| County | |
|---|---|
| |
 Counties of England in 1851 with major rivers, theridings of Yorkshire, and theremaining exclaves shown | |
| Category | County |
| Location | England |
| Found in | Kingdom |
| Created |
|
| Number | 39 (as of 1 April 1889) |
| Possible status | |
| Populations | c. 21,000—3.4 million (1881)[1] |
| Areas | c. 94,000–3.8 million acres (15,000 km2) (1881)[1] |
| Government |
|
| Subdivisions | |
Thehistoric counties of England are areas that were established for administration by theNormans, in many cases based on earlierkingdoms andshires created by theAngles,Saxons,Jutes,Celts and theDanes andNorse in the North. They are alternatively known asancient counties,[2][3]traditional counties,[4]former counties[5][6] or simply ascounties.[7] In the centuries that followed their establishment, as well as their administrative function, the counties also helped define local culture and identity.[8][9] This role continued even after the counties ceased to be used for administration after the creation ofadministrative counties in 1889,[10] which were themselves amended by further local government reforms in the years following.[11][12]
Unlike the partly self-governingboroughs that covered urban areas, the counties of medieval England existed primarily as a means of enforcing central government power, enabling monarchs to exercise control over local areas through their chosen representatives – originallysheriffs and later thelord-lieutenants – and their subordinatejustices of the peace.[13] Counties were used initially for theadministration of justice, collection of taxes and organisation of the military, and later for local government and electing parliamentary representation.[14][15] They continue to form the basis ofmodern local government areas in many parts of the country away from the main urban areas, although the newly created areas sometimes have considerably altered boundaries from the historic counties on which they are based.[4][16][17]
The name of a county often gives a clue to how it was formed, either as a division that took its name from a centre of administration, an ancient kingdom, or an area occupied by an ethnic group.[14] The majority of English counties are in the first category, with the name formed by combining the central town with the suffix-shire, for exampleYorkshire. Former kingdoms which becameearldoms in theunited England did not feature this formulation; so for Kent, Surrey and the Isle of Wight, the former kingdoms of theJutes,-shire was not used. Counties ending in the suffix-sex, the former Saxon kingdoms, are also in this category. Some of these names include compass directions. The third category includes counties such asCornwall andDevon where the name corresponds to the tribes who inhabited the area.[14]County Durham is anomalous in terms of naming and origin, not falling into any of the three categories. Instead, it was adiocese that was turned into theCounty Palatine of Durham, ruled by theBishop of Durham.[14] The expected form would otherwise beDurhamshire, but it was rarely used.
There are customary abbreviations for many of the counties. In most cases, these consist of simple truncation, usually with ans at the end signifying-shire, such asBerks forBerkshire orBucks forBuckinghamshire. Some abbreviations are not obvious, such asSalop forShropshire, from theNorman-derived word for its county townShrewsbury;Oxon forOxfordshire, from LatinOxonia (referring to both the county and the city ofOxford);Hants forHampshire; andNorthants forNorthamptonshire.[14] Counties can be prefixed withCounty of in official contexts with any-shire suffix dropped, such asCounty of Kent orCounty of York. There is similar usage in the single case of Berkshire, a county with a-shire suffix which is not named after a town and whose correct formation isCounty of Berks. The-shire suffix was also appended for some counties, such asDevonshire,Dorsetshire andSomersetshire, despite their origin.[18] For instance, there has been anEarl of Devonshire since 1603, andDuke of Devonshire since 1694.
