Editing Historic counties of England

{{Short description|Category of areas of England}}
{{distinguish|text = the [[Ceremonial counties of England]] or [[Home counties]]}}{{also|Counties of England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2017}}
{{Infobox subdivision type
| name=               County
| alt_name=           [[Shire]]
| map=                [[File:English counties 1851 with ridings.svg|250px]]
| caption=            Counties of England in 1851 with major rivers, the [[ridings of Yorkshire]], and the [[List of county exclaves in England and Wales 1844–1974|remaining exclaves]] shown
| category=           [[County]]
| territory=          [[England]]
| upper_unit=         Kingdom
| start_date=         5th–11th century
| current_number=     39
| number_date=        1 April 1889
| status=             [[County palatine]]
| population_range=   {{c.|21,000—3.4 million}} (1881)<ref name="1881 census">{{cite web |url=http://www.histpop.org/ohpr/servlet/PageBrowser2?ResourceType=Census&SearchTerms=england%20counties%201881&simple=yes&path=Results/Census/1881&active=yes&titlepos=1&mno=55&pageseq=6&page=PrinterPageBrowser |title=Population. England and Wales. Vol. I. [Ancient] counties, 1881 |page=vi |work=Census of England and Wales 1881 |publisher=Online Historical Population Reports |access-date=26 July 2010 |archive-date=16 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716180519/http://www.histpop.org/ohpr/servlet/PageBrowser2?ResourceType=Census&SearchTerms=england%20counties%201881&simple=yes&path=Results/Census/1881&active=yes&titlepos=1&mno=55&pageseq=6&page=PrinterPageBrowser |url-status=live }}</ref>
| area_range=         {{c.}} 94,000–{{convert|3.8|e6acre|km2}} (1881)<ref name="1881 census"/>
| government=         [[Shire court]]
| government1=        [[Sheriff|Shire-reeve]] (until 1066)
| government2=        [[Ealdorman]]
| government3=        [[Earl]] (from 1066)
| government4=        [[Quarter sessions]] (16th century–1889)
| government5=        [[County council]] (from 1 April 1889)
| subdivision=        Division, [[riding (division)|riding]], [[rape (county subdivision)|rape]], [[lathe (county subdivision)|lathe]], [[parts of Lincolnshire|parts]]
| subdivision1=       [[Hundred (county subdivision)|Hundred]] and equivalent
| subdivision2=       [[Parish (administrative division)|Parish]]
| subdivision3=
| subdivision4=
}}

The '''historic counties of England''' are areas that were established for administration by the [[Normans]], in many cases based on earlier [[Heptarchy|kingdoms]] and [[shire]]s created by the [[Angles (tribe)|Angles]], [[Saxons]], [[Jutes]], [[Celts]] and the [[Danes (tribe)|Danes]] and [[Norsemen|Norse]] in the North. They are alternatively known as ''ancient counties'',<ref name=1891census>{{cite web |url=http://www.histpop.org/ohpr/servlet/PageBrowser?path=Browse/Census%20%28by%20date%29/1891&active=yes&mno=61&tocstate=expandnew&display=sections&display=tables&display=pagetitles&pageseq=7 |title=Preliminary Report, England and Wales, 1891 |page=vii |work=Census of England and Wales 1891 |publisher=Online Historical Population Reports |access-date=26 July 2010 |archive-date=16 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716180624/http://www.histpop.org/ohpr/servlet/PageBrowser?path=Browse%2FCensus%20%28by%20date%29%2F1891&active=yes&mno=61&tocstate=expandnew&display=sections&display=tables&display=pagetitles&pageseq=7 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=youngsdef>{{cite book |last=Youngs | first= Frederic A Jr. |title=Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol.I: Southern England |year=1979 |publisher=[[Royal Historical Society]] |location=London |isbn=0-901050-67-9 |pages=xii-xiii|quote=''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.}}</ref> ''traditional counties'',<ref name=guide/> ''former counties''<ref>{{cite web |title=Definition of Sussex in English |url=https://www.advancedictionary.com/definition/sussex |website=Advance Dictionary |access-date=20 May 2021 |archive-date=20 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210520083710/https://www.advancedictionary.com/definition/sussex |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Co_VIPIJerIC|year=1997|publisher=Merriam-Webster|isbn=0877795460|page=1135|chapter=Suffolk|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Co_VIPIJerIC&pg=PA1135|access-date=21 September 2013}}</ref> or simply as ''counties''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Specsavers County Championship|url=https://www.ecb.co.uk/county-championship|publisher=ECB|access-date=15 April 2018|archive-date=16 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180416201708/https://www.ecb.co.uk/county-championship|url-status=live}}</ref> In the centuries that followed their establishment, as well as their administrative function, the counties also helped define local culture and identity.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bell|first1=Bethan|title=Flying the county flag: The preservation of an identity|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-26990828|website=BBC News|publisher=BBC|access-date=15 April 2018|date=20 April 2014|archive-date=8 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180508121356/http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-26990828|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Worrall|first1=Simon|title=Britons Feeling Rootless After Changes to England's Historic Counties|url=https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/11/141123-british-identity-matthew-engel-history-culture-ngbooktalk/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141126102654/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/11/141123-british-identity-matthew-engel-history-culture-ngbooktalk|url-status=dead|archive-date=26 November 2014|website=National Geographic|publisher=National Geographic Society|access-date=15 April 2018|date=22 November 2014}}</ref> This role continued even after the counties ceased to be used for administration after the creation of [[Administrative counties of England|administrative counties]] in 1889,<ref>[http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/types/type_page.jsp?unit_type=ANC_CNTY Vision of Britain] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170416220749/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/types/type_page.jsp?unit_type=ANC_CNTY |date=16 April 2017 }} — Type details for ancient county. Retrieved 19 October 2006,</ref> which were themselves amended by further local government reforms in the years following.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Chisholm|first1=Michael|title=Structural Reform of British Local Government: Rhetoric and Reality|year=2000|publisher=Manchester University Press|url=https://archive.org/details/structuralreform0000chis|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/structuralreform0000chis/page/22 22]|isbn=9780719057717|quote=local government 1974 reform england.|access-date=15 April 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=UK Local Government – Key Dates|url=http://www.jlgc.org.uk/en/pdfs/keydates.pdf|access-date=15 April 2018|archive-date=27 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211127190847/https://www.jlgc.org.uk/en/pdfs/keydates.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

