unchanged, and shed light on where they settled and what specific places meant to them. Examples include place names like Egilsay (from Eigils ey meaning Eigil's Island), Ormskirk (from Ormr kirkja meaning Orms Church or Church of
11194-399: The 12th through 14th centuries, and many traditions connected with the Viking Age were written down for the first time in the Icelandic sagas . A literal interpretation of these medieval prose narratives about the Vikings and the Scandinavian past is doubtful, but many specific elements remain worthy of consideration, such as the great quantity of skaldic poetry attributed to court poets of
11387-622: The 1665 letters patent provided for the Lord Mayor to hold the formal title of Right Honourable, this was repealed in 2001. There is also a Lord Mayor of Cork , a title granted in 1900 when Cork was part of the (then) United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland . In modern practice, competitions are held for cities that wish to gain the distinction of a lord mayor. The 2002 competition was entered by Bath , Cambridge , Carlisle , Chichester , Derby , Exeter , Gloucester , Lancaster , Lincoln , St Albans , St Davids , Salford , Southampton , Sunderland , Truro , Wolverhampton and Worcester ;
11580-415: The 19th century. At that time, a revival of grants of city status took place, first in England, where the grants were accompanied by the establishment of new cathedrals, and later in Scotland and Ireland. In the 20th century, it was explicitly recognised that the status of city in England and Wales would no longer be bound to the presence of a cathedral, and grants made since have been awarded to communities on
11773-484: The 20th and 21st centuries; notable floods have occurred in 1982, 1991, 1995, 2000, 2005 and 2007. This prompted spending over £14 million on the building of flood defences for the city and a storage area upstream of the city which can hold 53,000,000 cubic feet (1,500,000 m) of water. Much of the geology of the district is magnesian limestone, part of the Permian rocks which extend southwards from Darlington to Wetherby . The area has pockets of gypsum underlying
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#173276489378111966-653: The 20th century, the meaning of the term was expanded to refer not only to seaborne raiders from Scandinavia and other places settled by them (like Iceland and the Faroe Islands ), but also any member of the culture that produced the raiders during the period from the late 8th to the mid-11th centuries, or more loosely from about 700 to as late as about 1100. As an adjective, the word is used to refer to ideas, phenomena, or artefacts connected with those people and their cultural life, producing expressions like Viking age , Viking culture , Viking art , Viking religion , Viking ship and so on. The Viking Age in Scandinavian history
12159-420: The 6th Earl of Westmorland . The rebels stayed at Ripon on 18 November 1569, but the rising eventually failed resulting in 600 people being executed, 300 of whom were hanged at Gallows Hill in Ripon during January 1570. Plans were drawn up to make Ripon a centre of education, a University of the North , to rival Oxford and Cambridge . Although chief advisers Lord Burghley and Archbishop Sandys supported
12352-455: The 7th century had also affected trade with Western Europe. Raids in Europe, including raids and settlements from Scandinavia, were not unprecedented and had occurred long before the Vikings arrived. The Jutes invaded the British Isles three centuries earlier, from Jutland during the Age of Migrations , before the Danes settled there. The Saxons and the Angles did the same, embarking from mainland Europe. The Viking raids were, however,
12545-407: The 960s and 1043. Its inhabitants were known as Jomsvikings . Jomsborg's exact location, or its existence, has not yet been established, though it is often maintained that Jomsborg was somewhere on the islands of the Oder estuary. While the Vikings were active beyond their Scandinavian homelands, Scandinavia was itself experiencing new influences and undergoing a variety of cultural changes. By
12738-425: The Home Office identified nine candidates for city status: Blackburn , Brighton , Croydon , Derby , Dudley , Newport , Sandwell , Sunderland and Wolverhampton . Ultimately, Derby received the award as the largest non-metropolitan district not already designated a city. In April 1980 a parish council was created for Lichfield, and the charter trustees established six years earlier were dissolved. City status
12931-416: The Latin alphabet. The runestones are unevenly distributed in Scandinavia: Denmark has 250 runestones, Norway has 50 while Iceland has none. Sweden has as many as between 1,700 and 2,500 depending on the definition. The Swedish district of Uppland has the highest concentration with as many as 1,196 inscriptions in stone, whereas Södermanland is second with 391. The majority of runic inscriptions from
13124-552: The Latin translation for wicing as piraticum 'pirate'. In Old English , the word wicing appears in the Anglo-Saxon poem Widsith , probably from the 9th century. The word was not regarded as a reference to nationality, with other terms such as Northmen and Dene 'Danes' being used for that. In Asser 's Latin work The Life of King Alfred , the Danes are referred to as pagani 'pagans'; historian Janet Nelson states that pagani became "the Vikings" in standard translations of this work, even though there
13317-685: The Millennium celebrations, the new cities were Brighton and Hove and Wolverhampton ; in 2002 for the Queen's Golden Jubilee it was Preston and Newport , and in 2012 for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee it was Chelmsford and St Asaph . From June 2021, submissions for city status were invited to mark the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 2022. Places submitting bids (some for a second or subsequent time) included Bangor (Northern Ireland), Bournemouth , Doncaster , Dunfermline , Dudley , Marazion , Middlesbrough , Milton Keynes , Reading , St Andrews and Wrexham . Bids were also accepted from overseas territories and crown dependencies for
13510-407: The Norsemen settled in the present-day Faroe Islands , Iceland , Norse Greenland , Newfoundland , the Netherlands , Germany, Normandy , Italy, Scotland , England, Wales , Ireland, the Isle of Man , Estonia , Latvia , Lithuania , Ukraine , Russia and Turkey, as well as initiating the consolidation that resulted in the formation of the present-day Scandinavian countries. In the Viking Age,
13703-415: The North and Irish Seas diminished markedly. The kings of Norway continued to assert power in parts of northern Britain and Ireland, and raids continued into the 12th century, but the military ambitions of Scandinavian rulers were now directed toward new paths. In 1107, Sigurd I of Norway sailed for the eastern Mediterranean with Norwegian crusaders to fight for the newly established Kingdom of Jerusalem ;
13896-526: The Obotrite city of Reric on the southern Baltic coast in 808 AD and transferred the merchants and traders to Hedeby. This secured Viking supremacy in the Baltic Sea, which continued throughout the Viking Age. Because of the expansion of the Vikings across Europe, a comparison of DNA and archeology undertaken by scientists at the University of Cambridge and University of Copenhagen suggested that
14089-705: The Old Norse of the Vikings and give an opportunity to understand their interactions with the people and cultures of the British Isles. In the Northern Isles of Shetland and Orkney, Old Norse completely replaced the local languages and over time evolved into the now extinct Norn language . Some modern words and names only emerge and contribute to our understanding after a more intense research of linguistic sources from medieval or later records, such as York (Horse Bay), Swansea ( Sveinn 's Isle) or some of