Great Britain was first divided into administrative areas by the Romans, most likely following major geographical features such as rivers.[14] Before their arrival there were distinct tribal areas, but they were in a constant state of flux as territory was gained and lost. After the demise ofRoman Britain around 410 these first divisions of land were generally abandoned, although traditional divisions taking the form of petty kingdoms such asPowys,Dumnonia andElmet remained in those areas which remainedBritish, such assouth west England. The areas that would later form the English counties started to take shape soon afterwards, with theKingdom of Kent founded by settlers around 445. In southern England more widely,shires emerged from earlier sub-kingdoms as part of the administrative structure ofWessex, which then imposed its system of shires,boroughs (orburhs) andealdormen onMercia after it came under West Saxon control during the 10th century.[19] Once theKingdom of England was united as a whole in 927 it became necessary to subdivide it for administrative convenience and to this end,earldoms were created out of the earlier kingdoms, which were in turn subdivided into shires. The whole kingdom was divided into shires by the time of theNorman Conquest.Robert of Gloucester accounts for thirty-five shires andWilliam of Malmesbury thirty-two,[14] Henry of Huntingdon, thirty-seven.[20]
In Anglo-Saxon times theearl and sheriff were jointly responsible for administering each shire through itsshire court.[21] Each earl was responsible for multiple shires, with some fluctuation in which shires belonged to which earldoms during this period.[22] In the years following the Norman Conquest of 1066 the large earldoms of the Anglo-Saxon era were gradually replaced by smaller earldoms corresponding to a single shire.[23] The Norman French term for an earl was acomte orcount; whilst in England the title count was not used for the person, the territory they controlled nevertheless became known as a 'county'. As the shires and counties were generally the same areas from the 12th century onwards, the terms shire and county came to be used interchangeably. The earls' role in administering their counties was gradually reduced as the shire court was eclipsed in importance by other courts, notably theassizes andquarter sessions.[14] Later earldoms were created that were not named after a shire, particularly from the 17th century onwards, but by that time the title of earl was honorary, with no effective role in local administration.[24]
Although all of England was divided into shires by the time of the Norman Conquest, some counties were formed later, such as Lancashire in the 12th century. Perhaps because of their differing origins the countiesvaried considerably in size. The county boundaries were fairly static until theLocal Government Act 1888.[25] Each shire was responsible for gathering taxes for the central government; for local defence; and for justice, throughassize courts.[26]
In southern England the counties were mostly subdivisions of the Kingdom ofWessex, and in many areas represented annexed, previously independent, kingdoms or other tribal territories.Kent derives from theKingdom of Kent, Surrey from the Anglian word for 'southern region',[27] andEssex,Sussex andMiddlesex come from theEast Saxons,South Saxons andMiddle Saxons. Norfolk and Suffolk were subdivisions representing the "North Folk" and "South Folk" of theKingdom of East Anglia. Only one county on the south coast of England now usually takes the suffix "-shire":Hampshire, named after the former town of "Hamwic" (sic), the site of which is now a part of the city ofSouthampton. A "lost" Saxon county wasWinchcombeshire which lasted from 1007 to 1017 before being incorporated intoGloucestershire.[28]Dorset andSomerset derive their names from thesaete or inhabitants of the areas around the towns ofDorchester andSomerton respectively; the names were first used by the Saxons in the 9th century.[29]Devon andCornwall were based on the pre-SaxonCeltic tribes known in Latin as theDumnonii andCornovii, in the latter case with the suffixwealas, meaning foreigners, added by the Saxons.
When Wessex annexedMercia in the 10th century, it subdivided the area into various shires of roughly equal size and tax-raising potential orhidage. These generally took the name of the main town (thecounty town) of the county, along with "-shire". Examples areNorthamptonshire andWarwickshire. In some cases the original names have been worn down: for example,Cheshire was originally "Chestershire".[30]
In the east Midlands, it is thought that county boundaries may represent a 9th-century division of theDanelaw between units of the Danish army.[26] Rutland was an anomalous territory orsoke, associated withNottinghamshire, but it eventually became considered the smallest county.Lincolnshire was the successor to theKingdom of Lindsey, and took on the territories ofKesteven andHolland whenStamford became the only Danelaw borough to fail to become a county town.[31]
Much of Northumbria was also shired, the best known of these counties beingHallamshire andCravenshire. The Normans did not use these divisions, and so they are not generally regarded as ancient counties. The huge county of Yorkshire was a successor to the Vikingkingdom of York and theBrittonic kingdom ofElmet; at the time of the Domesday Book in 1086 it was considered to include what was to become northernLancashire, as well as parts ofCumberland, andWestmorland. Most of the later Cumberland and Westmorland were underScottish rule until 1092. After theNorman Conquest in 1066 and theharrying of the North, much of the North of England was left depopulated and was included in the returns forCheshire andYorkshire in the Domesday Book.[32] However, there is some disagreement about the status of some of this land. The area in between theRiver Ribble and the RiverMersey, referred to as"Inter Ripam et Mersam" in the Domesday Book,[33] was included in the returns for Cheshire.[34] Whether this meant that this land was actually part of Cheshire is however not clear.[33][35][36][37][38] The Northeast land that later becameCounty Durham andNorthumberland, was left unrecorded.
Cumberland, Westmorland, Lancashire, County Durham and Northumberland were established as counties in the 12th century. Lancashire can be firmly dated to 1182.[39] Part of the domain of theBishops of Durham,Hexhamshire was split off and was considered an independent county until 1572, when it became part of Northumberland.