Unlike the partly self-governing [[Ancient borough|borough]]s 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 – originally [[high sheriff|sheriff]]s and later the [[lord-lieutenant]]s – and their subordinate [[Justice of the peace|justices of the peace]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Chandler|first=J. A.|title=Explaining Local Government: Local Government in Britain Since 1800|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b0glBHiU9oAC|year=2007|publisher=Manchester University Press|location=Manchester|isbn=978-0719067068|page=2|chapter=Local government before 1832|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b0glBHiU9oAC&pg=PA2 }}</ref> Counties were used initially for the [[administration of justice]], collection of taxes and organisation of the military, and later for local government and electing parliamentary representation.<ref name="Hackwood">{{cite book |title=The Story of the Shire, being the Lore, History and Evolution of English County Institutions |year=1920 |publisher=Heath Cranton Limited |place=[[London]] |last=Hackwood |first=Frederick William |url=https://archive.org/download/storyofshirebein00hackuoft/storyofshirebein00hackuoft_bw.pdf }}</ref><ref name=bryne>{{cite book |last=Byrne |first=Tony |title=Local Government in Britain |year=1994 |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |location=[[Harmondsworth]] |isbn=0-14-017663-2}}</ref> They continue to form the basis of [[Local government in England|modern 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.<ref name=guide/><ref name=aspects>{{cite book |author=[[Central Office of Information]] |title=Local Government |series=Aspects of Britain |year=1996 |publisher=[[HMSO]] |location=London |isbn=0-11-702037-0}}</ref><ref name=hampton>{{cite book |last=Hampton |first=William |title=Local Government and Urban Politics |year=1991 |publisher=[[Longman]] |location=[[London]] |isbn=0-582-06204-7}}</ref>

==Nomenclature==
{{image frame
|content = {{England Counties 1851}}
|caption = [[Counties of England#Local government|Compare with 2010]]
}}
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.<ref name="Hackwood"/> The majority of English counties are in the first category, with the name formed by combining the central town with the suffix "-shire", for example [[Yorkshire]]. Former kingdoms which became [[earl]]doms in the [[Kingdom of England|united England]] did not feature this formulation; so for Kent, Surrey and the Isle of Wight, the former kingdoms of the [[Jutes]], "...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 as [[Cornwall]] and [[Devon]] where the name corresponds to the tribes who inhabited the area.<ref name="Hackwood"/> [[County Durham]] is anomalous in terms of naming and origin, not falling into any of the three categories. Instead, it was a [[diocese]] that was turned into the [[County Palatine of Durham]], ruled by the [[Bishop of Durham]].<ref name="Hackwood"/> The expected form would otherwise be "Durhamshire", but it was rarely used.

There are customary abbreviations for many of the counties. In most cases, these consist of simple truncation, usually with an "s" at the end signifying "shire", such as "Berks" for [[Berkshire]] or "Bucks" for [[Buckinghamshire]]. Some abbreviations are not obvious, such as "Salop" for [[Shropshire]], from the [[Norman conquest of England|Norman]]-derived word for its county town [[Shrewsbury]]; "Oxon" for [[Oxfordshire]], from Latin ''Oxonia'' (referring to both the county and the city of [[Oxford]]); "Hants" for [[Hampshire]]; and "Northants" for [[Northamptonshire]].<ref name="Hackwood"/> Counties can be prefixed with "County of" in official contexts with any "-shire" suffix dropped, such as "County of Kent" or "County 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 is "County of Berks". The "-shire" suffix was also appended for some counties, such as "Devonshire", "Dorsetshire" and "Somersetshire", despite their origin.<ref>The 1870s [[Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales]] used "[http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/descriptions/entry_page.jsp?text_id=811500&word=NULL Devonshire] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170417021133/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/descriptions/entry_page.jsp?text_id=811500&word=NULL |date=17 April 2017 }}", "[http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/descriptions/entry_page.jsp?text_id=808690&word=NULL Dorsetshire] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170416234325/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/descriptions/entry_page.jsp?text_id=808690&word=NULL |date=16 April 2017 }}" and  [http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/descriptions/entry_page.jsp?text_id=929750&word=NULL Somerset] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170426055858/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/descriptions/entry_page.jsp?text_id=929750&word=NULL |date=26 April 2017 }}" as headwords, also mentioning the Somersetshire usage. Retrieved 19 October 2006.</ref> For instance, there has been an [[Earl of Devonshire]] since 1603, and [[Duke of Devonshire]] since 1694.

==History==
[[File:Doomsday Book - Counties of England - 1086.png|thumb|The Counties of England as recorded in the [[Domesday Book]]]]

