In other cases, such as the cities ofCanterbury andLancaster, the status applies to a local government district which extends over a number of towns and rural areas outside the main settlement proper.[3] In England, city status sometimes applies tocivil parishes, such as withRipon; though the status may not apply to the local government district which share their name. For example, the civil parishes ofLichfield andChichester each hold city status, butLichfield District andChichester District in which they are situated do not.
The title of city was initially informal and, into the 20th century, royal charters were considered torecognise city status rather than grant it.[d] The usual criterion inearly modern Britain was the presence of acathedral, particularly afterKing Henry VIII grantedletters patent establishing six new cities when he established a series of newdioceses of the Church of England in the 1540s as part of theEnglish Reformation.[7] No new cities were created between the 16th and 19th centuries, but following theIndustrial Revolution and the accompanyingpopulation boom and growth inurbanisation, newsees were established atRipon (1836) andManchester (1847); their councils began to style them cities immediately.Inverness in Scotland was refused a charter at the time of theDiamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria honours of 1897, in part because it would have drawn more attention to the other traditional "cities" still not formally chartered as such.[3][page needed]
Beginning in the mid-19th century, however, the process became more formal. After a visit byQueen Victoria in 1851, Manchester petitionedParliament for recognition of its status. Ripon followed in the 1860s, and a series of hitherto informal "cities" were formally recognised in the 1880s and 1890s. On the basis of its size, importance, and regular government,Belfast was elevated in spite of its lack of a cathedral in 1888; other large municipalities followed, while smaller applicants began to be rejected. KingEdward VII and theHome Office established three criteria for future applicants in 1907: a minimum population of 300,000, a good record of local government, and a "local metropolitan character".[3] These criteria were not made public, however, and followingLeicester's successful elevation in 1919, a series of exceptions were made. TheLocal Government Act 1972 effectively eliminated all authorities holding city status outsideGreater London on 1 April 1974; most of their replacements were confirmed in their predecessor's status—even in cases such as the 1974–2023City of Carlisle district, where much of the local authority area was undeveloped countryside—but theBorough of Medway wasnot permitted to continue Rochester's title. In recent times there have beencompetitions for new grants of city status. Towns or councils that claim city status or add "city" to their name have been rebuked by theAdvertising Standards Authority.[8]
Thirty-two cities have a Lord Provost (in Scotland) or a Lord Mayor (in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland), seeList of lord mayoralties and lord provostships in the United Kingdom. The six cities where the Lord Mayor or Lord Provost has the right to the styleThe Right Honourable are York, the City of London, Edinburgh, Glasgow (since 1912), Belfast (since 1923), and Cardiff (since 1956).
City status has little statistical significance in UK because it is not a measure of a city's size and only holds a ceremonial status. Historic cities, such asSt Davids (a cathedral city in Wales) can be quite small, but newer cities, such as thoseconferred in 2022, can range in size from anywhere between 50,000 to over 200,000. Populous towns, such asLuton,Northampton andReading, do not have city status.
Conversely, many official cities in the UK contain a substantial rural area encompassing settlements which are physically separated from the core urban area. TheCity of Milton Keynes (a unitary authority) andCity of Colchester (non-metropolitan district) received letters patent which covered an area substantially larger than that of their respective core urban areas; this meant that extra-urban settlements such as the towns ofOlney[15] andWest Mersea fall withinde jure cities.[16][17]
Location of cities in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man: Diocese cities before 1230 English reformation cities (1540–42); Derry (1604) 18th century cities to 2022
TheBritish Overseas Territories and theCrown Dependencies do not form part of theUnited Kingdom but are part of its sovereign territory. Association of city status with cathedrals ended in 1865.[110] There are presently five cities in Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.[111]
^meaning before 1189, the official start of English common law
^ the City of London covers only the "square mile", and is usually just referred to as "the City". The larger conurbation ofGreater London has no city charter, and consists of the City of London, theCity of Westminster and 31 otherLondon boroughs.
^The title of City was used "by courtesy" after 1550 when Westminster ceased to be the see of a bishop. By Letters Patent dated 27 October 1900 city status was conferred on the newly createdMetropolitan Borough of Westminster from 1 November.[19] This status was continued on the creation of theCity of Westminster as aLondon borough in 1965.
^abcCity status confirmed by Letters Patent issued under the Great Seal dated 25 June 1974.[21]
^abcdPresent Unitary Council Areas which incorporate majority areas from the 4 cities that existed prior to the introduction of theLocal Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 are declared "cities" by that same act, which also reserves the post ofLord Provost for the convener of the four councils.