At the time of theDomesday Book, some parts of what later becameWales were included in English counties:Monmouth, for example, was included inHerefordshire.[40] Additionally, the Domesday Book included, as part of Cheshire, areas that later became part of Wales, including the two hundreds ofAtiscross and Exestan, and the southern part of Duddestan Hundred (as it was known as the time), which later became known asMaelor Saesneg (English Maelor), and (later still) "Flintshire Detached".[41] Parts of theMarch of Wales, which after theNorman conquest had been administered byMarcher Lords largely independently of the English monarch, were incorporated into the English counties of Shropshire, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire in 1535.
There was historic ambiguity as to the status of the county ofMonmouthshire. As with other Marcher areas added to existing counties, it was created out of "the said Country or Dominion of Wales" by theLaws in Wales Act 1535. It was then added to theOxford circuit of the English Assizes. For legal purposes it was regarded as part of England, but Laws since the late 19th century were often applied to "Wales and Monmouthshire".[42] It was listed among the English counties for parliamentary purposes until 1950 and for local government until 1974, but theLocal Government Act 1972 unambiguously included the area as part of Wales.[43]
Acharter ofHenry I in about 1130 gave theCity of London its ownSheriff.[44] The Sheriff of London also had jurisdiction over the county of Middlesex, so that "London and Middlesex were from that time regarded as one from an administrative point of view",[45] although they retained their separate identities. This relationship continued until theLocal Government Act 1888 created a new office ofHigh Sheriff of Middlesex appointed in the same manner as other English and Welsh counties, created theCounty of London with its own high sheriff, and restricted the jurisdiction of the sheriffs of London to the City.[45]
During the Middle Ages a number of other large cities and towns were granted the status of self-governing counties separate from adjacent counties. Such a county became known as acounty corporate or "county of itself". For most practical purposes this separate status was replaced in the late 19th century whencounty boroughs were introduced.
Bristol developed as a major port in the medieval period, straddling both sides of theRiver Avon which formed the ancient boundary betweenGloucestershire andSomerset. In 1373Edward III decreed
…that the said town of Bristol with its suburbs and their precinct, as the boundaries now exist, henceforward shall be separated and exempt in every way from the said counties of Gloucester and Somerset, on land and by water; that it shall be a county in itself and be called the county of Bristol for ever…[46]
Similar arrangements were later applied toNorwich (1404),Southampton (1447),Canterbury (1471),Gloucester (1483),Exeter (1537), andPoole (1571).[47]
Charters were granted constituting the boroughs or cities ofLincoln (1409),Nottingham (1448),Lichfield (1556) andWorcester (1622) as counties. TheCounty of the City of Coventry was separated from Warwickshire in 1451, and included an extensive area of countryside surrounding the city.[48]
Charters granting separate county status to the cities and boroughs ofChester (1238/9),York (1396),Newcastle upon Tyne (1400) andKingston-upon-Hull (with the surrounding area ofHullshire) (1440). In 1551Berwick upon Tweed, on the border withScotland, was created a county corporate.
The ancient counties have many anomalies, and many smallexclaves, where a parcel of land was politically part of one county despite not being physically connected to the rest of the county. TheCounties (Detached Parts) Act 1844 was passed, the effect of which was to treat many of these exclaves as part of the county which surrounded them. This had already been done for Parliamentary purposes under theGreat Reform Act 1832.
Large exclaves affected by the 1844 Act included the County Durham exclaves ofIslandshire,Bedlingtonshire andNorhamshire, which were subsequently treated as hundreds ofNorthumberland; and those parts ofHalesowen forming part of Shropshire, which wassubsequently treated as part ofWorcestershire, as the remainder already was.
Exclaves that the 1844 Act did not touch included the part ofDerbyshire aroundDonisthorpe, locally inLeicestershire; a part ofHuntingdonshire nearWoodbury Park, separated byCambridgeshire; and most of the larger exclaves of Worcestershire, including the town ofDudley, which remained surrounded byStaffordshire. Additionally, theFurness portion ofLancashire remained separated from the rest of Lancashire by a narrow strip of Westmorland — though it was accessible by way of theMorecambe Baytidal flats.