===Origins===
[[Great Britain]] was first divided into administrative areas by the Romans, most likely following major geographical features such as rivers.<ref name="Hackwood"/> 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 of [[Roman Britain]] around 410 these first divisions of land were generally abandoned, although traditional divisions taking the form of petty kingdoms such as [[Kingdom of Powys|Powys]], [[Dumnonia]] and [[Elmet]] remained in those areas which remained [[Britons (historical)|British]], such as [[South West England|south west England]]. The areas that would later form the English counties started to take shape soon afterwards, with the [[Kingdom of Kent]] founded by settlers around 445. In southern England more widely, [[shire]]s emerged from earlier sub-kingdoms as part of the administrative structure of [[Wessex]], which then imposed its system of shires, [[boroughs]] (or ''[[burh]]s'') and ''[[ealdormen]]'' on [[Mercia]] after it came under West Saxon control during the 10th century.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MKco_HXDTlYC&q=shires&pg=PA147|title=Wessex|first=Barbara|last=Yorke|date=1 January 1995|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=9780718518561|via=Google Books}}</ref> Once the [[Kingdom of England]] was united as a whole in 927 it became necessary to subdivide it for administrative convenience and to this end, [[earl]]doms 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 the [[Norman Conquest]]. [[Robert of Gloucester (historian)|Robert of Gloucester]] accounts for thirty-five shires and [[William of Malmesbury]] thirty-two,<ref name="Hackwood"/> Henry of Huntingdon, thirty-seven.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YGoNAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA5|title=The Chronicle of Henry of Huntingdon: Comprising the History of England, from the Invasion of Julius Cæsar to the Accession of Henry II. Also, The Acts of Stephen, King of England and Duke of Normandy|author=Henry of Huntingdon|date=29 December 1853|publisher=H. G. Bohn|via=Google Books}}</ref>

In Anglo-Saxon times the [[earl]] and sheriff were jointly responsible for administering each shire through its [[shire court]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zinkeisen |first1=Frank |title=The Anglo-Saxon Courts of Law |journal=Political Science Quarterly |date=March 1895 |volume=10 |issue=1 |page=139 |doi=10.2307/2139582 |jstor=2139582 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2139582 |access-date=13 October 2024|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Each earl was responsible for multiple shires, with some fluctuation in which shires belonged to which earldoms during this period.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rochelle |first1=Mercedes |title=English Earldoms of 1065 |url=https://historicalbritainblog.com/english-earldoms-of-1065/ |website=Historical Britain |access-date=13 October 2024}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Huscroft |first1=Richard |title=The Norman Conquest |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |location=Abingdon |isbn=9781317866275 |page=203 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1f3cAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA203 |access-date=13 October 2024}}</ref> The Norman French term for an earl was a ''comte'' or [[count]]; 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 the [[assizes]] and [[quarter sessions]].<ref name="Hackwood"/> 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.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Thoms |editor1-first=William John |title=The Book of the Court |date=1838 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=9781108078016 |pages=102–104 |edition=2015 facsimile |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oJM6DQAAQBAJ&dq=%22per%20servitum%20unius%20comitatus%22&pg=PA102 |access-date=13 October 2024}}</ref>

[[File:Gray1824.englandwales.jpg|thumb|An 1824 map of the English and Welsh counties]]
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 counties [[List of counties of England by area in 1831|varied considerably in size]]. The county boundaries were fairly static until the [[Local Government Act 1888]].<ref name=vob_census>[http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/text/chap_page.jsp?t_id=Cen_Guide&c_id=19&show=ALL Vision of Britain] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170416194539/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/text/chap_page.jsp?t_id=Cen_Guide&c_id=19&show=ALL |date=16 April 2017 }} — Census Geographies. Retrieved 19 October 2006.</ref> Each shire was responsible for gathering taxes for the central government; for local defence; and for justice, through [[assize courts]].<ref name=winchester>{{cite book |last=Winchester |first=Angus J L  |title=Discovering Parish Boundaries |year=1990 |publisher=[[Shire Books|Shire Publications]] |location=[[Oxford]] |isbn=0-7478-0060-X }}</ref>

====Southern England====
In southern England the counties were mostly subdivisions of the Kingdom of [[Wessex]], and in many areas represented annexed, previously independent, kingdoms or other tribal territories. [[Kent]] derives from the [[Kingdom of Kent]], Surrey from the Anglian word for 'southern region',<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=A Dictionary of British History |editor-last= Cannon |editor-first= John |edition= Revised |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=2009 |title= Surrey }}</ref> and [[Essex]], [[Sussex]] and [[Middlesex]] come from the [[Kingdom of Essex|East Saxons]], [[Kingdom of Sussex|South Saxons]] and [[Middle Saxons]]. Norfolk and Suffolk were subdivisions representing the "North Folk" and "South Folk" of the [[Kingdom 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 of [[Southampton]]. A "lost" Saxon county was [[Winchcombeshire]] which lasted from 1007 to 1017 before being incorporated into [[Gloucestershire]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/winchcombeshire-englands-lost-county-to-ring-in-its-1000th-year-441308.html|title=The Independent: Winchcombeshire, England's lost county, to ring in its 1,000th year|website=[[Independent.co.uk]]}}{{dead link|date=August 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> [[Dorset]] and [[Somerset]] derive their names from the ''saete'' or inhabitants of the areas around the towns of [[Dorchester, Dorset|Dorchester]] and [[Somerton, Somerset|Somerton]] respectively; the names were first used by the Saxons in the 9th century.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9eN87VsPaw0C&q=Somerset+Dorset+saete&pg=PA224|title=An Introduction to Anglo-Saxon England|first=Peter Hunter|last=Blair|date=17 July 2003|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521537773|via=Google Books}}</ref> [[Devon]] and [[Cornwall]] were based on the pre-Saxon [[Celtic Britain|Celtic]] tribes known in Latin as the [[Dumnonii]] and [[Cornovii (Cornwall)|Cornovii]], in the latter case with the suffix ''wealas'', meaning foreigners, added by the Saxons.

