§ This page provides an overview of an officially designated city in the UK, bringing together various information to help you better understand this city.
Ripon’s city status is tied to its cathedral and was confirmed to the civil parish on 1 April 1974 after the old municipal borough was abolished. A small cathedral city with medieval roots and a long market tradition, Ripon now sits within the unitary North Yorkshire Council created on 1 April 2023, while Ripon City Council continues as the parish-level civic body; regionally, the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority launched in 2024 adds a mayoral strategic layer for transport, skills and investment.
City Council Status
Ripon City Council is the parish council; city status was confirmed to the parish on 1 April 1974. Principal services are delivered by the unitary North Yorkshire Council (since 2023).
In the UK, a handful of cities are organised at the civil parish tier—the lowest level of local government in England. There are eight such cases: Chichester, Ely, Hereford, Lichfield, Ripon, Salisbury, Truro, and Wells. In these places the city status is vested in the parish area and the parish council styles itself a City Council.
In the UK, a city is not defined by size or population but by formal status granted by the monarch, often through historical charters or, more recently, civic honours competitions. There are 76 officially recognised cities, some of which are relatively small compared to other urban areas. In contrast, local authority districts (361 in total) are administrative areas created for local government purposes and may include a mix of urban centres, suburbs, and rural communities. Within districts, there may be one or more towns, which generally refer to sizeable urban settlements but do not hold city status unless it has been formally granted. In practice, a city can exist within a district, and a district can cover multiple towns, showing the clear distinction between legal status, administrative boundaries, and everyday usage.
