South Yorkshire

Metropolitan county

If you are more familiar with metropolitan counties in other parts of the country, then you may need to adjust your sense of scale when you arrive in those in Yorkshire.

Here are some facts and figures about South Yorkshire:

• In terms of area covered, South Yorkshire comes only after West Yorkshire among metropolitan counties. South Yorkshire covers just 8 square miles less than Greater London.

• South Yorkshire is made up of a group of four metropolitan districts, each centred on a city or major town after which it is named, but all including other towns and villages.

• South Yorkshire is 20% larger than Greater Manchester, which is divided into 10 metropolitan districts.

• South Yorkshire is the size of Merseyside added to West Midlands, which together have 12 metropolitan districts compared with South Yorkshire's four.

• In common with those in West Yorkshire, the metropolitan districts of South Yorkshire are about three times larger than those outside Yorkshire and more than eight times larger than London boroughs.

• The population of South Yorkshire is more than 1.4 million.

• More than 0.5 million live in the Sheffield metropolitan district. It is the second most populated district in Yorkshire after Leeds in West Yorkshire and marginally higher than third-placed Bradford in West Yorkshire.

• More than 0.3 million live in South Yorkshire's second largest centre of population, the Doncaster metropolitan district.

• The Sheffield and Barnsley metropolitan districts include part of the Peak District National Park.

• Until recently, South Yorkshire's only city was Sheffield, however Doncaster was conferred city status in 2022 as one of the Jubilee Cities selected in honour of the 70-year reign of Queen Elizabeth II. With Sheffield to the south-west and Doncaster to the north-east, neither is central to the metropolitan county.

• The South Yorkshire metropolitan county was formed in 1974 from around 22% of the historic West Riding of Yorkshire. It included the southern portion of the previous administrative county, an area where towns had seen expansion mainly associated with coal mining or steel production.

• When the new county was formed, Barnsley became its county town.

Peak District moors in Sheffield districtMexborough - a town in Doncaster districtDinnington - a town in Rotherham districtPenistone - a town in Barnsley district Sheffield city centre• The metropolitan county authority was abolished in 1986 but the four metropolitan districts have come together to organise some services through joint boards and more recently through the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority.

• A mayoral election for the then Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield Combined Authority took place in 2018. While then sometimes incorrectly referred to as the Sheffield City Region mayoral election, the election was only for those living in the four metropolitan districts of South Yorkshire. In 2022, the second mayoral election took place and elected a Mayor of South Yorkshire who now leads the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority.

• The Sheffield City Region formed ahead of the UK Government's city-centric devolution budget deal, first proposed in 2014, crosses the historic boundaries of Yorkshire by bolting on districts of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire which neighbour South Yorkshire, namely the non-metropolitan districts of Bassetlaw, Bolsover, Chesterfield, Derbyshire Dales and North-East Derbyshire. The extended area represented a supposed area of influence of Sheffield equating to around two-and-a-half times the area of Greater London or of the South Yorkshire metropolitan county. The name received criticism in other parts of South Yorkshire, outside Sheffield, for its appearance of not including them. From 2021 there has been official rebranding as the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority.

Barnsley Interchange• South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive offers travel tickets and passes allowing travel across the multiple operators within the boundaries of South Yorkshire and provides travel planning through its

Travel South Yorkshire website.

• A train journey from South Yorkshire’s westernmost railway station Penistone to its easternmost railway station Thorne South takes 2 hours 15 minutes. From the northernmost station Darton to southernmost Dore and Totley takes 1 hour 7 minutes.

• The highest point in South Yorkshire is High Stones at 550 metres (1,804ft) on the Howden Moors in the Sheffield metropolitan district and Peak District National Park.

Thorne is 32 miles by road from Sheffield• South Yorkshire's longest rivers are the River Don and the River Dearne. The Don starts near the boundary of West Yorkshire above Dunford Bridge in the Barnsley metropolitan district and flows through all four districts of South Yorkshire. It flows out of the county north of Thorne just before it diverts via the Dutch River to Goole. The Dearne starts just over the West Yorkshire boundary and flows through the Barnsley district, is the northern boundary of Rotherham district for a short section and joins the River Don near Denaby Main in the Doncaster district.

Places in South Yorkshire

Find cities, towns and villages in the metropolitan districts of South Yorkshire:

BARNSLEY Metropolitan district
DONCASTER Metropolitan district
ROTHERHAM Metropolitan district
SHEFFIELD Metropolitan district

Links to useful South Yorkshire websites

South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority
Covers combined services including public transport, housing, infrastructure and regeneration and adult education in South Yorkshire, including the metropolitan districts of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield. The authority has been mayor-led since 2018. The South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner is added to the list of mayoral responsibilities after the May 2024 election.

Elected mayor: ❚ Oliver Coppard Labour & Cooperative

South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority website.

This role becomes the responsibility of the elected South Yorkshire mayor after the May 2024 election.

South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner website.

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
The fire authority is made up of elected members of each of the four metropolitan district councils of South Yorkshire - Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield.

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority web pages.

Travel South Yorkshire
Run by the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive, the Travel South Yorkshire provides help and information on journey planning.

Travel South Yorkshire website.

Emergency services

South Yorkshire Police

South Yorkshire Police website.

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue website.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust website.

Also in Yorkshire.guide

New Places to visit Gazetteer