====Midlands====
When Wessex annexed [[Mercia]] in the 10th century, it subdivided the area into various shires of roughly equal size and tax-raising potential or [[hide (unit)|hidage]]. These generally took the name of the main town (the [[county town]]) of the county, along with "-shire". Examples are [[Northamptonshire]] and [[Warwickshire]]. In some cases the original names have been worn down: for example, [[Cheshire]] was originally "Chestershire".<ref>[http://www.domesdaybook.net/helpfiles/hs885.htm Domesday Explorer] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070210135741/http://www.domesdaybook.net/helpfiles/hs885.htm |date=10 February 2007 }} — Early administrative units. Retrieved 19 October 2006.</ref>

In the east Midlands, it is thought that county boundaries may represent a 9th-century division of the [[Danelaw]] between units of the Danish army.<ref name=winchester/> Rutland was an anomalous territory or [[soke (legal)|soke]], associated with [[Nottinghamshire]], but it eventually became considered the smallest county. [[Lincolnshire]] was the successor to the [[Kingdom of Lindsey]], and took on the territories of [[Kesteven]] and [[Holland, Lincolnshire|Holland]] when [[Stamford, Lincolnshire|Stamford]] became the only Danelaw borough to fail to become a county town.<ref>[http://www.stamforduk.co.uk/index.cfm?id=597&tid=204 Stamford Visitor Information] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060627013244/http://www.stamforduk.co.uk/index.cfm?id=597&tid=204 |date=27 June 2006 }} — Timeline. Retrieved 19 October 2006.</ref>

====Northern England====
Much of Northumbria was also shired, the best known of these counties being [[Hallamshire]] and [[Cravenshire]]. 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 Viking [[kingdom of York]] and the [[Celtic Britons|Brittonic]] kingdom of [[Elmet]]; at the time of the Domesday Book in 1086 it was considered to include what was to become northern [[Lancashire]], as well as parts of [[Cumberland]], and [[Westmorland]]. Most of the later Cumberland and Westmorland were under [[Scotland|Scottish]] rule until 1092. After the [[Norman Conquest]] in 1066 and the [[harrying of the North]], much of the North of England was left depopulated and was included in the returns for [[Cheshire]] and [[Yorkshire]] in the Domesday Book.<ref>[http://www.domesdaybook.net/helpfiles/hs760.htm Domesday Explorer] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061016181956/http://www.domesdaybook.net/helpfiles/hs760.htm |date=16 October 2006 }} — County definition. Retrieved 19 October 2006.</ref> However, there is some disagreement about the status of some of this land. The area in between the [[River Ribble]] and the River [[Mersey]], referred to as {{lang|la|"Inter Ripam et Mersam"}} in the Domesday Book,<ref name=sylvesterp14>Sylvester (1980). p. 14.</ref> was included in the returns for Cheshire.<ref>Morgan (1978). pp.269c–301c,d.</ref> Whether this meant that this land was actually part of Cheshire is however not clear.<ref name=sylvesterp14 /><ref name=handt>Harris and Thacker (1987). write on page 252: {{quotation|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.}}</ref><ref>Phillips and Phillips (2002). pp. 26–31.</ref><ref name=crosby>Crosby, A. (1996). writes on page 31: "The Domesday Survey (1086) included south Lancashire with Cheshire for convenience, but the Mersey, the name of which means 'boundary river' is known to have divided the kingdoms of Northumbria and Mercia and there is no doubt that this was the real boundary."</ref><ref>This means that the map given in this article which depicts the counties at the time of the Domesday Book is misleading in this respect.</ref> The Northeast land that later became [[County Durham]] and [[Northumberland]], 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.<ref name=George_D>{{cite book |title=Lancashire |url=https://archive.org/details/lancashireREED00georuoft |last=George |first=David |publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]] |location=[[Toronto]] |isbn=0-8020-2862-4 |year=1991}}</ref> Part of the domain of the [[Bishop of Durham|Bishops of Durham]], [[Hexhamshire]] was split off and was considered an independent county until 1572, when it became part of Northumberland.

===Welsh border===
At the time of the [[Domesday Book]], some parts of what later became [[Wales]] were included in English counties: [[Monmouth]], for example, was included in [[Herefordshire]].<ref>[http://www.domesdaybook.co.uk/herefordshire.html Domesday Book Online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170627001509/http://www.domesdaybook.co.uk/herefordshire.html |date=27 June 2017 }} – Herefordshire. Retrieved 19 October 2006.</ref> Additionally, the Domesday Book included, as part of Cheshire, areas that later became part of Wales, including the two hundreds of [[Hundreds of Cheshire|Atiscross and Exestan]], and the southern part of Duddestan Hundred (as it was known as the time), which later became known as [[Maelor Saesneg]] (English Maelor), and (later still) "[[Flintshire (historic)|Flintshire]] Detached".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|Thacker|1987|pp=340&ndash;341}}</ref> Parts of the [[Welsh Marches|March of Wales]], which after the [[Norman conquest]] had been administered by [[Marcher Lord]]s 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 of [[Monmouthshire (historic)|Monmouthshire]]. As with other Marcher areas added to existing counties, it was created out of "the said Country or Dominion of Wales" by the [[Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542|Laws in Wales Act 1535]]. It was then added to the [[Oxford 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]]".<ref>1911 ''Encyclopædia Britannica''</ref> It was listed among the English counties for parliamentary purposes until 1950 and for local government until 1974, but the [[Local Government Act 1972]] unambiguously included the area as part of Wales.<ref>[[Representation of the People Act 1918]], c.64; [[Representation of the People Act 1948]], c.65; [[Local Government Act 1933]], c.51; [[Local Government Act 1972]], c.70</ref>

===Counties corporate===
{{main|County corporate}}
A [[charter]] of [[Henry I of England|Henry I]] in about 1130 gave the [[City of London]] its own [[Sheriffs of the City of London|Sheriff]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.trytel.com/~tristan/towns/florilegium/government/gvcons01.html |title=Charter granted by Henry I to London |access-date=25 November 2008 |work=Florilegium Urbanum |year=2006 |archive-date=4 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090104171449/http://www.trytel.com/~tristan/towns/florilegium/government/gvcons01.html |url-status=live }}</ref> 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",<ref name=vch_middlesex>{{cite book |author= [[Victoria County History]] |title= A history of the County of Middlesex |volume= 2 |pages= 15–60. Paragraph 12 |url= http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22153 |access-date= 2 April 2012 |archive-date= 31 May 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120531055113/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22153 |url-status= live }}</ref> although they retained their separate identities. This relationship continued until the [[Local Government Act 1888]] created a new office of [[High Sheriff of Middlesex]] appointed in the same manner as other English and Welsh counties, created the [[County of London]] with its own high sheriff, and restricted the jurisdiction of the sheriffs of London to the City.<ref name=vch_middlesex />

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 a [[county corporate]] or "county of itself". For most practical purposes this separate status was replaced in the late 19th century when [[county borough]]s were introduced.