14282-569: The Queen had accepted the advice of the Home Secretary to raise the London borough to the title and dignity of city. This example, of a successor local authority to a merged local government entity taking on that former entity's city status, was to be replicated in many instances as a result of the 1972/74 local government reforms across England and Wales (see below). With the establishment of
14475-585: The Red , reached North America and set up short-lived settlements in present-day L'Anse aux Meadows , Newfoundland, Canada. This expansion occurred during the Medieval Warm Period . Viking expansion into continental Europe was limited. Their realm was bordered by powerful tribes to the south. Early on, it was the Saxons who occupied Old Saxony , located in what is now Northern Germany. The Saxons were
14668-674: The Ripon monastery, from Lyon in Francia and Rome which was then under Byzantine rule . The years following the death of Wilfrid are obscure in Ripon's history. After the invasion of the Great Heathen Army of Norse Vikings in Northumbria, the Danelaw was established and the Kingdom of Jórvík was founded in the Yorkshire area. In 937 Athelstan , then King of England , granted the privilege of sanctuary to Ripon, for
14861-620: The Swedes, Eric , was married to Gunhild , of the Polish House of Piast . Likewise, his son, Olof , fell in love with Edla , a Slavic woman, and took her as his frilla (concubine). They had a son and a daughter: Emund the Old , King of Sweden, and Astrid , Queen of Norway. Cnut the Great , King of Denmark, England and Norway, was the son of a daughter of Mieszko I of Poland , possibly
15054-565: The Treasury , Arthur Balfour , believing it would be "an anomaly which, I think, would be not unnaturally resented by other districts which are as large in point of population as Westminster, although doubtless not so rich in historical associations". The government eventually relented, with Balfour stating that "as soon as the necessary arrangements under the London Government Act have been completed, there will be conferred on
15247-707: The UK: 52 cities (23 lord mayoralties) in England, six cities (two lord mayoralties) in Wales, seven cities (four lord provostships) in Scotland and five cities (two lord mayoralties) in Northern Ireland. In the Republic of Ireland , the ceremonial head of the city government of Dublin is the Lord Mayor of Dublin . This title was granted by Charles II in 1665 when Dublin was part of the Kingdom of Ireland . Whilst
15440-652: The United Kingdom is granted by the monarch of the United Kingdom to specific centres of population, which might or might not meet the generally accepted definition of cities . As of 22 November 2022 , there are 76 cities in the United Kingdom —55 in England , seven in Wales , eight in Scotland , and six in Northern Ireland . Although it carries no special rights, the status of city can be
15633-645: The United Kingdom, but Gibraltar and St Helena remain British Overseas Territories . This practice ended in 1865, and led to legal disputes about whether these letters patent were valid or not in territories with responsible government (primarily those in present day Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa). Goulburn in Australia for example found itself declared a city twice – once by letters patent in 1863 and once by law in 1885 after doubts arose to its status. Hamilton, Bermuda
15826-611: The University of Bonn, posits that the presence of Slavs in Scandinavia is "more significant than previously thought", while Mats Roslund states that "the Slavs and their interaction with Scandinavia have not been adequately investigated". A 10th-century grave of a warrior-woman in Denmark was long thought to belong to a Viking. However, new analyses suggest that the woman may have been a Slav from present-day Poland. The first king of
16019-424: The Viking Age could read and write and used a non-standardised alphabet, called runor , built upon sound values. While there are few remains of runic writing on paper from the Viking era, thousands of stones with runic inscriptions have been found where Vikings lived. They are usually in memory of the dead, though not necessarily placed at graves. The use of runor survived into the 15th century, used in parallel with
16212-666: The Viking period are found in Sweden. Many runestones in Scandinavia record the names of participants in Viking expeditions, such as the Kjula runestone that tells of extensive warfare in Western Europe and the Turinge Runestone , which tells of a war band in Eastern Europe. Other runestones mention men who died on Viking expeditions. Among them are the England runestones (Swedish: Englandsstenarna ), which
16405-504: The Vikings and the Viking Age can also be important for understanding them and their culture, although they need to be treated cautiously. After the consolidation of the church and the assimilation of Scandinavia and its colonies into mainstream medieval Christian culture in the 11th and 12th centuries, native written sources began to appear in Latin and Old Norse. In the Viking colony of Iceland, extraordinary vernacular literature blossomed in
16598-701: The Vikings are contemporary texts from Scandinavia and regions where the Vikings were active. Writing in Latin letters was introduced to Scandinavia with Christianity, so there are few native documentary sources from Scandinavia before the late 11th and early 12th centuries. The Scandinavians did write inscriptions in runes , but these were usually very short and formulaic. Most contemporary documentary sources consist of texts written in Christian and Islamic communities outside Scandinavia, often by authors who had been negatively affected by Viking activity. Later writings on
16791-499: The Vikings come from other cultures that were in contact with them. Since the mid-20th century, archaeological findings have built a more complete and balanced picture of the lives of the Vikings. The archaeological record is particularly rich and varied, providing knowledge of their rural and urban settlement, crafts and production, ships and military equipment, trading networks, as well as their pagan and Christian religious artefacts and practices. The most important primary sources on
16984-523: The Vikings continued to have an influence in northern Europe. Likewise, King Harold Godwinson , the last Anglo-Saxon king of England, had Danish ancestors. Two Vikings even ascended to the throne of England, with Sweyn Forkbeard claiming the English throne in 1013 until 1014 and his son Cnut the Great being king of England between 1016 and 1035. Geographically, the Viking Age covered Scandinavian lands (modern Denmark , Norway and Sweden), as well as territories under North Germanic dominance, mainly
17177-506: The Vikings often strongly differ from the complex, advanced civilisation of the Norsemen that emerges from archaeology and historical sources. A romanticised picture of Vikings as noble savages began to emerge in the 18th century; this developed and became widely propagated during the 19th-century Viking revival . Perceived views of the Vikings as violent, piratical heathens or as intrepid adventurers owe much to conflicting varieties of
17370-562: The War, Ripon has gone through some remodelling and has grown in size; it attracts thousands of tourists each year who come to see its famous buildings with their long Christian heritage, nearby Studley Park, Ripon Racecourse , and in recent times the theme park Lightwater Valley . Ripon was the first Church of England diocese to be created after the English Reformation, as it was recognised that existing dioceses were unsuited for
