Editing Ripon (section)

== City status ==
{{see also|City status in the United Kingdom|List of smallest cities in the United Kingdom}}
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Ripon was the [[Historical development of Church of England dioceses#Late modern foundations|first Church of England diocese to be created]] after the English Reformation, as it was recognised that existing dioceses were unsuited for 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<ref name=beckett/> and so Ripon, containing a high status parish church, was created from the existing [[Diocese of Chester|Chester]] and [[Diocese of York|York]] dioceses in 1836, with the building promoted to cathedral status. Ripon council presumed this had elevated the town to the rank of city, and started referring to itself as such. The next diocese [[Anglican Diocese of Manchester|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.<ref name=beckett>{{cite book |last1=Beckett |first1=John |title=City Status in the British Isles, 1830–2002 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dzErDwAAQBAJ&q=prescriptive%20right%20city%20tatus%20beckett&pg=PA12 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |date=5 July 2017 |isbn=9781351951265 |access-date=2 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190102094803/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=dzErDwAAQBAJ&lpg=PA12&dq=prescriptive%20right%20city%20tatus%20beckett&pg=PA12 |archive-date=2 January 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1974, Ripon borough (see [[#Governance|Governance]]) was abolished and a [[Parish councils in England|parish council]] established as part of wider [[Local Government Act 1972|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 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 [[Office for National Statistics|ONS]] census statistics, Ripon has the third smallest city council area but the fourth lowest [[Urban area#United Kingdom|urban area]] of any city in England.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hopkinson |first1=Michael |title=Yorkshire market towns : not just for shopping : a research survey by PLACE |date=2014 |publisher=People, Landscape & Cultural Environment Education and Research Centre |location=York |isbn=978-1-906604-49-3 |page=20}}</ref><ref>UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – (E04007409)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 12 April 2021.</ref>