When the first county councils were set up in 1889, they covered newly created entities known asadministrative counties. Several historic subdivisions with separate county administrations were also created administrative counties, particularly the separateridings ofYorkshire, the separateparts of Lincolnshire, and the East and West divisions of Sussex.[49] TheLocal Government Act 1888 also contained wording to create both a new "administrative county" and a "county" ofLondon,[50] and to ensure that thecounty boroughs which were created at the same time continued for non-administrative purposes to be part of the county which they geographically lay.[51] These counties were to be used "for all purposes, whether sheriff, lieutenant, custos rotulorum, justices, militia, coroner, or other". The effect was that new county boroughs which were counties corporate retained their status as separate counties. In retrospect, these "statutory" counties can be identified as the predecessors of the ceremonial counties of England. The censuses of 1891, 1901 and 1911 provided figures for the "ancient counties".
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Several towns are historically divided between counties, includingBanbury,Burton upon Trent,Newmarket,Peterborough,Royal Tunbridge Wells,Royston, Stamford,Tamworth,Todmorden,Warrington andWisbech. In Newmarket and Tamworth the historic county boundary runs right up the middle of the high street; in Royal Tunbridge Wells the historic county boundary had a theatre (now the Corn Exchange) built right on it, with the actors playing in Sussex to an audience in Kent; and in Todmorden, the historically fractious border between Lancashire and Yorkshire (the river known as Walsden Water) hadTodmorden Town Hall built right on top of it on aculvert tunnel, dividing the hall down the middle between the two counties – a division reflected in its architecture. The 1888 Act ensured that every urban sanitary district would be considered to be part of a single county. This principle was maintained in the 20th century: when county boroughs such asBirmingham,Manchester,Reading andSheffield expanded into neighbouring counties, the area added became associated with the county borough's geographic county. This principle was not, however, applied toStockport[52] orCardiff, which remained divided, the latter even divided between Wales and England[53][54] (from 1938 Cardiff includedRumney in the territory of the historic county ofMonmouthshire, which was legally regarded as part of England until 1972 when it was instead assigned to Wales).
On 1 April 1965, a number of changes came into effect. The new administrative area ofGreater London was created, resulting in the abolition of the administrative counties of London and Middlesex, at the same time taking in areas from surrounding counties. On the same date the new counties ofCambridgeshire and Isle of Ely and ofHuntingdon and Peterborough were formed by the merger of pairs of administrative counties. The new areas were also adopted for lieutenancy and shrievalty purposes.[55][56]
In 1974 a major local government reform took place under theLocal Government Act 1972. The Act abolished administrative counties and county boroughs, and divided England (except Greater London and the Isles of Scilly) into counties. These were of two types: "metropolitan" and "non-metropolitan" counties.[4][57] Apart from local government, the new counties were "substituted for counties of any other description" for judicial, shrievalty, lieutenancy and other purposes.[58] Several counties, such asCumberland,Herefordshire,Rutland,Westmorland andWorcestershire, vanished from the administrative map, while new entities such asAvon,Cleveland,Cumbria andHumberside appeared, in addition to the six newmetropolitan counties.[4][59]
The built-up areas of conurbations tend to cross historic county boundaries freely.[60] Examples areBournemouth–Poole–Christchurch (Dorset andHampshire)Greater Manchester (Cheshire,Derbyshire, Yorkshire andLancashire),Merseyside (Cheshire and Lancashire),Teesside (Yorkshire and County Durham),South Yorkshire (Yorkshire,Nottinghamshire andDerbyshire),Tyneside (County Durham andNorthumberland) andWest Midlands (Staffordshire,Warwickshire andWorcestershire).Greater London itself straddles five ancient counties —Essex,Hertfordshire, Kent,Middlesex,Surrey — and the London urban area sprawls into Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. The Local Government Act 1972 sought generally to unite conurbations within a single county, while retaining the historic county boundaries as far as was practicable.[4][17]
In a period of financial crisis,[61] thePost Office was able to alter many of itspostal counties in accordance with the 1965 and 1974 reforms, but not all. The two major exceptions wereGreater London andGreater Manchester. Greater London was not adopted in 1965, since, according to the Post Office at the time, it would have been too expensive to do so, while it gave as its reason for not adopting Greater Manchester the ambiguity of the name with theManchester post town. Perhaps as a result of this, the ancient counties appear not to have fallen completely out of use for locating places in Greater Manchester, along with areas of Greater London that are not part of theLondon post town. It is common for people to speak of "Uxbridge, Middlesex", "Dagenham, Essex" or "Bromley, Kent" (which are outside the London postal district), but much less so to speak of "Brixton, Surrey", "Greenwich, Kent", or "West Ham, Essex" (which are inside it).