17563-630: The Worm), Meols (from merl meaning Sand Dunes), Snaefell (Snow Fell), Ravenscar (Ravens Rock), Vinland (Land of Wine or Land of Winberry ), Kaupanger (Market Harbour), Tórshavn (Thor's Harbour), and the religious centre of Odense , meaning a place where Odin was worshipped. Viking influence is also evident in concepts like the present-day parliamentary body of the Tynwald on the Isle of Man. Many common words in everyday English language stem from
17756-579: The abbey was given to Saint Wilfrid who replaced the timber church with a stone built church. This was during the time of the Anglian kingdom of Northumbria , a period during which it enjoyed prominence in religious importance in Great Britain. It was for a period under Viking control, and later suffered under the Normans . After a brief period of building projects under the Plantagenets ,
17949-717: The absorption of Old Saxony into the Carolingian Empire . Fear of the Franks led the Vikings to further expand Danevirke, and the defence constructions remained in use throughout the Viking Age and even up until 1864. The southern coast of the Baltic Sea was ruled by the Obotrites , a federation of Slavic tribes loyal to the Carolingians and later the Frankish empire . The Vikings—led by King Gudfred —destroyed
18142-466: The area which later became Ripon was under the control of the Brigantes , a Brythonic tribe. Three miles (5 km) north at Hutton Moor there is a large circular earthwork created by them. The Romans did not settle Ripon, but they had a military outpost around five miles (8 km) away at North Stainley . Solid evidence for the origins of Ripon can be traced back to the 7th century, the time of
18335-462: The article). This association between having a cathedral and being called a city was established when Henry VIII founded new dioceses (each having a cathedral in the see city ) in six English towns and also granted them city status by issuing letters patent , demonstrating these were discrete procedures. Some cities today are very small because they were granted city status in or before the 16th century, then were unaffected by population growth during
18528-409: The borough of Ripon, but the county constituency in which the town was placed as a result was named Ripon, and this continued as a single member constituency, albeit with some boundary changes, until it was abolished before the 1983 general election . Since 1983, Ripon has been part of the Skipton and Ripon constituency, a Conservative Party stronghold. Ripon lies at the confluence of two rivers,
18721-467: The borough of Westminster, as constituted under the Act, the title of city, originally conferred in the time of Henry VIII". Letters patent were duly issued granting the title of "city" to the newly created Metropolitan Borough of Westminster . In 1907, the Home Office and King Edward VII agreed on a policy that future applicants would have to meet certain criteria. This policy, which was not at
18914-420: The borough's first charter of incorporation. It was anticipated that the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953 would lead to the creation of a city, and Wolverhampton , Preston and Southampton made approaches; the only civic honour given was that of a lord mayoralty to Coventry . Croydon applied in 1954, but failed as it was felt not to have a sufficient identity apart from Greater London , and reports on
19107-413: The borough. The largest "city" district in terms of area was until 1 April 2023 the City of Carlisle , which covered some 400 square miles (1,000 km ) of mostly rural landscape in the north of England, and was larger than smaller counties such as Merseyside or Rutland . (The largest now is the City of Winchester at 250 square miles (650 km ).) Such cities include: There are some cities where
19300-446: The boroughs of Derby and Nottingham were disappointed that they would not be able to claim the title of city. The link with Anglican dioceses was broken within England in 1889 when Birmingham successfully petitioned for city status (it was pre-empted in Ireland by Belfast in 1888) on the grounds of its large population and history of good local government. At the time of the grant, Birmingham lacked an Anglican cathedral, although
19493-490: The case against Croydon: "...whatever its past history, it is now just part of the London conurbation and almost indistinguishable from many of the other Greater London boroughs". The same objections were made when the London Boroughs of Croydon and Southwark unsuccessfully entered the competition for city status to mark the millennium: Croydon was said to have "no particular identity of its own" while Southwark
19686-581: The centre of the Islamic Empire . The Norse regularly plied the Volga with their trade goods: furs, tusks, seal fat for boat sealant, and slaves . Important trading ports during the period include Birka , Hedeby , Kaupang , Jorvik , Staraya Ladoga , Novgorod , and Kiev. Scandinavian Norsemen explored Europe by its seas and rivers for trade, raids, colonisation, and conquest. In this period, voyaging from their homelands in Denmark, Norway and Sweden
19879-777: The city also served as an airfield ( RFC Ripon ) for the Royal Flying Corps (and latterly, the Royal Air Force ). The racecourse was also used as a demobilisation centre for troops returning from France well into 1919. The town had a similar though smaller role during the Second World War and, in recognition of this, the Royal Engineers were presented with the Freedom of the City in 1947. Since
20072-528: The city are located in East Dunbartonshire , East Renfrewshire , North Lanarkshire , Renfrewshire , South Lanarkshire and West Dunbartonshire . Viking Chronological history Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark , Norway , and Sweden ), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe. They also voyaged as far as
20265-412: The city emerged with a prominent wool and cloth industry. Ripon became well known for its production of spurs during the 16th and 17th centuries, but would later remain largely unaffected by the Industrial Revolution . Ripon is the third-smallest city in England and the smallest in Yorkshire , by population. According to the 2011 United Kingdom Census it had a population of 16,702, an increase on
20458-707: The city. During the British Empire , the Colonial Office had the power to declare cities in Crown colonies by letters patent when appointing bishops. When the Bishop of Guyana was created in 1842, Georgetown (then part of British Guiana ) was officially declared the "City of Georgetown". The same process was followed for Gibraltar , Jamestown, St Helena , Bridgetown, Barbados , St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda , Victoria, Hong Kong and Nassau, Bahamas . Most of these have since gained independence from
20651-495: The conduct of local government in the town were unfavourable. Derby and Southwark made unsuccessful applications in 1955. The planned reorganisations by the Local Government Commissions for England and Wales from 1958 effectively blocked new city grants. Southampton lodged a petition in 1958. Initially refused in 1959, pending the decision of the commission, it was eventually allowed in 1964. In
20844-487: The early 21st century derives Viking from the same root as Old Norse vika 'sea mile', originally referring to the distance between two shifts of rowers, ultimately from the Proto-Germanic * wîkan 'to recede'. This is found in the early Nordic verb *wikan 'to turn', similar to Old Icelandic víkja 'to move, to turn', with "well-attested nautical usages", according to Bernard Mees. This theory
