The counties of England are territorial divisions of England for the purposes of administrative, political and geographical demarcation. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Many current counties have foundations in older divisions such as the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. The History of Anglo-Saxon England covers the history of Early medieval England from the end of Roman Britain and the establishment of Anglo-Saxon The name county originates in the area formerly or nominally administered by a Count, although in Britain the situation is complicated by the fact that the title Count has been replaced in normal usage by the older Saxon title of Earl. A count is a Nobleman in European countries The word count comes from French comte, itself from Latin Earl was the Anglo-Saxon form and jarl the Scandinavian form of a title meaning " Chieftain " and referring especially to chieftains An Earl's wife, however, bears the title of Countess.
The names, boundaries and functions of these divisions have changed considerably in modern times. Indeed, a series of local government reforms from the 19th century onwards has left the exact definition of the term 'county' ambiguous. The term "counties of England" does not, therefore, refer to a unique canonical set of names or boundaries; in formal use, the type of county relevant to the specific task and period is explicitly stated e. g. ceremonial county, registration county, historic county or former postal county. The ceremonial counties are areas of England that are appointed a Lord-Lieutenant, and are defined by the government as the Counties for the purposes of the Lieutenancies A registration county was in England Wales and Northern Ireland a statistical unit used for the output of Census information The historic counties of England are ancient subdivisions of England. The postal counties of the United Kingdom, now known officially as the former postal counties, were subdivisions of the UK in routine use by the Royal Mail
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Historic counties
Known variously as the 39 historic, ancient or traditional counties. The system of counties, originally called shires, first emerged within the kingdom of Wessex, probably in the 7th century, and was extended across the rest of the country during the 9th, 10th and 11th centuries. A shire is an Administrative division of Great Britain and Australia. West Saxon redirects here For other meanings of Wessex or West Saxon see Wessex (disambiguation. They became established as a geographic reference frame over time. They ceased to be used for census reporting in 1841. Most of the historic counties continue to form part of the local government structure, often with reformed boundaries. [1]
Registration counties
Registration counties existed from 1851 to 1930 and were used for census reporting from 1851 to 1911. A registration county was in England Wales and Northern Ireland a statistical unit used for the output of Census information They were formed from the combined areas of smaller registration districts; originally based on municipal boroughs, the poor law unions and later sanitary districts. A registration district in the United Kingdom is a type of Administrative region which exists for the purpose of Civil registration of Births Municipal boroughs were a type of Local government which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974 in Northern Ireland from 1840 to A Poor Law Union was a unit used for local government in the United Kingdom from the 19th century Sanitary Districts were established in England and Wales in 1875 and in Ireland in 1878. Where these districts crossed historic borders of the United Kingdom boundaries they caused the registration counties to differ from the historic counties.
1889 to 1974
By the late nineteenth century there was increasing pressure to reform the government and areas of the counties. Administrative counties were a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government from 1889 to 1974 County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (excluding Scotland) to refer to a Borough or a City A boundary commission was appointed in 1887 to review all English and Welsh counties, and a Local Government Bill was introduced to parliament in the following year. The Local Government (Boundaries Act 1887 (50 & 51 Vict c61 was an act of the United Kingdom Parliament. The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories
The resulting Local Government Act 1888 established elected county councils in England in 1889, taking over many of the administrative functions of the Quarter Sessions courts, as well as being given other powers over the years. The Local Government Act 1888 (51 & 52 Vict c 41 was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1888 and established County councils and County borough A County council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a County. The Courts of Quarter Sessions or Quarter Sessions were periodic courts held in each County and County borough in England and Wales until A County of London was created from parts of Kent, Middlesex and Surrey. The County of London was a ceremonial county and administrative county of England from 1889 to 1965 KENT (1400 AM) is a Radio station broadcasting a Adult Standards/MOR format Middlesex is one of the 39 historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. [2] The counties were divided into administrative counties (the area controlled by a county council) and independent county boroughs. An administrative county was an Administrative division in England and Wales and Ireland used for the purposes of Local government. County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (excluding Scotland) to refer to a Borough or a City [3] Each county borough was technically an administrative county of itself, while a number of counties were divided into more than one administrative county; they were Cambridgeshire, Hampshire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Suffolk, Sussex and Yorkshire. History Cambridgeshire is noted as the site of some of the earliest known Neolithic permanent settlement in the United Kingdom, along with sites at Fengate Wildlife Hampshire has wildlife typical of the island of Great Britain Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs) is a county in the east of England. Northamptonshire (or archaically the County of Northampton; abbreviated Northants Suffolk (ˈsʌfək is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. Sussex is a historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. Yorkshire is a historic county of Northern England and the largest in Great Britain.