[[Bristol]] developed as a major port in the medieval period, straddling both sides of the [[River Avon (Bristol)|River Avon]] which formed the ancient boundary between [[Gloucestershire]] and [[Somerset]]. In 1373 [[Edward III of England|Edward III]] decreed

{{blockquote|…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…<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bristol.indymedia.org/article/27002|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728134542/http://bristol.indymedia.org/article/27002|url-status=dead|title=Text of Bristol Royal Charter of 1373|archivedate=28 July 2011}}</ref>}}

Similar arrangements were later applied to [[Norwich]] (1404), [[Southampton]] (1447), [[Canterbury]] (1471), [[Gloucester]] (1483), [[Exeter]] (1537), and [[Poole]] (1571).<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8sTabkXK6XEC&q=bristol+1373&pg=PA86|title=The Cambridge Urban History of Britain|first1=Peter|last1=Clark|first2=David Michael|last2=Palliser|first3=Martin J.|last3=Daunton|date=20 July 2000|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521431415|via=Google Books}}</ref>

Charters were granted constituting the boroughs or cities of [[Lincoln, Lincolnshire|Lincoln]] (1409), [[Nottingham]] (1448), [[Lichfield]] (1556) and [[Worcester, England|Worcester]] (1622) as counties. The [[County of the City of Coventry]] was separated from Warwickshire in 1451, and included an extensive area of countryside surrounding the city.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=16033#s5 |title=Creation of the County of the City |access-date=25 November 2008 |work=A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 8: The City of Coventry and Borough of Warwick |publisher=British History Online |year=1969 |archive-date=6 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140806035148/http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=16033#s5 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Charters granting separate county status to the cities and boroughs of [[Chester]] (1238/9), [[York]] (1396), [[Newcastle upon Tyne]] (1400) and [[Kingston-upon-Hull]] (with the surrounding area of [[Hullshire]]) (1440). In 1551 [[Berwick upon Tweed]], on the border with [[Scotland]], was created a county corporate.

=== Exclaves ===
[[File:DudleyTraditionalDetail.jpg|frame|This 1814 map shows [[Dudley]] in a [[exclave|detached part]] of [[Worcestershire]] surrounded by [[Staffordshire]], an exclave of [[Shropshire]] (the parish of [[Halesowen]]) to the south-east, and part of Staffordshire ([[Broome, Worcestershire|Broome]] and [[Clent]]) to the south-west]]
The ancient counties have many anomalies, and many small [[exclave]]s, where a parcel of land was politically part of one county despite not being physically connected to the rest of the county. The [[Counties (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 the [[Reform Act 1832|Great Reform Act 1832]].

Large exclaves affected by the 1844 Act included the County Durham exclaves of [[Islandshire]], [[Bedlingtonshire]] and [[Norhamshire]], which were subsequently treated as hundreds of [[Northumberland]]; and those parts of [[Halesowen (ancient parish)|Halesowen]] forming part of Shropshire, which was [[Evolution of Worcestershire county boundaries since 1844|subsequently treated]] as part of [[Worcestershire]], as the remainder already was.

[[List of county exclaves in England and Wales 1844 - 1974|Exclaves that the 1844 Act did not touch]] included the part of [[Derbyshire]] around [[Donisthorpe]], locally in [[Leicestershire]]; a part of [[Huntingdonshire]] near [[Everton, Bedfordshire#Woodbury Park|Woodbury Park]], separated by [[Cambridgeshire]]; and most of the larger exclaves of Worcestershire, including the town of [[Dudley]], which remained surrounded by [[Staffordshire]]. Additionally, the [[Furness]] portion of [[Lancashire]] remained separated from the rest of Lancashire by a narrow strip of Westmorland — though it was accessible by way of the [[Morecambe Bay]] [[Mudflat|tidal flats]].

===1889===
When the first county councils were set up in 1889, they covered newly created entities known as [[Administrative counties of England|administrative counties]]. Several historic subdivisions with separate county administrations were also created administrative counties, particularly the separate [[Riding (division)|riding]]s of [[Yorkshire]], the separate [[Parts of Lincolnshire|parts]] of Lincolnshire, and the East and West divisions of Sussex.<ref>{{cite book |title=English Local Government Reformed |url=https://archive.org/details/englishlocalgove0000redc |url-access=registration |last1=Wood |first1=Bruce |last2=Redcliffe-Maud |first2=John |year=1974 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=[[Oxford]] |isbn=0-19-885091-3}}</ref> The [[Local Government Act 1888]] also contained wording to create both a new "administrative county" and a "county" of [[County of London|London]],<ref>{{cite book |title=Metropolitan Government |last=Barlow |first=Max |year=1991 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=[[London]] |isbn=0-415-02099-9 |series=Routledge Geography and Environment Series}}</ref> and to ensure that the [[county borough]]s which were created at the same time continued for non-administrative purposes to be part of the county which they geographically lay.<ref>Local Government Act 1888, S.31</ref> 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".