21037-571: The end of the Viking Age for the Scandinavians also marks the start of their relatively brief Middle Ages. Slavic and Viking tribes were "closely linked, fighting one another, intermixing and trading". In the Middle Ages, goods were transferred from Slavic areas to Scandinavia, and Denmark could be considered "a melting pot of Slavic and Scandinavian elements". Leszek Gardeła, of the Department of Scandinavian Languages and Literatures at
21230-596: The first time. The applicants were George Town (in the Cayman Islands ), Gibraltar , Stanley (in the Falkland Islands ), Douglas and Peel (both in the Isle of Man ). It was later discovered that Gibraltar had been previously named a city, researchers at The National Archives confirming that Gibraltar's city status was still in effect, with the territory missing from the official list of cities for
21423-574: The first time. The competition closed on 8 December 2021 with 39 locations on the shortlist, and the winners were to be announced in June 2022. On 18 October 2021, the Prime Minister announced in Parliament that the Queen, in advance of the closing date, would accord city status to one of the applicants, Southend-on-Sea . This was in memory of Sir David Amess , the town's MP who was murdered three days earlier and had long pressed for
21616-493: The first to be documented by eyewitnesses, and they were much larger in scale and frequency than in previous times. Vikings themselves were expanding; although their motives are unclear, historians believe that scarce resources or a lack of mating opportunities were a factor. The slave trade was an important part of the Viking economy, with most slaves destined to Scandinavia although many others were shipped east where they could be sold for large profits. The "Highway of Slaves"
21809-424: The following year was turned down. In 1932 Sunderland 's petition to gain city status was turned down, as was Derby 's in 1935. The next city to be created was Lancaster in 1937 as part of the celebrations of the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth . With a population of a little over 50,000, Lancaster was stated to be an exception due to the town's "long association with the crown" and because it
22002-596: The form of the College of Ripon and York St John until 2001. This college had its roots in two Anglican teacher training colleges, which were founded in York in 1841 for men and 1846 for women. The women's college moved to Ripon in 1862. Over the next century, the colleges gradually diversified their education programmes. The colleges merged in 1974 to form the College of Ripon and York St John. The combined institution became
22195-453: The former Polish queen of Sweden, wife of Eric. Colonisation of Iceland by Norwegian Vikings began in the 9th century. The first source mentioning Iceland and Greenland is a papal letter from 1053. Twenty years later, they appear in the Gesta of Adam of Bremen . It was not until after 1130, when the islands had become Christianised, that accounts of the history of the islands were written from
22388-691: The fortified settlements organised by the Romans as the capitals of the Celtic tribes under Roman rule . The British clerics of the early Middle Ages later preserved a traditional list of the " 28 Cities " ( Old Welsh : cair ) which was mentioned by Gildas and listed by Nennius . In the 16th century, a town was recognised as a city by the English Crown if it had a diocesan cathedral within its limits, for which 22 dioceses existed in England & Wales (see City status conferment further in
22581-560: The genetic and historical development of both. During the Viking Age, the Norse homelands were gradually consolidated from smaller kingdoms into three larger kingdoms: Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. The Vikings spoke Old Norse and made inscriptions in runes . For most of the period, they followed the Old Norse religion , but later became Christians . The Vikings had their own laws , art , and architecture. Most Vikings were also farmers, fishermen, craftsmen, and traders. Popular conceptions of
22774-492: The grounds that there is no corporate body or legal persona to whom arms can be granted. City status in Ireland tended historically to be granted by royal charter. There are many towns in Ireland with Church of Ireland cathedrals that have never been called cities. In spite of this, Armagh was considered a city, by virtue of its being the seat of the Primate of All Ireland , until the abolition of Armagh's city corporation by
22967-511: The idea, Elizabeth I did not follow it through. The scheme was revived in 1604 by Sandys' widow Cicely, under the patronage of Anne of Denmark and Bess of Hardwick without success. Ripon replaced its old textiles industry with one for the manufacture of spurs during the 16th century. They were so widely known that they gave rise to the proverb "as true steel as Ripon Rowels". At the time, spurs did not just serve as functional riding accessories, they were also fashionable; an expensive pair
23160-478: The influx of Islamic silver from the East had been absent for more than a century, and the flow of English silver had come to an end in the mid-11th century. Christianity had taken root in Denmark and Norway with the establishment of dioceses in the 11th century, and the new religion was beginning to organise and assert itself more effectively in Sweden. Foreign churchmen and native elites were energetic in furthering
23353-513: The interests of Christianity, which was now no longer operating only on a missionary footing, and old ideologies and lifestyles were transforming. By 1103, the first archbishopric was founded in Scandinavia, at Lund , Scania, then part of Denmark. The assimilation of the nascent Scandinavian kingdoms into the cultural mainstream of European Christendom altered the aspirations of Scandinavian rulers and of Scandinavians able to travel overseas, and changed their relations with their neighbours. One of
23546-477: The kings of Denmark and Sweden participated actively in the Baltic Crusades of the 12th and 13th centuries. A variety of sources illuminate the culture, activities, and beliefs of the Vikings. Although they were generally a non-literate culture that produced no literary legacy, they had an alphabet and described themselves and their world on runestones . Most contemporary literary and written sources on
23739-484: The large increases in population caused particularly by the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century in central England. It was deemed that new cathedral building on a national scale was not viable and so Ripon, containing a high status parish church, was created from the existing Chester and York dioceses in 1836, with the building promoted to cathedral status. Ripon council presumed this had elevated
23932-543: The late 11th century, royal dynasties were legitimised by the Catholic Church (which had had little influence in Scandinavia 300 years earlier) which were asserting their power with increasing authority and ambition, with the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden taking shape. Towns appeared that functioned as secular and ecclesiastical administrative centres and market sites, and monetary economies began to emerge based on English and German models. By this time