The counties used for purposes other than local government, such as lieutenancy, also changed, being either a single administrative county or a grouping of administrative counties and "associated" county boroughs. The title Lord Lieutenant is given to the British Monarch 's personal representatives in the United Kingdom, usually in a county or similar circumscription with varying The one exception was the City of London, which alone among counties corporate retained a separate lieutenancy. For London as a whole see the main article London. The City of London is a geographically A county corporate or corporate county was a form of Local government in England, Ireland and Wales. In legislation after 1888 the unqualified use of the term "county" refers to these entities, although the informal term "geographical county" was also used to distinguish them from administrative counties. They were shown on Ordnance Survey maps of the time under both titles, and are equivalent to the modern "ceremonial counties". Ordnance Survey (OS is an Executive agency of the United Kingdom government The ceremonial counties are areas of England that are appointed a Lord-Lieutenant, and are defined by the government as the Counties for the purposes of the Lieutenancies
There were considerable boundary changes between the counties over the period, with areas being exchanged and suburban areas in one county being annexed by county boroughs in another. A major realignment came in 1931, when the boundaries between Gloucestershire, Warwickshire, and Worcestershire were adjusted by the Provisional Order Confirmation (Gloucestershire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire) Act which transferred 26 parishes between the three counties, largely to eliminate exclaves. History See also History of Gloucestershire Gloucestershire is a historic county mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in the 10th century Geography Warwickshire is bounded to the northwest by the West Midlands Metropolitan county and Staffordshire, by Leicestershire to Worcestershire (ˈwʊstəʃə abbreviated Worcs) is a county located in the West Midlands region of central England. Until 1844 many of the counties in England and Wales had Exclaves or detached parts entirely surrounded by other counties
A Local Government Boundary Commission was set up in 1945 with the power to merge, create or divide all existing administrative counties and county boroughs. The Local Government Boundary Commission was established in 1945 to review the boundaries of local authority areas in England and Wales outside the Counties If the commission's recommendations had been carried out the county map of England would have been completely redrawn. The review process was instead abandoned after the 1950 general election. Results |} Total votes cast 28771124 All parties shown Conservative total includes Ulster Unionists Votes summary Seats summary
A Royal Commission on Local Government in Greater London was established in 1957 and a Local Government Commission for England in 1958 to recommend new local government structures. The Royal Commission on Local Government in Greater London, also known as the Herbert Commission, was established in 1957 and published its report in 1960 The Local Government Commission for England was established by the Local Government Act 1958 to review the organisation of local government and make "such proposals The major outcomes of the work of the commissions came in 1965: The original County of London was abolished and was replaced by the "administrative area" of Greater London, which also includes most of the remaining part of Middlesex and parts of Surrey, Kent, Essex and Hertfordshire; Huntingdonshire was merged with the Soke of Peterborough to form Huntingdon and Peterborough, and the original Cambridgeshire administrative county was merged with the Isle of Ely (historically the north of Cambridgeshire, around Ely) to form Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely. The County of London was a ceremonial county and administrative county of England from 1889 to 1965 Greater London is the top-level administrative subdivision covering London, England. Hertfordshire (ˈhɑːtfədʃə(r, abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of History The earliest English settlers in the district were the Gyrwas, an East Anglian tribe who early in the 6th century worked their way up the Ouse and the Cam The Soke of Peterborough is an historic area of England that is traditionally associated with the City and Diocese of Peterborough, but considered Huntingdon and Peterborough was a short-lived Administrative county in East Anglia in the United Kingdom. History Cambridgeshire is noted as the site of some of the earliest known Neolithic permanent settlement in the United Kingdom, along with sites at Fengate The Isle of Ely is a historic region around the city of Ely now in Cambridgeshire, England but previously a county in its own right Ely (, rhyming with "freely" is a Cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England. Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely was from 1965 to 1974 an Administrative county of England.
Changes in 1974
On 1 April 1974 the Local Government Act 1972 came into force. Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties are one of the four levels of Subdivisions of England used for the purposes of Local government outside Greater London Events 527 - Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne Year 1974 ( MCMLXXIV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. The Local Government Act 1972 (1972 c 70 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom, that reformed local government in England and Wales This abolished the existing local government structure in England and Wales (except in Greater London), replacing it with a new entirely two-tier system. History The Roman occupation of Britain was the first period in which the area of present-day England and Wales was administered as a single unit (with the exception It abolished the previously existing administrative counties and county boroughs (but not the previous non-administrative 'counties') and created a new set of 46 'counties' in England, 6 of which were metropolitan and 40 of which were non-metropolitan.
