Everything about Northern England totally explained
Northern England,
The North or
North of England refers to the perceived
North-South divide in England, according to which the North is considered a region with an identity separate from that of the South of England. The special cultural, political and economic characteristics of "the North" are not universally agreed upon, nor are its geographical limits.
Definitions
Common definitions hold the North to be that region dominated by 'Northern'
regional accents (although which accents are Northern and which are simply not Southern could be a source of contention); the former areas of heavy industry and their adjacent countryside in Lancashire, the north-east, Yorkshire and the north Midlands; the region indicated by road signs labelled 'The North'; the region which historically was governed by the medieval
Council of the North or which falls into the ecclesiastical
Province of York; or that part of England where relatively low wages, house prices and human development indicators prevail.
Geographical
In geographic definitions, the north of
England is the mountainous area surrounding the
Pennines, a mountain range often referred to as "the backbone of England". This region stretches from the
Cheviot Hills on the border with Scotland, to the Peak District, and extends to the coast on either side. Although the land in the north is generally higher than in the south of England, the Pennines are relatively small for mountains and are hence sometimes referred to as 'hills' rather than 'mountains'.
Government Office Regions
In some of the larger definitions, the north may be considered to constitute the three
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
Ancient counties
In some of the larger definitions, the north may be considered to constitute the six
ancient counties of
Cumberland,
Northumberland,
Westmorland,
Durham,
Lancashire and
Yorkshire. This region coincides with the
Angles Kingdom of
Northumbria before it expanded into
Gododdin and the Vikings conquered the
Kingdom of Strathclyde.
Ecclesiastical
In elder contexts northern England is sometimes defined by the ecclesiastical
Province of York, which is administered by the
Archbishop of York. The See includes the
Isle of Man, which was at one time a part of
Jorvik in contention with
Dublin over said island and
Galloway. A comparable perception in
Roman Catholicism would be the
Province of Liverpool.
Problems
However, all of these definitions lead to different geographical limits for the North of England.
The existence of huge variations between 'Northern' accents, of large pockets of extreme wealth in the 'North' and extreme poverty in the 'South', and of other notable discrepancies, have made the concept of a single 'North' extremely contentious.
People
The term "Northerners" is used to refer to people identified with the North, though it's often rejected by many because it incorrectly asserts a common identity across northern England. 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.
Sport
See History of Rugby League
The sport of
rugby experienced a
schism in
1895 with many teams based in
Yorkshire and surround areas breaking from the
Rugby Football Union and forming their own
League. The disagreement that led to the split was over the issue of professional payments, and "broken time" or injury payments. Until recent times, there has been a perception that 'league' was the code of rugby played in the north, whilst 'union' was the code played in the south.
History
The
Romans called an area similar to some current definitions of northern England "
Britannia Inferior" (Lower Britain) and ruled from the city of
Eboracum (modern
York).
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 modern-day Yorkshire. Bernicia and Deira were first united as
Northumbria by Aethelfrith, a king of Bernicia who conquered Deira around the year 604. The area 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
Hen Ogledd,
Old Welsh for 'the Old North'. The north of England still retains a Celtic culture in some forms, and had it's own Celtic language,
Cumbric, spoken in the some parts (mostly the west) of northern England 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 used to have a measure of independence and was ruled over by the
Council of the North, based at the
King's Manor, York, set up in 1484 by Richard III. However decisions affecting the North of England have been made from London since this institution was abolished in 1641, although there's some measure of regional control in the form of local councils.
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 the South of England has prospered economically, the north has, until now, remained relatively poor, although currently there are many
urban regeneration projects happening across northern towns and cities hoping to address this imbalance since five of the ten most populous cities in the
United Kingdom lie in the North.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Northern England'.
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