24125-405: The leaflet were likely to be aware of [the] official definition of a city". Scotland had no cities by royal charter or letters patent before 1889. The nearest equivalent in pre-Union Scotland was the royal burgh . The term city was not always consistently applied, and there were doubts over the number of officially designated cities. The royal burghs of Edinburgh and Perth anciently used
24318-484: The local government district is in fact smaller than the historical or natural boundaries of the city. Examples include: Manchester , where the traditional area associated includes areas of the neighbouring authorities of Trafford , Tameside , Oldham , Bury and the City of Salford ; Kingston upon Hull , where surrounding areas and villages that are effectively suburbs, such as Cottingham , come under East Riding of Yorkshire Council ; Glasgow , where suburban areas of
24511-488: The meantime, the administration of London was reformed under the London Government Act 1963 . While the City of London was permitted to continue in existence largely unchanged, Westminster was merged with two neighbouring authorities to form a new London borough from 1 April 1965. In December 1963 it was announced that a charter was to be granted incorporating the new authority as "Westminster", and that
24704-488: The millennium celebrations, Stirling in 2002 to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee , Perth in 2012 to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and Dunfermline in 2022 to mark the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. In the case of these four cities, there are no city councils and no formal boundaries. In January 2008, a petition to matriculate armorial bearings for the City of Inverness was refused by Lord Lyon King of Arms on
24897-466: The minimum population which should ordinarily, in connexion with other considerations, be regarded as qualifying a borough for that higher status. Following the First World War , the King made an official visit to Leicester in 1919 to commemorate its contributions to the military victory. The borough council had made several applications for city status since 1889, and took the opportunity of
25090-416: The modern Viking myth that had taken shape by the early 20th century. Current popular representations of the Vikings are typically based on cultural clichés and stereotypes, complicating modern appreciation of the Viking legacy. These representations are rarely accurate—for example, there is no evidence that they wore horned helmets , a costume element that first appeared in the 19th century. The etymology of
25283-453: The modern day the school hosts around 800 pupils, gaining engineering status in 2006, it receives favourable reports from the Ofsted , being either good or outstanding . Opposite Ripon Grammar on Clotherholme Road is the non-selective Outwood Academy Ripon (formerly Ripon College, a secondary modern school), which was also known as Ripon City School until 1999. It has around 630 pupils and
25476-420: The only former cities in the United Kingdom. The name "City" does not, in itself, denote city status; it may be appended to place names for historic association (e.g. White City ) or for marketing or disambiguation (e.g. Stratford City ). A number of large towns (such as those with over 200,000 residents) in the UK are bigger than some small cities. The initial cities ( Latin : civitas ) of Britain were
25669-780: The only original building is the Saxon crypt. It is home to Wilfrid’s grave. Ripon is home to Ripon Grammar School which is a selective intake, state secondary school. The school claims to take roots from the school which was attached to the Collegiate Church, founded during the time of the Angle kingdom of Northumbria by Saint Wilfrid . The refoundation date for the school was during the reign of Queen Mary I in 1555. The school has several notable alumni , known as Old Riponians, including theologian Bishop Beilby Porteus , historian Bishop William Stubbs , fashion designer Bruce Oldfield and television presenter Richard Hammond . In
25862-450: The parish church later became a cathedral in 1905. This new precedent was followed by other large municipalities: Leeds and Sheffield became cities in 1893, and Bradford , Kingston upon Hull and Nottingham were honoured on the occasion of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897. The last three had been the largest county boroughs outside the London area without city status. Between 1897 and 1914, applications were received from
26055-462: The past 140 years. Stanley and Douglas were later granted the honour, and after confirmations this will take the overseas total to five cities . According to a Memorandum from the Home Office issued in 1927, If a town wishes to obtain the title of a city the proper method of procedure is to address a petition to the King through the Home Office. It is the duty of the Home Secretary to submit such petitions to his Majesty and to advise his Majesty to
26248-568: The place names in Normandy like Tocqueville (Toki's farm). Linguistic and etymological studies continue to provide a vital source of information on the Viking culture, their social structure and history and how they interacted with the people and cultures they met, traded, attacked or lived with in overseas settlements. A lot of Old Norse connections are evident in the modern-day languages of Swedish , Norwegian , Danish , Faroese and Icelandic . Old Norse did not exert any great influence on
26441-514: The point of view of the inhabitants in sagas and chronicles. The Vikings explored the northern islands and coasts of the North Atlantic, ventured south to North Africa, east to Kievan Rus (now – Ukraine, Belarus), Constantinople , and the Middle East. They raided and pillaged, traded, acted as mercenaries and settled colonies over a wide area. Early Vikings probably returned home after their raids. Later in their history, they began to settle in other lands. Vikings under Leif Erikson , heir to Erik
26634-491: The present day nations of Norway, Sweden and Denmark did not exist, but the peoples who lived in what is now those countries were largely homogeneous and similar in culture and language, although somewhat distinct geographically. The names of Scandinavian kings are reliably known for only the later part of the Viking Age. After the end of the Viking Age, the separate kingdoms gradually acquired distinct identities as nations, which went hand-in-hand with their Christianisation . Thus,
26827-427: The primary sources of profit for the Vikings had been slave-taking from other European peoples. The medieval Church held that Christians should not own fellow Christians as slaves, so chattel slavery diminished as a practice throughout northern Europe. This took much of the economic incentive out of raiding, though sporadic slaving activity continued into the 11th century. Scandinavian predation in Christian lands around
27020-437: The privilege of holding a fair for him. At the procession there are various decorated floats which make their way through the city with locals in costume. Part of the tradition represents the return of Wilfrid to Ripon, a decorated dummy (sometimes a man in costume instead) dressed as Wilfrid is sat on a horse, accompanied by two musicians with another man carrying St Wilfrid's hat around. Ripon also has dancing traditions such as
27213-432: The recipients of the honour. Dunfermline, a previous royal capital of Scotland, was granted the privilege. Bangor in Northern Ireland was also a recipient, and the title in Wales was granted to Wrexham. These awards increased the number of official mainland cities to 76, with 55 in England, eight in Scotland, seven in Wales, six in Northern Ireland. Other than the cities of London and Westminster , no local authorities in