Some of the counties established by the Act were entirely new, such as Avon, Cleveland, Cumbria, Hereford and Worcester, and Humberside, along with the new metropolitan counties of Greater Manchester, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, West Midlands, and West Yorkshire. The former County of Avon was a non-metropolitan county and ceremonial county in the west of England, named after the River Avon, which Cleveland is an area in the north east of England. Its name means literally "cliff-land" referring to its hilly southern areas which rise to nearly. Boundaries and divisions Cumbria is neighboured by Northumberland, County Durham, North Yorkshire, Lancashire, and the Lieutenancy Hereford and Worcester was an English county created on 1 April 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 from the area of the former administrative Humberside was a Non-metropolitan county of England from 1 April 1974 until 1 April 1996. The metropolitan counties are a type of county-level Administrative division of England. Greater Manchester is a Metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2 Merseyside is a Metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1365900 Divisions and environs South Yorkshire is divided into four local government districts they are the City of Sheffield, the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster The West Midlands is a Metropolitan county in western central England with a population of 2591300 West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of The counties of Cumberland, Herefordshire, Rutland, Westmorland and Worcestershire vanished from the administrative map, as did the county boroughs. Cumberland is one of the 39 Historic counties of England. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 (excluding Carlisle from 1915 and now forms part of Constitution Herefordshire was reconstituted both as a new Non-metropolitan district (effective 19th July 1996 and as a new County comprising the area of the Rutland is a county of mainland England, bounded on the west and north by Leicestershire, northeast by Lincolnshire, and southeast by Westmorland (formerly also spelt Westmoreland, an even older spelling is Westmerland) is an area of north-west England and one of the 39 Historic counties Worcestershire (ˈwʊstəʃə abbreviated Worcs) is a county located in the West Midlands region of central England.
The abolition of county boroughs resulted in the distinction made between the Lieutenancy counties and the administrative ones becoming unnecessary. Section 216 of the Act adopted the new counties for ceremonial and judicial purposes.
A further local government reform in the 1990s grouped the counties into regions, created many small unitary authorities possessing county level status (re-establishing in effect if not in name the old county boroughs), and restored Herefordshire, Rutland and Worcestershire as administrative entities. The structure of Local government in the United Kingdom underwent large changes in the 1990s The region, also known as the government office region, is currently the highest tier of local government sub-national entity of England, with only one See also Independent city A unitary authority is a type of Local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all Local government functions Constitution Herefordshire was reconstituted both as a new Non-metropolitan district (effective 19th July 1996 and as a new County comprising the area of the Rutland is a county of mainland England, bounded on the west and north by Leicestershire, northeast by Lincolnshire, and southeast by Worcestershire (ˈwʊstəʃə abbreviated Worcs) is a county located in the West Midlands region of central England.
There are now 81 county level entities outside Greater London. Greater London is the top-level administrative subdivision covering London, England. Of these, 34 are so-called 'shire counties' with both county councils and district councils, and 40 are unitary authorities. A County council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a County. The districts of England are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government Six are metropolitan counties. The remaining one is Berkshire, whose county council has been abolished and its districts have become unitary authorities. Berkshire (ˈbɑːkʃə or /ˈbɑːkʃɪə/ say Baak-shuh/-sheer sometimes abbreviated to Berks) is a Home County in the South
Post-1996 ceremonial counties
Because of the local government reforms in the 1990s, the distinction between the counties used for local government and those used for Lieutenancy, abolished in 1974, was revived, and a new term, 'ceremonial county', coined. Most unitary authorities remained associated with the same county for Lieutenancy, and in a few areas the old ceremonial counties were restored (Bristol, East Riding of Yorkshire, Herefordshire, Rutland, Worcestershire). Bristol ( ˈbrɪstəl is a city, Unitary authority and ceremonial county in South West England, west of London Constitution Herefordshire was reconstituted both as a new Non-metropolitan district (effective 19th July 1996 and as a new County comprising the area of the Rutland is a county of mainland England, bounded on the west and north by Leicestershire, northeast by Lincolnshire, and southeast by Worcestershire (ˈwʊstəʃə abbreviated Worcs) is a county located in the West Midlands region of central England.
These are also known as the geographic counties and are generally used to describe a place's location in England. They are also taken into consideration by the boundary commission when they draw up boundaries for constituencies, for example.
Postal counties
The former postal counties as used by the Post Office are no longer required on addresses. The postal counties of the United Kingdom, now known officially as the former postal counties, were subdivisions of the UK in routine use by the Royal Mail Royal Mail is the national postal service of the United Kingdom. They included most of the 1974 changes, but did not acknowledge Greater Manchester or Greater London as postal counties. Greater Manchester is a Metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2 Greater London is the top-level administrative subdivision covering London, England. They went out of official use in 1996. However they are still widely used by many individuals and in areas where they do not coincide with administrative boundaries, particularly in Greater London, they have contributed to popular confusion as to which "county" an area is in.
See also
References
- ^ Her Majesty's Stationery Office, Aspects of Britain: Local Government (1996)
- ^ Thomson, D. " Home counties " is an informal phrase used to designate the group of counties that border or surround London, England. A non-metropolitan county or shire county in England, is a county-level entity which is not a Metropolitan county. , England in the Nineteenth Century (1815-1914) (1978)
- ^ Bryne, T. , Local Government in Britain, (1994)
External references
- Counties of England, Wales and Scotland prior to the 1974 Boundary Changes
- Administrative Areas of England - gives details of the 1974 changes
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