[[File:Corn Exchange (3622709872).jpg|thumb|Notice on the Corn Exchange, [[Royal Tunbridge Wells]], mentioning the historic county boundary]]
Several towns are historically divided between counties, including [[Banbury]], [[Burton upon Trent]], [[Newmarket, Suffolk|Newmarket]], [[Peterborough]], [[Royal Tunbridge Wells]], [[Royston, Hertfordshire|Royston]], Stamford, [[Tamworth, Staffordshire|Tamworth]], [[Todmorden]], [[Warrington]] and [[Wisbech]]. 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) had [[Todmorden Town Hall]] built right on top of it on a [[culvert]] tunnel, dividing the hall down the middle between the two counties &ndash; 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 as [[Birmingham]], [[Manchester]], [[Reading, Berkshire|Reading]] and [[Sheffield]] expanded into neighbouring counties, the area added became associated with the county borough's geographic county. However, this principle was not applied to [[Stockport]]<ref>{{cite map|url=https://maps.nls.uk/view/101104250|title=Ordnance Survey Six inches to the mile, Lancashire CXII.SW|publisher=[[National Library of Scotland]]|date=1946|access-date=6 February 2020|archive-date=6 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200206124209/https://maps.nls.uk/view/101104250|url-status=live}}</ref> or [[Cardiff]], which remained divided, the latter even divided between Wales and England<ref>{{cite web|url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/1937-07-27/debates/d13251d3-de35-4898-8b3c-82b2d025ff32/CardiffExtensionBill|publisher=Hansard|title=House of Lords: Cardiff Extension Bill third reading|date=27 July 1937|access-date=6 February 2020|archive-date=26 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190726073602/https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/1937-07-27/debates/d13251d3-de35-4898-8b3c-82b2d025ff32/CardiffExtensionBill|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite map|url=http://maps.nls.uk/view/91577104|title=Ordnance Survey One-inch to the mile, 7th Series, Sheet 154 - Cardiff|publisher=[[National Library of Scotland]]|date=1961|access-date=6 February 2020|archive-date=6 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200206124224/https://maps.nls.uk/view/91577104|url-status=live}}</ref> (from 1938 Cardiff included [[Rumney, Cardiff|Rumney]] in the territory of the historic county of [[Monmouthshire]], which was legally regarded as part of England until 1972 when it was instead assigned to Wales).

===1965 and 1974===
[[File:Warwickshiremap 700.jpg|thumb|The ancient county boundaries of [[Warwickshire]] cover a larger area than the administrative area in 1974 (in green).]]

On 1 April 1965, a number of changes came into effect. The new administrative area of [[Greater 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 of [[Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely]] and of [[Huntingdon and Peterborough]] were formed by the merger of pairs of administrative counties. The new areas were also adopted for lieutenancy and shrievalty purposes.<ref>The Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely Order (SI 1964/366), see [[Local Government Commission for England (1958 - 1967)|Local Government Commission for England]], ''Report and Proposals for the East Midlands General Review Area'' (Report No.3), 31 July 1961 and ''Report and Proposals for the Lincolnshire and East Anglia General Review Area'' (Report No.9), 7 May 1965</ref><ref>The Huntingdon and Peterborough Order 1964 (SI 1964/367), see [[Local Government Commission for England (1958–1967)]], ''Report and Proposals for the East Midlands General Review Area'' (Report No.3), 31 July 1961 and ''Report and Proposals for the Lincolnshire and East Anglia General Review Area'' (Report No.9), 7 May 1965</ref>

In 1974 a major local government reform took place under the [[Local 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.<ref name=guide/><ref>{{cite book |title=Local Government Act 1972  |last=Arnold-Baker |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Arnold-Baker |year=1973 |publisher=[[Butterworth–Heinemann|Butterworth & Company]] |location=[[London]] |isbn=0-406-11280-0}}</ref> Apart from local government, the new counties were "substituted for counties of any other description" for judicial, shrievalty, lieutenancy and other purposes.<ref>[[Local Government Act 1972]] (1972 c.70), s. 216</ref> Several counties, such as [[Cumberland]], [[Herefordshire]], [[Rutland]], [[Westmorland]] and [[Worcestershire]], vanished from the administrative map, while new entities such as [[Avon (county)|Avon]], [[Cleveland (county)|Cleveland]], [[Cumbria]] and [[Humberside]] appeared, in addition to the six new [[Metropolitan county|metropolitan counties]].<ref name=guide/><ref>{{cite book |title=Politics UK |last=Jones |first=Bill |year=2004 |publisher=[[Longmans]] |location=[[London]] |isbn=0-13-099407-3}}</ref>

The built-up areas of conurbations tend to cross historic county boundaries freely.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Reorganisation of British Local Government: Old Orthodoxies and a Political Perspective  |last=Dearlove |first=John |year=1979 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=[[Cambridge]] |isbn=0-521-29456-8}}</ref> Examples are [[Bournemouth]]–[[Poole]]–[[Christchurch, Dorset|Christchurch]] ([[Dorset]] and [[Hampshire]]) [[Greater Manchester]] ([[Cheshire]], [[Derbyshire]] and [[Lancashire]]), [[Merseyside]] (Cheshire and Lancashire), [[Teesside]] (Yorkshire and County Durham), [[South Yorkshire]] (Yorkshire, [[Nottinghamshire]] and [[Derbyshire]]), [[Tyneside]] (County Durham and [[Northumberland]]) and [[West Midlands (county)|West Midlands]] ([[Staffordshire]], [[Warwickshire]] and [[Worcestershire]]). [[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.<ref name=guide>{{cite book |title=Local Government in England and Wales: A Guide to the New System |year=1974 |publisher=[[HMSO]] |location=London |isbn=0-11-750847-0 |page=1 |quote=...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.}}</ref><ref name=hampton/>