^abcdefghCity status confirmed by Letters Patent issued under theGreat Seal dated 28 May 1974.[27]
^abLetters Patent under theGreat Seal were issued on 29 March 1996 ordaining that the counties of Swansea and Cardiff should have the status of cities from 1 April 1996. The counties replaced the previous district councils which had enjoyed city status.[30]
^The Letters Patent also granted the title of Lord Mayor.[31]
^A letter from theHome Secretary to theMayor of Leicester dated 14 June 1919, confirming that the city status would be bestowed, noted that this was a "restoration to your ancient town of its former status of a city".[32][33][34]
^City Status confirmed by Letters Patent issued under theGreat Seal dated 18 March 1975.[47]
^Burghs of Old Aberdeen and Woodside and the district of Torry incorporated as the City and Royal Burgh of Aberdeen by theAberdeen Corporation Act 1891 (54 & 55 Vict. c. cxxiv).
^Letters Patent under theGreat Seal conferring City Status were issued to the unitary authority of York on 1 April 1996, confirming the right of the Lord Mayor to be styled "Right Honourable", in continuation to those granted to the previous City Council abolished 31 March 1996.[30]
^abLetters Patent dated 1 June 2012 "to ordain that the Town of Chelmsford in the County of Essex and the Town of St Asaph in the County of Denbighshire shall have the status of a City".[56]
^Warrant issued 28 January 1889 that Letters Patent be issued under the Seal appointed by the treaty of union to be used in place of the Great Seal of Scotland, ordaining and declaring that the Burgh of Dundee shall be a City, and shall be called and styled "The City of Dundee".[63]
^City status was confirmed by Letters Patent dated 9 July 1974.[67] The city status extends to the entire district, although the district council calls itself "St Albans District Council" or "St Albans City and District"
^Legally, the city and county are called "Londonderry", while the local government district is called "Derry". SeeDerry/Londonderry name dispute.[80]
^City status was conferred on Hereford Town Council 11 October 2000.[76] The status had previously been confirmed to the district council formed in 1974. When that council was abolished in 1996charter trustees were formed for the City of Hereford. On the formation of a town council for Hereford in April 2000 the charter trustees were dissolved, and the city status temporarily lapsed.
^Letters Patent 1 April 2009[91] City status had been held prior to this date and, since 1974, by theCharter Trustees of the City of New Sarum (The city of Salisbury's formal name was New Sarum cf.Old Sarum from 1227 until 2009)
^Letters Patent dated 4 November 1980. A town council had been constituted in 1980 leading to the dissolution of theCharter Trustees of the City of Lichfield.[93][94]
^Armagh had previously enjoyed city status, withSt Patrick's Cathedral the seat of the metropolitanprimate of all Ireland. The city status was lost in 1840 when the city corporation was abolished. However, the successorurban district council and district council frequently used the title of city without official sanction prior to 1994.
^St David's historically had city status because of the presence ofSt David's Cathedral. In 1849 it was noted that the city had no municipal corporation: There was however a recognised "city" in which a mayor had limited jurisdiction.[106] A Royal Commission appointed in 1876 reported that the corporation had long been extinct, and the city was formally abolished in 1886 under the provisions of theMunicipal Corporations Act 1883.[107] Letters Patent dated 16 September 1994 ordained that the "Town of St. David's shall have the status of a City".[108]
^Nennius (Traditional attribution) (1898) [Composed after AD 830],"VI. Civitates Britanniae", inMommsen, Theodore (ed.),Chronica Minora, Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctorum Antiquissimi xiii (in Latin), Berlin: Weidmann – via Latin Wikisource
^abcd"Mid-2023 population estimates".National Records of Scotland ("Data Mid Year Population Estimates 2023" spreadsheet). 8 October 2024 [Estimates refer to population as of 30 June 2023]. Sheet Page "Table 4". Retrieved10 June 2025.
^"Crown Office – The Gazette". 29 September 2022.The Late Queen was pleased by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm dated 5 September 2022 to ordain that the Borough of Colchester shall have the status of a City.
^"No. 24502".The London Gazette. 11 September 1877. p. 5185.to ordain and declare that the Borough of Saint Albans, in the county of Hertford, shall be a City, and shall be called and styled 'The City of Saint Albans, in the county of Hertford.'
^Created a royal burgh at some point under King David I (1124–53) although the earliest surviving charters date to 1209 or 1210; the status was abolished in 1975.[3][page needed][89]
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