Riding of Yorkshire until 1974. It was then a part of the district of Ryedale in North Yorkshire from 1974 until 1996. Since 1996 it has been part of the City of York unitary authority. Governance Clifton Without is part of the Rawcliffe and Clifton Without Ward in the City of York. As of 2019 the Ward is represented by Councillors Darryl Smalley, Derek Wann and Sam Waudby, all from the local Liberal Democrats. It is also has its own parish council consisting of 10 councillors. Geography The parish is bounded to the west by the River Ouse and the B1363 and River Foss to the east. To the north the parish meets the parish of Rawcliffe. To the south the boundary runs past Homestead Park from the Ouse then northward along the A19 to turn east along Brompton Road, then it turns north up Water Lane before going east again along Lilbourne Drive and then following the waterway known as Bur Dyke. Where Bur Dyke reaches Bootham Stray it extends an arm towards the Nestle Factory they and ends at the River Foss. The parish contains Clifton Backies Nature Reserve which, in 2002, was designated as a local nature reserve. The diverse habitats support many different species of mammal, bird, insect and plant life. It was part of the former Clifton Airfield but after its last use in the Berlin Airlift in the late 1940s, it was allowed to return to nature. The land originally belonged to St Mary's Abbey, but after the dissolution of the monasteries the land was part of a furlong or field known as 'Moor Broats' and cultivated under the strip farming system in medieval times. The current ridge and furrow appearance of the fields shows its previous history. The meadows are home to short-tailed vole, with the Bur Dyke home for water voles, rabbits, fox, weasel, common shrew, hedgehog, bank vole, wood mouse and roe deer have been seen on the site. Bats can also be seen over the meadows. Suitable breeding habitats for the common frog and smooth newt are provided by seasonal ponds. The Bur Dyke supports a population of three-spined stickleback. Birds that frequent the area include blackbird, blue tit, great tit, wren, dunnock, robin, common chaffinch, bullfinch, blackcap, whitethroat, willow warbler, fieldfare, redwing, heron, kingfisher and chiffchaff. A recent survey identified 22 species of butterfly on the site, including speckled