===Postal counties===
{{main|Postal counties of the United Kingdom}}
[[File:Former postal counties of England.svg|thumb|Former postal counties of England from 1974 to 1996]]
In a period of financial crisis,<ref>{{cite book |title=Postal Business, 1969-79: Study in Public Sector Management |last=Corby |first=Michael |year=1979 |publisher=[[Kogan Page]] |location=[[London]] |isbn=0-85038-227-0}}</ref> the [[Royal Mail|Post Office]] was able to alter many of its [[Postal counties of the United Kingdom|postal counties]] in accordance with the 1965 and 1974 reforms, but not all. The two major exceptions were [[Greater London]] and [[Greater 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 the [[M postal area|Manchester 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 the [[London postal district|London]] 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.<ref>Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004)</ref> Instead it now uses the outward code (first half) of the postcode. The former postal counties were removed in 2000 from its [[Postcode Address File]] database and included in an "alias file",<ref>Royal Mail, ''PAF Digest'', (2003)</ref> which is used to [[cross-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 2009 [[Postal Services Commission|Postcomm]] 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.<ref>[http://www.psc.gov.uk/postcomm/live/policy-and-consultations/consultations/postcode-address-file--changing-postal-addresses/2010_05_20_PAF_COP_DECISION_DOCUMENT_FINAL.pdf Postcomm Decision Document, May 2010] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720050618/http://www.psc.gov.uk/postcomm/live/policy-and-consultations/consultations/postcode-address-file--changing-postal-addresses/2010_05_20_PAF_COP_DECISION_DOCUMENT_FINAL.pdf |date=20 July 2011 }}</ref>

===County cricket===
The historic counties of England continue to be used as the basis for [[county cricket]] teams<ref name=bbc>BBC Sport - [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/counties/default.stm Cricket: Counties] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106232246/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/counties/default.stm |date=6 January 2009 }}.</ref> and the governance of [[cricket]] in England through the [[England and Wales Cricket Board#The County Boards|ECB County Boards]].<ref>[http://www.ecb.co.uk/development/get-into-cricket/development-structure-and-contacts/county-boards%2C67%2CBP.html ECB] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150225132725/http://www.ecb.co.uk/development/get-into-cricket/development-structure-and-contacts/county-boards%2C67%2CBP.html |date=25 February 2015 }} County Cricket Boards, List of</ref> 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.

===Recognition of historic county boundaries===
A review of the structure of local government in England by the [[Local Government Commission for England (1992)|Local Government Commission for England]] led to the restoration of the [[East Riding of Yorkshire]], [[Herefordshire]], [[Rutland]] and [[Worcestershire]] 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 at [[Bristol]]), County Durham and Yorkshire (towards the mouth of the [[River Tees]]; not in [[Teesdale]]), 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".<ref name=cooksey>Local Government Commission for England. ''Final Recommendations on the Future Local Government of: Basildon & Thurrock, Blackburn & Blackpool, Broxtowe, Gedling & Rushcliffe, Dartford & Gravesham, Gillingham & Rochester upon Medway, Exeter, Gloucester, Halton & Warrington, Huntingdonshire & Peterborough, Northampton, Norwich, Spelthorne and the Wrekin.'' December 1995.</ref>

{{multiple image |direction = vertical |total_width = 200
|image1 =  | caption1 = The [[Flag of Lancashire|flag of the historic county of Lancashire]], adopted in 2008 through efforts by the [[Friends of Real Lancashire]]
|image2 = County Durham Flag.svg | caption2 = The [[Flag of County Durham|flag of historic County Durham]], adopted in 2013 through a competition organised by the [[Flag Institute]]
}}

The [[Association of British Counties]] (ABC), with its regional affiliates, such as the [[Friends of Real Lancashire]] and the [[Yorkshire Ridings Society]],<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/4046149.stm Lancastrians' pride in heritage] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312075325/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/4046149.stm |date=12 March 2007 }}, ''[[BBC News Online]]'' 27 November 2004. Retrieved 19 October 2006.</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/3112757.stm White rose county has its day] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312063220/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/3112757.stm |date=12 March 2007 }}, ''[[BBC News Online]]'' 21 July 2003. Retrieved 19 October 2006.</ref> 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.''<ref>{{cite web |title=The Association of British Counties |url=https://abcounties.com/ |access-date=11 January 2020 |archive-date=11 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200111115645/https://abcounties.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

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:<ref>{{Cite web|title=Campaign for Historic Counties|url=http://realcounties.org.uk/|access-date=2021-05-06|website=realcounties.org.uk|archive-date=6 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506145837/http://realcounties.org.uk/|url-status=live}}</ref>

# Maps, roads and addresses to included historic counties as standard
# Removal of the word 'county' from all local council names
# Historic Counties to be used for ceremonial purposes

In 2013, [[Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government]] [[Eric Pickles]] formally recognised and acknowledged the continued existence of England's 39 historic counties.<ref name="CLG-EP">{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/eric-pickles-celebrate-st-george-and-englands-traditional-counties|title=Eric Pickles: celebrate St George and England's traditional counties|publisher=Department for Communities and Local Government|date=23 April 2013|access-date=22 June 2013|archive-date=3 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703051449/https://www.gov.uk/government/news/eric-pickles-celebrate-st-george-and-englands-traditional-counties|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Ind-EP">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/eric-pickless-championing-of-traditional-english-counties-is-something-we-can-all-get-behind-8568394.html|title=Eric Pickles's championing of traditional English counties is something we can all get behind|work=The Independent|first=Simon|last=Kelner|date=23 April 2013|access-date=22 June 2013|location=London|archive-date=24 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024100207/http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/eric-pickless-championing-of-traditional-english-counties-is-something-we-can-all-get-behind-8568394.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ABC-EP">{{cite web|url=http://abcounties.com/news/government-formally-acknowledges-the-historic-counties-to-celebrate-st-georges-day/|title=Government 'formally acknowledges' the Historic Counties to Celebrate St George's Day|publisher=Association of British Counties|first=Michael|last=Garber|date=23 April 2013|access-date=22 June 2013|archive-date=13 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130813131417/http://abcounties.com/news/government-formally-acknowledges-the-historic-counties-to-celebrate-st-georges-day/|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref name="CLG-BG"/> In August 2014, the first road sign was erected to mark the boundary of the historic county of Yorkshire.<ref name="YP=YB">{{cite web|url=http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/eastyorkshire/11388043.Welcome_to_Yorkshire_sign_unveiled/ |title=Welcome to Yorkshire sign unveiled |publisher=York Press |date=5 August 2014 |access-date=12 September 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140913012626/http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/eastyorkshire/11388043.Welcome_to_Yorkshire_sign_unveiled/ |archive-date=13 September 2014 }}</ref> The Government is also publishing a new online interactive map of England's county boundaries.<ref name="CLG-BG">{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/by-george-englands-traditional-counties-can-return-to-englands-roads|title=Planning rules have been changed to allow councils to put up boundary signs marking traditional English counties|publisher=Department for Communities and Local Government|date=23 April 2014|access-date=12 September 2014|archive-date=6 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006101513/https://www.gov.uk/government/news/by-george-englands-traditional-counties-can-return-to-englands-roads|url-status=live}}</ref> The Government has previously changed rules to allow local and county flags to be flown without planning permission, and supported the [[Flag 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".<ref>Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/celebrating-the-historic-counties-of-england/celebrating-the-historic-counties-of-england  Celebrating the Historic Counties of England] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190901233419/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/celebrating-the-historic-counties-of-england/celebrating-the-historic-counties-of-england |date=1 September 2019 }} Retrieved 1st Sept 2019</ref>