In 1996, following further local government reform and the modernisation of its sorting equipment, the Royal Mail ceased to use counties at all in the direction of mail.[62] Instead it now uses the outward code (first half) of the postcode. The former postal counties were removed in 2000 from itsPostcode Address File database and included in an "alias file",[63] which is used tocross-reference details that may be added by users but are no longer required, such as former street names or historic, administrative and former postal counties.
During a public consultation in 2009Postcomm found that many respondents objected to the use of counties in the alias file. In May 2010 Postcomm announced that it was encouraging Royal Mail to discontinue the use of counties in its alias file at the earliest opportunity. However, because some existing software included the use of counties, Royal Mail was advised not to implement the change before 2013.[64]
The historic counties of England continue to be used as the basis forcounty cricket teams[65] and the governance ofcricket in England through theECB County Boards.[66] There are exceptions in that Rutland is integrated with Leicestershire; the Isle of Wight has its own board outside the Hampshire one; there is a board for the ceremonial county of Cumbria which is representative of both Cumberland and Westmorland. In addition, the ECB County Boards include one for the country of Wales.
A review of the structure of local government in England by theLocal Government Commission for England led to the restoration of theEast Riding of Yorkshire,Herefordshire,Rutland andWorcestershire as administrative areas in the 1990s; the abolition of Avon, Cleveland and Humberside within 25 years of their creation; and the restoration of the traditional borders between Somerset and Gloucestershire (except atBristol), County Durham and Yorkshire (towards the mouth of theRiver Tees; not inTeesdale), and Yorkshire and Lincolnshire for ceremonial purposes in these areas. The case of Huntingdonshire was considered twice, but the Commission found that "there was no exceptional county allegiance to Huntingdonshire, as had been perceived in Rutland and Herefordshire".[67]
TheAssociation of British Counties (ABC), with its regional affiliates, such as theFriends of Real Lancashire and theYorkshire Ridings Society,[68][69] promotes the historic counties. It states that the"...ABC contends that Britain needs a fixed popular geography, one divorced from the ever changing names and areas of local government...The ABC, therefore, seeks to fully re-establish the use of the historic counties as the standard popular geographical reference frame of Britain and to further encourage their use as a basis for social, sporting and cultural activities.[70]
The Campaign for Historic Counties is dedicated to campaigning, both in the public arena and among parliamentarians, for the restoration of historic counties. Their objectives are:[71]
In 2013,Secretary of State for Communities and Local GovernmentEric Pickles formally recognised and acknowledged the continued existence of England's 39 historic counties.[72][73][74] On 23 April 2014 a new initiative was announced to support the 'tapestry' of traditional English counties, including the removal of a restriction preventing the names of traditional counties being displayed on street and road signs.[75] In August 2014, the first road sign was erected to mark the boundary of the historic county of Yorkshire.[76] The Government is also publishing a new online interactive map of England's county boundaries.[75] The Government has previously changed rules to allow local and county flags to be flown without planning permission, and supported theFlag Institute in encouraging a new wave of county and community flags to be designed and flown by local communities. The flags of England's historic counties have been flown from Government offices in support of these identities. All 39 counties have registered flags, with the flag of Leicestershire the last to be adopted. In July 2019 the UK Government published official guidance on Celebrating the Historic Counties of England, stating that "the tapestry of England's historic counties is one of the bonds which draws our nation together".[77]
Sussex[78] andYorkshire,[79] both historic counties and long abandoned as units for administrative purposes, have continued to be widely recognised as cultural regions, significant in sport and used by many organisations as regional units. These counties, and several others, have acounty day in which the culture and history of the historic county is celebrated; many of these county days were created in the 21st century.
Adirect action group,CountyWatch, was formed in 2004 to remove what its members consider to be wrongly placed county boundary signs that do not mark the historic or traditional county boundaries of England andWales. They have removed, resorted or erected a number of what they claim to be "wrongly sited" county boundary signs in various parts of England. For instance, in Lancashire 30 signs were removed.[80] CountyWatch has been criticised for such actions by the councils that erected the signs:[81]Lancashire County Council pointed out that the taxpayers would have to pay for the signs to be re-erected.[82]
The only political party with a manifesto commitment to restore the boundaries and political functions of all ancient counties, includingMiddlesex andMonmouthshire, is theEnglish Democrats Party.[83]
By the late Middle Ages the county was being used as the basis of a number of functions.[15]
At the head of the legal hierarchy were thesheriff and thekeeper of the rolls for each county. A sheriff, a king-appointed official for the shire or "shire'sreeve", held responsibility for keeping the peace. Some shires shared a sheriff with neighbouring counties for hundreds of years, such as:
In 1908, the Lord Lieutenant became more senior than the Sheriff. The position of Sheriff also became more ceremonial: many shrieval responsibilities were transferred to High Court judges, magistrates, coroners, local authorities and the police.