27406-423: The reply to be returned. It is a well-established principle that the grant of the title is only recommended in the case of towns of the first rank in population, size and importance, and having a distinctive character and identity of their own. At the present day, therefore, it is only rarely and in exceptional circumstances that the title is given. A town can now apply for city status by submitting an application to
27599-501: The restoration of the dignity to St David's , historic see of a bishop. Since 2000, city status has been awarded to towns or local government districts by competition on special occasions. A large number of towns have applied for the honour in recent decades including Blackpool , Colchester , Croydon , Gateshead , Ipswich , Middlesbrough , Milton Keynes , Reading , Swindon and Warrington . Four successful applicants in England have become cities, as well as two in Wales; in 2000 for
27792-452: The right of election was vested not in the population as a whole, but in the burgesses (originally meaning freemen of the borough or freeholders ) until the Great Reform Act of 1832. The next Reform Act which came into force at the 1868 election , reduced Ripon's representation from two MPs to one. Some of the more notable MPs of Ripon were John Aislabie , Frederick John Robinson and George Cockburn . The Reform Act of 1885 abolished
27985-517: The right to be styled "The Right Worshipful The Lord Mayor". The lord mayors and provosts of Belfast , Cardiff , Edinburgh , Glasgow , the City of London and York have the further right to be styled " The Right Honourable the Lord Mayor" (or Provost), although they are not members of the Privy Council as this style usually indicates. The style is associated with the office, not the person holding it. There are currently 70 recognised cities (including 31 lord mayoralties or lord provostships) in
28178-443: The said city". The city was unique, as it had no council or charter trustees and no mayor or civic head. In 1979, the Borough of Medway was renamed as Rochester-upon-Medway , and in 1982 further letters patent transferred the city status to the entire borough. On 1 April 1998, the existing local government districts of Rochester-upon-Medway and Gillingham were abolished and became the new unitary authority of Medway . Since it
28371-422: The sea or to navigable rivers. Lack of organised naval opposition throughout Western Europe allowed Viking ships to travel freely, raiding or trading as opportunity permitted. The decline in the profitability of old trade routes could also have played a role. Trade between Western Europe and the rest of Eurasia suffered a severe blow when the Western Roman Empire fell in the 5th century. The expansion of Islam in
28564-434: The service of the Byzantine Empire . In the late 10th century, a new unit of the imperial bodyguard formed. Traditionally containing large numbers of Scandinavians, it was known as the Varangian Guard. The word Varangian may have originated in Old Norse, but in Slavic and Greek it could refer either to Scandinavians or Franks. In these years, Swedish men left to enlist in the Byzantine Varangian Guard in such numbers that
28757-405: The status of the borough in respect of local government and confers no powers or privileges. At the present time and for several centuries past the title has been obtained only by an express grant from the Sovereign effected by letters patent; but a certain number of cities possess the title by very ancient prescriptive right. There is no necessary connexion between the title of a city and the seat of
28950-425: The status. City status was officially granted by letters patent dated 26 January 2022. They were presented to Southend Borough Council by Charles, Prince of Wales , on 1 March 2022. An announcement on 20 May 2022 declared that eight new cities were to be created from the shortlist, with at least one in every UK country as well as in overseas locations . In England, Milton Keynes, Colchester and Doncaster were to be
29143-453: The successful candidate was Exeter . In 2012 a further competition was held, as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations, with Armagh receiving the distinction. Other than Armagh, eleven cities had entered the contest in 2012, namely: Cambridge, Derby, Gloucester, Lancaster, Newport , Peterborough , Salford, Southampton, St Albans, Sunderland, and Wakefield . Since local government reorganisation in 1974 city status has been awarded to
29336-418: The suppression that followed was the Harrying of the North , which resulted in the death of approximately one-third of the population of the North of England . Ripon is thought to have shrunk to a small community around the church following the suppression. The lands of the church were transferred to St Peter's Church at York as the Liberty of Ripon and it was during this time that a grand Collegiate Church
29529-428: The surface soils. Water has dissolved the gypsum, leaving the area prone to sinkholes, especially north of the city and on the northern side of the Ure. The climate data below is for Topcliffe , which is 8.1 miles (13 km) to the north-east. The main feature of Ripon is an English Gothic style cathedral, originally founded by Irish monks but refounded by Saint Wilfrid in 672. It has been rebuilt many times, and
29722-597: The term "Viking" may have evolved to become "a job description, not a matter of heredity", at least in some Viking bands. The motives driving the Viking expansion are a topic of much debate. The concept that Vikings may have originally started sailing and raiding due to a need to seek out women from foreign lands was expressed in the 11th century by historian Dudo of Saint-Quentin in his semi-imaginary History of The Normans . As observed by Adam of Bremen, rich and powerful Viking men tended to have many wives and concubines; and these polygynous relationships may have led to
29915-433: The textile centre of Manchester —and the fact that it had (at the time) a larger population than the City of Dublin . Following some legal debate, city status was conferred in 1888. The grant of the honour on the grounds of being a large industrial town, rather than a diocesan centre, was unprecedented. Belfast's example was soon followed by Birmingham in England and Dundee in Scotland. In 1994, Armagh's city status
30108-508: The time made public, had the effect of stemming the number of city creations. The 1907 policy contained three criteria: However, well into the 20th century it was often assumed that the presence of a cathedral was sufficient to elevate a town to city status, and that for cathedral cities the city charters were recognising its city status rather than granting it. On this basis, the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica said that Southwell and St Asaph were cities. The policy laid down by Edward VII
30301-406: The time of the kingdom of Northumbria there was a short-lived Diocese of Ripon, with Eadhedus the only bishop. There is also a Medieval chapel located on Magdalens Road, which was once part of a leper hospital. The Chapel of St Mary Magdalen is still used for regular worship and is a grade I listed building. There is a Roman Catholic parish in Ripon called St Wilfrid's ; it is covered by
30494-412: The title city for any other burgh. In 1969, the Home Secretary, James Callaghan , stated that there were six cities in Scotland (without naming them) and Aberdeen , Dundee , Edinburgh , Elgin , Glasgow and Perth were the only burghs listed as cities in 1972. The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 completely reorganised Scotland's local administration in 1975. All burghs were abolished, and
