Northern England
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The North
Northern England |
| Nickname(s): Up North |
| Counties of northern England shown within Great Britain, as defined by HM Revenue and Customs.[1] |
| Country part of |  England |
| Largest settlements | |
| Area |
| - Total | 37,331 km2 (14,414 sq mi) |
| Population (January 2007 estimate) |
| - Total | 14,500,000 |
| Time zone | GMT |
| Patron saint | Ss Cuthbert & Aidan.[2][3] |
Northern England, also known as the
North of England,
the North or the
North Country, is a
cultural region of
England. It is not an official
government region, but rather an informal amalgamation of
counties. The southern extent of the region is roughly the
River Trent,
[4] while the North is bordered by
Scotland. The counties of Northern England combined have a population of around 14.5 million covering an area of 37,331 km
2 (14,414 sq mi).
During antiquity most of the area was part of
Brigantia — homeland of the
Brigantes and the largest
Brythonic kingdom of
Great Britain. After the
Roman conquest of Britain the city of
York became capital of the area, called
Britannia Inferior then
Britannia Secunda. In
Sub-Roman Britain new Brythonic kingdoms of the
Hen Ogledd emerged. The
Angle settlers created
Bernicia and
Deira from which came
Northumbria and a
Golden Age in cultural, scholarly and monastic activity, centered around
Lindisfarne and aided by Irish monks.
[5] Norse and
Gaelic Viking raiders gained control of much of the area, creating the
Danelaw. During this time there were close relations with
Mann and the Isles,
Dublin and
Norway. Northumbria was unified with the rest of England under
Eadred around 952.
After the
Norman conquest in 1066, desolation was brought with the
Harrying of the North, though much construction and town founding was done shortly after. A
Council of the North was in place during the
Late Middle Ages until the
Commonwealth after the
Civil War. The area experienced
Anglo–Scottish border fighting until the
unification of Britain under the
Stuarts.
[edit] Definitions
[edit] Linguistically
Concepts of the North take account of perceived "Northern"
regional accents. Experts on historical dialects categorise as Northern the area north of a line that begins at the Humber estuary, and runs up the river Wharfe and across to the River Lune in north Lancashire.
[6] However, the linguistic elements that traditionally defined this area, such as use of
doon instead of
down and substitution of an -ang noise in words that end -ong (e.g.
lang instead of
long), are now only prevalent in the more northern parts of the region; these linguistic features may reflect a more modern interpretation of where the line sits today. As speech has changed, there is little consensus on what defines a "Northern" accent or dialect. Many people in Northern England omit certain words from sentences in casual speech, such as saying "I'm goin t'shops" or "I'm going the shops" as opposed to "I'm going to the shops". This is particularly common in Yorkshire and Lancashire.
[citation needed]
[edit] Geographically
The North of England may also be considered as the area (from coast to coast) surrounding the
Pennines, an
upland chain often referred to as "the backbone of England". This stretches from the
Cheviot Hills on the border with Scotland to the Peak District. The areas defined were formerly dominated by heavy industry and mineral extraction and processing. Combined with the characteristically wild, hilly landscape of the region, this has led to the popular conception, mainly by those from the south of England, of it being "grim up North".
It is an area of extreme landscapes. There are several belts of urbanisation, many of which form one larger belt that runs from Liverpool to Leeds along the
M62 corridor, then heading south to Sheffield along the
M1 corridor. There are further agglomerations in the North East and east of Preston. Around eleven million people live in the area covered by
The Northern Way, most in its largest cities
Leeds,
Sheffield,
Liverpool,
Bradford and
Manchester.
[edit] Government Office Regions
The North might also be considered to include the three former
Government Office Regions of
North East England,
North West England and
Yorkshire and the Humber. This area consists of the ceremonial counties of
Cheshire,
Cumbria,
County Durham,
East Riding of Yorkshire,
Greater Manchester,
Lancashire,
Merseyside,
Northumberland,
North Yorkshire,
South Yorkshire,
Tyne and Wear,
West Yorkshire and part of
Lincolnshire. The regions also hold the
North of England Inward Investment Agency which is a UK government sponsored agency that represents two Regional Development Agencies in North England: Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) and One Northeast (ONE).
[edit] Ancient counties
Alternatively, the North might be considered to comprise the six
ancient counties of
Cumberland,
Northumberland,
Westmorland,
Durham,
Lancashire and
Yorkshire. The eastern part of this region coincides with the old Kingdom of
Northumbria apart from those areas which were later absorbed into Scotland.
[edit] Ecclesiastical
Northern England is sometimes defined to coincide with the ecclesiastical
Province of York, which is overseen by the
Archbishop of York. The See includes the
Isle of Man, which in ecclesiastical terms is the see of
Sodor and Man and was at one time a part of
Jorvik in contention with
Dublin over said island and
Galloway. A comparable definition in
Roman Catholic terms would be the
Province of Liverpool.
[7]
[edit] People
The term "northern" is often loosely used without any deeper consideration of the geographical identities of northern England, leading to confusion over the depth of affiliation between its areas. People from areas of the Midlands, such as
Stoke-on-Trent, will occasionally choose to identify as "northerners".