TheAssize Courts used counties, or their major divisions, as a basis for their organisation.[16]Justices of the peace originating in Norman times as Knights of the Peace,[84] were appointed in each county. Until the 19th century law enforcement was mostly carried out at theparish level. With an increasingly mobile population, however, the system became outdated. Following the successful establishment of theMetropolitan Police in London, theCounty Police Act 1839 empowered justices of the peace to form county constabularies outside boroughs. The formation of county police forces was made compulsory by theCounty and Borough Police Act 1856.
The justices had responsibility for maintaining countygaols andhouses of correction. During the 19th centurypenal reformers campaigned against the often primitive conditions in gaols, and under thePrison Act 1877 they came underHome Office control.[85]
In the 1540s the office ofLord Lieutenant was instituted. The lieutenants had a military role, previously exercised by the sheriffs, and were made responsible for raising and organising themilitia in each county. The lieutenancies were subsequently given responsibility for theVolunteer Force. In 1871 the lieutenants lost their positions as heads of the militia, and their office became largely ceremonial.[86] TheCardwell andChilders Reforms of theBritish Army linked the recruiting areas of infantry regiments to the counties.
Each English county sent twoKnights of the Shire to theHouse of Commons (in addition to the burgesses sent by boroughs). Yorkshire gained two members in 1821 whenGrampound was disenfranchised. TheGreat Reform Act 1832 reapportioned members throughout the counties, many of which were also split into parliamentary divisions. Constituencies based on the ancient county boundaries remained in use until 1918.
From the 16th century onwards the county was increasingly used as a unit oflocal government as the justices of the peace took on various administrative functions known as "county business". This was transacted at thequarter sessions, summoned four times a year by the lord lieutenant. By the 19th century the county magistrates were exercising powers over the licensing of alehouses, the construction of bridges, prisons and asylums, the superintendence of main roads, public buildings and charitable institutions, and the regulation of weights and measures.[87] The justices were empowered to levy local taxes to support these activities, and in 1739 these were unified as a single "county rate", under the control of a county treasurer.[88] In order to build and maintain roads and bridges, a salaried county surveyor was to be appointed.[89]
By the 1880s it was being suggested that it would be more efficient if a wider variety of functions were provided on a county-wide basis.[90]
Some of the counties had major subdivisions. Of these, the most significant were the divisions of Yorkshire: theEast Riding,West Riding,North Riding and theainsty of York. Since Yorkshire was so large, itsridings became established as geographical terms quite apart from their original role as administrative divisions. The second largest county,Lincolnshire, was also sub divided into three historic "parts":Parts of Lindsey,Holland andKesteven, and the Parts of Lindsey was itself divided into three ridings (North Riding,South Riding andWest Riding). Other divisions include the special status ofTower Hamlets withinMiddlesex, those ofSussex intoEast Sussex andWest Sussex andSuffolk intoEast Suffolk andWest Suffolk, and, more informally and hence more vaguely, of Kent intoEast Kent andWest Kent.
Several counties hadliberties orsokes within them that were administered separately.Cambridgeshire had theIsle of Ely, andNorthamptonshire had theSoke of Peterborough. Such divisions were used by such entities as theQuarter Sessions courts and were inherited by the lateradministrative county areas under the control ofcounty councils.
Most English counties were subdivided into smaller subdivisions calledhundreds. Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire were divided into wapentakes (a unit of Danish origin), while Durham, Northumberland, Cumberland and Westmorland were divided intowards, areas originally organised for military purposes, each centred on a castle.[91] Kent and Sussex had an intermediate level between the county and hundreds, known aslathes in Kent andrapes in Sussex. Hundreds or their equivalents were divided intotithings andparishes (the only class of these divisions still used administratively), which in turn were divided intotownships andmanors. In the 17th century theOssulstone hundred of Middlesex was further divided into four divisions, which replaced the functions of the hundred. The borough and parish were the principal providers of local services throughout England until the creation of ad-hoc boards and, later, local government districts.