30687-421: The title civitas , but the term city does not seem to have been used before the 15th century. Unlike the situation in England, in Scotland there was no link between the presence of a cathedral and the title of city . Aberdeen , Glasgow and Edinburgh were accepted as cities by ancient usage by the 18th century, while Perth and Elgin also used the title. In 1856, the burgh of Dunfermline resolved to use
30880-401: The title of city in all official documents in the future, based on long usage and its former status as a royal capital. The status was not officially recognised until 2022. In 1889, Dundee was granted city status by letters patent. The grant by formal document led to doubts about the use of the title city by other burghs. In 1891, the city status of Aberdeen was confirmed when the burgh
31073-441: The title of Royal Borough in 2012. Rochester was recognised as a city from 1211 to 1998. On 1 April 1974, the city council was abolished, becoming part of the Borough of Medway , a local government district in the county of Kent . However, under letters patent the former city council area was to continue to be styled the "City of Rochester" to "perpetuate the ancient name" and to recall "the long history and proud heritage of
31266-498: The town to the rank of a city, and started referring to itself as the City and Borough of Ripon . The next diocese formed was Manchester and its Borough Council began informally to use the title city . When Queen Victoria visited Manchester in 1851, widespread doubts surrounding its status were raised. The pretension was ended when the borough petitioned for city status, which was granted by letters patent in 1853. This eventually forced Ripon to regularise its position; its city status
31459-469: The town to the rank of city, and started referring to itself as such. The next diocese Manchester was promoted similarly, but doubts as to its use of the title were raised. With the subsequent clearer understanding of needing to petition the monarch, Manchester did so and obtained the status in 1853. Ripon was encouraged to follow suit, with its own status being recognised by the parliamentary City of Ripon Act in 1865. In 1974 Ripon borough (see Governance )
31652-427: The urban areas, for example the cities of Bradford , Leeds and Winchester . Three non-local authority preservations arose: here charter trustees were established for the cities of Lichfield and Salisbury (or New Sarum) being neither districts nor civil parishes, and special letters patent for a time preserved the city of Rochester . In 1977, as part of the celebrations of the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II ,
31845-416: The various local authorities that held city status ceased to exist on 1 April 1974. To preserve city status new letters patent were issued to the most relevant metropolitan borough , non-metropolitan district or successor parish councils created by the Act. Some of these came to cover local government districts many times wider than the previous city, even taking in many square miles of rural land outside
32038-418: The visit to renew its request. Leicester had a population of approximately 230,000 at the previous census, but its petition was granted as an exception to the policy, as it was officially a restoration of a dignity lost in the past. When the county borough of Stoke-on-Trent applied for city status in 1925, it was initially refused as it had only 294,000 inhabitants. The decision was overturned, however, as it
32231-411: The wakeman of Ripon, whose job in the Middle Ages was similar to that of a mayor, although he had more responsibilities in the keeping of law and order. Every day at 9:00 pm the horn is blown at the four corners of the obelisk in Ripon Market. The horn has become the symbol of the city and represents Ripon on the Harrogate borough coat of arms. There are three museums in Ripon collectively known as
32424-589: The way to the Preston and also on the way to the Battle of Worcester . By the time of the English Restoration , several strains of non-conformist Christian practices had appeared, although they were not common in Ripon, the majority of people being Anglicans with a Catholic minority. After the Revolution of 1688 which overthrew James II , there were Jacobite risings in the British Isles ; some Riponmen were jailed in February 1746 upon "suspicion of corresponding with Prince Charles Edward Stuart ". The founder of Methodism , John Wesley , preached in Ripon and
32617-413: The word Viking has been much debated by academics, with many origin theories being proposed. One theory suggests that the word's origin is from the Old English wicing 'settlement' and the Old Frisian wizing , attested almost 300 years prior. Another less popular theory is that víking came from the feminine vík 'creek', 'inlet', 'small bay'. Another etymology that gained support in
32810-450: Was "part of London with little individual identity". When the competition was held to mark the Golden Jubilee of 2002, Croydon made a sixth application, again unsuccessful. It was joined by the London Borough of Greenwich , which emphasised its royal and maritime connections, while claiming to be "to London what Versailles is to Paris". In this vein Greenwich joined Kingston-upon-Thames and Kensington and Chelsea in London in having
33003-399: Was "the county town of the King's Duchy of Lancaster". Following the Second World War , members of Cambridge Borough Council made contact with Lancaster officials for assistance in their application. Cambridge became a city in 1951, again for "exceptional" reasons, as the only ancient seat of learning in the kingdom not a city or royal burgh and to coincide with the 750th anniversary of
33196-451: Was a term for a route that the Vikings found to have a direct pathway from Scandinavia to Constantinople and Baghdad while traveling on the Baltic Sea. With the advancements of their ships during the 9th century, the Vikings were able to sail to Kievan Rus and some northern parts of Europe. Jomsborg was a semi-legendary Viking stronghold at the southern coast of the Baltic Sea (medieval Wendland , modern Pomerania ), that existed between
33389-450: Was abolished and a parish council established as part of wider local government reform . The award of city status is typically granted to a local authority, whose administrative area is then considered to be the formal borders of the city, the grant in this case being removed at the same time and bestowed onto the parish. By this definition, the whole parish council area of Ripon, including its settlement and surrounding rural area containing
33582-451: Was built on top of the ruins of Wilfrid's building. Eventually developed in the Gothic style, the project owed much to the work of Roger de Pont L'Evêque and Walter de Gray , two Archbishops of York during the Plantagenet era. During the 12th century Ripon built up a booming wool trade, attracting Italian trade merchants, especially Florentines , who bought and exported large quantities. Ripon's proximity to Fountains Abbey , where
33775-503: Was closed in the 1960s as part of the Beeching cuts . Today much of the route of the line through the city is now a relief road and although the former station still stands, it is now surrounded by a new housing development. The issue remains a significant one in local politics and there are movements wanting to restore the line. Reports suggest the reopening of a line between Ripon and Harrogate would be economically viable, costing £40 million and could initially attract 1,200 passengers