As in much of the rest of England, people tend to have a deeper affiliation to their county or their city. Thus,
Yorkshire people have a traditional rivalry with people from
Lancashire, even though people from both areas recognise a shared "Northern" identity. Similarly, there is a strong distinction between natives of
Sunderland (Mackems) and those of
Newcastle (Geordies).
The sport of
rugby experienced a
schism in 1895 with many teams based in
Yorkshire,
Lancashire and surrounding areas breaking from the
Rugby Football Union and forming their own
Rugby League. The disagreement that led to the split was over the issue of professional payments, and "broken time" or injury payments.
The North formed a powerful
Rugby Union team in the 70's, 80's and 90's who famously won games against the
New Zealand All Blacks and the
Australian Wallabies. Former players include
Bill Beaumont,
Will Carling &
Rory Underwood, but more recently has seen the regions teams become relatively weaker, with
association football,
cricket and Rugby League being cited as more popular across the region.
[8]
[edit] History
The
Romans called an area similar to northern England "
Britannia Inferior" (Lower Britain) and it was ruled from the city of
Eboracum (modern
York). The
Brigantes occupied the region between the rivers
Tyne and
Humber. The sub capital held sway over the rest of the land north of there, which included for a brief period the part of the
Scottish lowlands between
Hadrian's Wall and the
Antonine Wall.
After the arrival of the
Angles,
Saxons and
Jutes, the North was divided into rival kingdoms: Bernicia and Deira. Bernicia covered lands north of the Tees, whilst Deira corresponded roughly to the eastern half of modern-day Yorkshire. Bernicia and Deira were first united as
Northumbria by Aethelfrith, a king of Bernicia who conquered Deira around the year 604. An area east and west of the
Pennines was divided into two Celtic kingdoms,
Rheged (Cumbria and Lancashire) and
Elmet (West Riding of Yorkshire). The north of England forms a large part of the
Hen Ogledd, Welsh for 'Old North'. The north west of England still retains vestiges of a Celtic culture, and had its own Celtic language,
Cumbric, spoken, predominately in
Cumbria until around the 12th century.
The North and East of England was subject to Danish Law (
Danelaw) during the Viking era, evidence of which can be found in the
etymology of many place names and surnames in the area.
Anglo-Norman aspirations in the
Pale of Ireland have some roots in the Viking forays on the
Irish Sea and the trade route which ran from York and crossing the
Edinburgh-
Glasgow area in Scotland, to Dublin in Ireland.
Historically the North was controlled from London by the
Council of the North, based at the
King's Manor, York, set up in 1484 by Richard III. However the major decisions affecting the North of England have been made entirely in London since this institution was abolished in 1641.
As the centre of the industrial revolution, Northern England has long been characterised by its industrial centres, from the mill towns of Lancashire, textile centres of Yorkshire, shipyards of the North East to the mining towns found throughout the North and the fishing ports along both east and west coasts. However, whilst much of the South and east of England has in general prospered economically, the north and west have remained relatively poor, consequently there are currently many government subsidised
urban regeneration projects happening across northern towns and cities, hoping to exploit the lack of private investment in the area. Five of the ten most populous cities in the United Kingdom lie in the North.
The picture is not clear-cut, however, as the north has areas which are as wealthy as, if not wealthier than, fashionable southern areas such as
Surrey. Yorkshire's "
Golden Triangle" which extends from north
Leeds to
Harrogate and across to York is an example, as is
Cheshire. Equally, counties such as Cornwall share the relative economic deprivation often associated with the North.
[edit] Religion
Christianity is the largest religion in Northern England and has been since the Early Middle Ages, though its existence on the island dates back to the Roman introduction in antiquity and continued through
Early Insular Christianity. The
Holy Island of
Lindisfarne played an essential role in the Christianisation of
Northumbria, after
Aidan from
Connacht founded a monastery there as the first
Bishop of Lindisfarne on the request of King
Oswald.
[9] It is known for the creation of the
Lindisfarne Gospels and remains a site of pilgrimage to this day.
[10][11] Paulinus as part of the
Gregorian mission became the first
Bishop of York. It was at the
Synod of Whitby that calucations of Easter were brought in line with Roman calculations. In the modern day the three main forms of Christianity practised are
Anglicanism,
Latin Rite of the
Catholic Church and
Methodism. In terms of ecclesiastical administration for the
Church of England the entire north is covered by the
Province of York, which is represented by the
Archbishop of York. Likewise, with the exception of
old Cheshire the north is covered in
Catholic Church administration by the
Province of Liverpool represented by the
Archbishop of Liverpool.
Proposed flag of Northern England
Many areas of Northern England possess their own flags, but there is no official flag for the region as a whole. In 2003 a flag was proposed for the region, the
Flag of the North of England which comprises the
cross of St George in a
Nordic cross format to symbolise the historical links to Scandinavia, with the colours of the
flag of England to symbolise the links to the rest of England.
[12]
[edit] See also