The historic counties are as follows:
| County | Other names | Contraction | Additional status | 1891 area ranka | Origins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Bedfordshire | County of Bedford | Beds[92][93][94] | 36 | Anglo-Saxon origins as a shire. | |
 Berkshire | County of Berks | Berks[92][93][94] | Royal county | 34 | Anglo-Saxon origins as a shire. |
 Buckinghamshire | County of Buckingham | Bucks[92][93][94] | 33 | Anglo-Saxon origins as a shire of theKingdom of Mercia. | |
 Cambridgeshire | County of Cambridge | Cambs[92][93][94] | 25 | Anglo-Saxon origins as a shire. First mentioned early in the 11th century. | |
 Cheshire | County of Chester | Ches[92][94] | County palatine | 20 | Anglo-Saxon origins as a shire, probably dating from early in the 10th century. |
 Cornwall | Kernow | Corn[92][94] | Duchy + partial palatine powers | 15 | The western part ofDumnonia and then theKingdom of Cornwall. |
 Cumberland | Cumb[92][94] | 11 | AfterHenry II regained territory from the Scots in the far north-west in 1157, the County of Carliol was established. By 1177, Carliol had become known as Cumberland. | ||
 Derbyshire | County of Derby | Derbys[94] | 19 | Formed in the late Anglo-Saxon period from part of the Mercian Kingdom's province of the Peak District. | |
 Devon | Devonshire | 3 | An Anglo-Saxon shire whose name was derived from the Celtic kingdom ofDumnonia, with the shire of Devon forming the central-west part of the former kingdom. | ||
 Dorset | Dorsetshire | Dor[94] | 23 | Ninth century Anglo-Saxon origins as a region of the people around Dorchester. First named as a shire in the 10th century. | |
 County Durham | County of Durham (informally,County Durham) | Co Dur[94] | County palatine | 21 | The Anglo-SaxonLiberty of Durham. Recognized as a county palatine in 1293. |
 Essex | 10 | Established in the late Anglo-Saxon period, some time after the larger formerKingdom of the East Saxons had lost its independence. | |||
 Gloucestershire | County of Gloucester | Glos[92][93][94] | 17 | Anglo-Saxon origins as a shire. | |
 Hampshire | County of Southampton,[95] Southamptonshire | Hants[92][93][94] | 8 | Anglo-Saxon origins as a shire. | |
 Herefordshire | County of Hereford | Here[94] | 27 | Recorded as an Anglo-Saxon shire from the time ofAthelstan (895–939). | |
 Hertfordshire | County of Hertford | Herts[92][93][94] | 35 | Anglo-Saxon origins as a shire. | |
 Huntingdonshire | County of Huntingdon | Hunts[92][94] | 37 | Of Danish origin, the shire of Huntingdon was first delimited in Anglo-Saxon times. | |
 Kent | County palatine | 9 | The JutishKingdom of Kent. Designated as county palatine in 1067. | ||
 Lancashire | County of Lancaster | Lancs[92][93][94] | County palatine | 6 | The hundreds in-between theMersey and theRibble in theDomesday Book. Established as a county in 1182. |
 Leicestershire | County of Leicester | Leics[92][93][94] | 28 | Oldest surviving record of the county name is in the Domesday Book of 1087. | |
 Lincolnshire | County of Lincoln | Lincs[92][93][94] | 2 | The Anglo-SaxonKingdom of Lindsey was established in the 5th or 6th century and later it was merged with the Danelaw borough ofStamford to form Lincolnshire. | |
 Middlesex | Mx,[92] Middx,[93] Mddx[94] | 38 | The county has its roots in theMiddle Saxon Province of the Anglo-SaxonKingdom of Essex. | ||
 Norfolk | Norf[94] | 4 | Originally the northern half of theKingdom of East Anglia, it was first mentioned in Anglo-Saxon wills dating from the middle of the 11th century. | ||
 Northamptonshire | County of Northampton | Northants[92][93][94] | 22 | Of Anglo-Saxon origins, the county's name was first recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 1011. | |
 Northumberland | Northumb,[92][94] Northd[93][94] | 5 | The Anglo-Saxon kingdom ofBernicia, which became the northern part of Anglo-SaxonNorthumbria. Incorporated into England in AD 927 and subsequently absorbed into theEarldom of Northumbria before the northern part became theEarldom of Northumberland in 1377. | ||
 Nottinghamshire | County of Nottingham | Notts[92][93][94] | 26 | Although established as an organised territory by 6th century, its first mention in historical records occurs in 1016 when it was harried byCanute. | |
 Oxfordshire | County of Oxford | Oxon[92][93][94] | 31 | Anglo-Saxon origins as a shire. | |
 Rutland | Rutlandshire | Rut[94] | 39 | An Anglo-Saxonsoke that was first mentioned as a separate county in 1159. | |