33968-412: Was considered favourably by the Home Secretary, William Joynson-Hicks , who had once been a Member of Parliament (MP) for a neighbouring constituency of Manchester North West . Following protests from Portsmouth , which felt it had better credentials as a larger town and as the "first Naval Port of the kingdom", both applications were approved in 1926. In 1927, a Royal Commission on Local Government
34161-411: Was continued by his successor, George V , who ascended the throne in 1910. In 1911, an application for city status by Portsmouth was refused. Explaining the Home Secretary 's reason for not recommending the King to approve the petition, the Lord Advocate stated: ...during the reign of his late Majesty it was found necessary, in order to maintain the value of the distinction, to lay down a rule as to
34354-440: Was enlarged by local Act of Parliament. The Royal Burgh of Inverness applied for promotion to a city as part of the Jubilee honours in 1897. The request was not granted, partly because it would draw attention to the lack of any charter granting the title to existing cities. Aberdeen , Dundee , Edinburgh and Glasgow were constituted "counties of cities" by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 . The Act made no statement on
34547-464: Was established around 980, during the Medieval Warm Period , and its demise by the mid-15th century may have been partly due to climate change . The Viking Rurik dynasty took control of territories in Slavic and Finnic -dominated areas of Eastern Europe; they annexed Kiev in 882 to serve as the capital of the Kievan Rus' . As early as 839, when Swedish emissaries are first known to have visited Byzantium , Scandinavians served as mercenaries in
34740-399: Was examining local council areas and functions in England and Wales. The question arose as to which towns were entitled to be called cities, and the chairman, the Earl of Onslow , wrote to the Home Office to seek clarification. The Home Office replied with a memorandum that read: The title of a city which is borne by certain boroughs is a purely titular distinction. It has no connexion with
34933-400: Was expelled by Henry and replaced; Thirske went on to become one of the leaders of the Pilgrimage of Grace popular rising . The people of Northern England were quite traditional in their beliefs and were unhappy about Henry's intention to break with Rome; the Pilgrimage of Grace was the manifestation of this sentiment. The revolt failed and Henry followed through with the break from Rome and
35126-409: Was felt to have outstanding importance as the centre of the pottery industry. The effective relaxation of the population rule led to applications from Portsmouth and Salford . The civil servants in the Home Office were minded to refuse both applications. In particular, Salford was felt to be "merely a scratch collection of 240,000 people cut off from Manchester by the river". Salford's case, however,
35319-421: Was made for King James I when he stayed at Ripon in 1617. It was James who granted Ripon a Royal Charter in 1604 and created the first Mayor of Ripon. After the Bishops' Wars in Scotland, a treaty was signed at Ripon in 1640 to stop the conflict between Charles I and the Scottish Covenanters . Although Ripon was not in the main line of fighting which was to the east, it remained loyal and royalist during
35512-404: Was named as a city in 1897 as part of the celebration of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria . Since the second Millennium, competitions have been arranged by the UK government to grant the status to settlements. In 2021 submissions for city status were invited to mark the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II , with Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories being allowed to take part for
35705-435: Was not on the Lord Chancellor's Office 's list of cities. The council campaigned unsuccessfully to be one of 2012 Diamond Jubilee cities. The campaign's "City of Medway" logo was used on a council tourism leaflet titled "Historic Rochester and Maritime Chatham " until the Advertising Standards Authority upheld a 2010 complaint that it misleadingly implied Medway had "officially been granted city status" because "readers of
35898-418: Was not without opposition from the Home Office , which dismissed St Albans as "a fourth or fifth rate market town" and objected to Wakefield 's elevation on grounds of population. In one new diocese, Southwell , a city was not created, because it was a village without a borough corporation and therefore could not petition the Queen. The diocese covered the counties of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire , and
36091-439: Was originally known as Inhrypum . Bede records that Alhfrith, king of the Southern Northumbrian kingdom of Deira, gave land at Ripon to Eata of Hexham to build a monastery and the abbot transferred some of his monks there, including a young Saint Cuthbert who was guest-master at Ripon abbey. Both Bede in his Life of Cuthbert and Eddius Stephanus in his Life of Wilfred state that when Eata was subsequently driven out by Alhfrith,
36284-405: Was previously in the ownership of the charity Barnardos. The current headteacher is Samantha Campbell, the head of care is Rebecca Sharp, The deputy headteacher is Christine Sherman, the head of education is currently vacant and the transitions and admissions coordinator is currently vacant. Christianity is the largest religious affiliation in Ripon; 79.3% of the people in the area polled as part of
36477-422: Was proposed by John Smeaton in 1766, to connect the city centre to part of the River Ure ; it was used for the transportation of coal from the Durham coalfields into the city. Although abandoned in 1956, a conservationist campaign saw it partly reopened in 1988, and fully in 1996. The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the City of Ripon: Cathedral city City status in
36670-481: Was recognised by Act of Parliament in 1865. From this year Ripon bore city status whilst the rapidly expanding conurbation of Leeds – in the Ripon diocese – did not. The Manchester case established a precedent that any municipal borough in which an Anglican see was established was entitled to petition for city status. Accordingly, Truro , St Albans , Liverpool , Newcastle upon Tyne and Wakefield were all officially designated as cities between 1877 and 1888. This
36863-453: Was restored. In 2002, Lisburn and Newry were two of the five towns in the UK that were granted city status by Queen Elizabeth II to mark her Golden Jubilee. In the case of Lisburn , the status extended to the entire local government district. Newry , like Inverness and Stirling in Scotland, has no formal boundaries or city council. The letters patent were presented to representatives of Newry and Mourne District Council on behalf of
37056-416: Was temporarily lost until new letters patent were issued in November of the same year. In 1992, on the fortieth anniversary of the monarch's accession, it was announced that another town would be elevated to a city. An innovation on this occasion was that a competition was to be held, and communities would be required to submit applications. Sunderland was the successful applicant. This was followed in 1994 by
37249-519: Was the local government district that officially held city status under the 1982 letters patent, when it was abolished, it also ceased to be a city. Whilst the two other local government districts with city status ( Bath and Hereford ) that were abolished around this time decided to appoint charter trustees to maintain the existence of the city and the mayoralty, Rochester-upon-Medway City Council did not do so. Medway Council apparently only became aware of this when, in 2002, they discovered that Rochester
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