 Shropshire | County of Salop | Shrops, Salop[92] | 16 | Anglo-Saxon origins as a shire of theKingdom of Mercia. | |
 Somerset | Somersetshire | Som[92][94] | 7 | Anglo-Saxon origins as a shire of Wessex with a documented history dating back to the reign ofKing Ine. | |
 Staffordshire | County of Stafford | Staffs,[92][93] Staf[94] | 18 | Although probably established early in the 10th century, its first mention in historical records occurs in 1016 when it was harried by Canute. | |
 Suffolk | Suff[94] | 12 | Formed from the southern part of theKingdom of East Anglia. While it was recorded as a distinct from Norfolk in the Domesday Book of 1086, it may have been established as a shire in its own right in the years preceding the Conquest. | ||
 Surrey | Sy[94] | 30 | |||
 Sussex | Sx,[96] Ssx[94] | 13 | Kingdom of Sussex emerged in the 5th century and subsumed into an Anglo-Saxon shire of Wessex in 9th century. | ||
 Warwickshire | County of Warwick | Warks,[93] War,[92] Warw[94] | 24 | ||
 Westmorland | Westm[94] | 29 | TheBarony of Kendal and theBarony of Westmorland were formed into the single county of Westmorland in 1226-7. | ||
 Wiltshire | County of Wilts | Wilts[92][93][94] | 14 | ||
 Worcestershire | County of Worcester | Worcs[92][93][94] | 32 | First constituted as an Anglo-Saxon shire in 927 but associated with the older kingdom of theHwicce. | |
 Yorkshire | County of York | Yorks[92][94] | 1 | AnglianDeira thenScandinavian York |
The historic counties of England are included in theIndex of Place Names (IPN) published by theOffice for National Statistics. Each "place" included in the IPN is related to the historic county it lies within, as well as to a set of administrative areas.
At the time of the2009 structural changes to local government in England, the ancient counties continue to form, with considerably altered boundaries, many of theceremonial andnon-metropolitan counties in England. Some ancient counties have their names preserved in multiple contemporary units, such as Yorkshire inNorth Yorkshire andWest Yorkshire or now correspond to another type of subdivision, such as theHuntingdonshire district. In some areas ancient counties have been abandoned for local government use and then later revived.
Thevice counties, used for biological recording since 1852, are largely based on historic county boundaries. They ignore all exclaves and are modified by subdividing large counties and merging smaller areas into neighbouring counties; such as Rutland with Leicestershire and Furness with Westmorland. The static boundaries makelongitudinal study of biodiversity easier. They also cover the rest of Great Britain and Ireland.
Notes
Ancient County: Counties are geographic entities whose origins reach back into the pre-Conquest period. They were derived either from Jutish, Celtic and Anglo-Saxon kingdoms whose size made them suitable administrative units when England was unified in the tenth century, or as artificial creations formed from larger kingdoms. The number of 'shires' (the Anglo-Saxon term) or 'counties' (Norman term) varied in the medieval period, particularly in the north of England.
...the pattern of areas outside the conurbations has been based on the traditional counties. Some of the smallest counties have been amalgamated (e.g. Rutland and Leicestershire, Hereford and Worcester) and there have been boundary adjustments (e.g. between Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire) where the pattern of county boundaries no longer conforms to the pattern of life and administrative needs. But, otherwise, the geographical counties have remained substantially as before.
local government 1974 reform england.
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)Certainly there were links between Cheshire and south Lancashire before 1000, when Wulfric Spot held lands in both territories. Wulfric's estates remained grouped together after his death, when they were left to his brother Ælfhelm, and indeed there still seems to have been some kind of connexion in 1086, when south Lancashire was surveyed together with Cheshire by the Domesday commissioners. Nevertheless, the two territories do seem to have been distinguished from one another in some way and it is not certain that the shire-moot and the reeves referred to in the south Lancashire section of Domesday were the Cheshire ones.
Bibliography