[[Sussex]]<ref>e.g. [http://www.westsussex.gov.uk/leisure/enjoy_west_sussex/sussex_day.aspx Sussex Day] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140723161158/http://www.westsussex.gov.uk/leisure/enjoy_west_sussex/sussex_day.aspx |date=23 July 2014 }} and [[Sussex Police]]</ref> and [[Yorkshire]],<ref name="special">{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/5234444.stm| publisher=BBC| title=What's so special about Yorkshire?| date=1 August 2006| first=Liam| last=Allen| access-date=4 July 2011| archive-date=12 January 2008| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080112075709/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/5234444.stm| url-status=live}}</ref> 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 a [[List of county days in England|county day]] in which the culture and history of the historic county is celebrated; many of these county days were created in the 21st century.

A [[direct 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 and [[Historic counties of Wales|Wales]]. 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.<ref name="BBC News4439228">{{cite news |title=County signs dumped after protest|work=[[BBC News Online]] |date=15 November 2002 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/4439228.stm|access-date=5 August 2007}}</ref> CountyWatch has been criticised for such actions by the councils that erected the signs:<ref name="YP1199795">{{cite news |last=Wood |first=Alexandra |title=Protest group seizes the day in boundary row|work=[[Yorkshire Post]] |date=23 September 2005 |url=http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/ViewArticle.aspx?SectionID=55&articleid=1199795|access-date=5 August 2007}}</ref> [[Lancashire County Council]] pointed out that the taxpayers would have to pay for the signs to be re-erected.<ref name="BBC News4436170">{{cite news |title=Boundary protest 'to be reported'|work=[[BBC News Online]] |date=14 November 2002 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/4436170.stm|access-date=5 August 2007}}</ref>

The only political party with a manifesto commitment to restore the boundaries and political functions of all ancient counties, including [[Middlesex]] and [[Monmouthshire (historic)|Monmouthshire]], is the [[English Democrats Party]].<ref name="edcounties">{{cite web
  | title =Manifesto & Constitution of the English Democrats, p. 4
  | work =The English Democrats: Putting England First
  | publisher =The English Democrats Party
  | date =September 2006
  | url =http://www.englishdemocrats.org.uk/downloads/manifesto2007.pdf
  | access-date =9 August 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070926161216/http://www.englishdemocrats.org.uk/downloads/manifesto2007.pdf |archive-date = 26 September 2007}}</ref>

==Functions==
By the late Middle Ages the county was being used as the basis of a number of functions.<ref name=bryne />

===Administration of justice and law enforcement===
The [[Assize Court]]s used counties, or their major divisions, as a basis for their organisation.<ref name=aspects /> [[justice of the peace|Justices of the peace]] originating in Norman times as Knights of the Peace,<ref name="elcock">{{cite book |title=Local Government: Policy and Management in Local Authorities |last=Elcock |first=Howard |year=1994 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=[[London]] |isbn=0-415-10167-0}}</ref> were appointed in each county. At the head of the legal hierarchy were the [[High Sheriff]] and the [[Custos rotulorum]] (keeper of the rolls) for each county.

The justices had responsibility for maintaining county [[gaol]]s and [[house of correction|houses of correction]]. During the 19th century [[Prison reform|penal reformers]] campaigned against the often primitive conditions in gaols, and under the [[Prison Act 1877]] they came under [[Home Office]] control.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/laworder/policeprisons/overview/centralcontrol/|title=Towards central control|work=Police, prisons and penal reform|publisher=[[Parliament of the United Kingdom]]|access-date=1 April 2011|archive-date=7 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101107102201/http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/laworder/policeprisons/overview/centralcontrol/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Until the 19th century law enforcement was mostly carried out at the [[parish]] level. With an increasingly mobile population, however, the system became outdated. Following the successful establishment of the [[Metropolitan Police]] in London, the [[County Police Act 1839]] empowered justices of the peace to form county constabularies outside boroughs. The formation of county police forces was made compulsory by the [[County and Borough Police Act 1856]].

===Defence===
In the 1540s the office of [[Lord Lieutenant]] was instituted. The lieutenants had a military role, previously exercised by the sheriffs, and were made responsible for raising and organising the [[militia]] in each county. The lieutenancies were subsequently given responsibility for the [[Volunteer Force (Great Britain)|Volunteer Force]]. In 1871 the lieutenants lost their positions as heads of the militia, and their office became largely ceremonial.<ref>[[Regulation of Forces Act 1871]]</ref> The [[Cardwell Reforms|Cardwell]] and [[Childers Reforms]] of the [[British Army]] linked the recruiting areas of infantry regiments to the counties.

===Parliamentary representation===
Each English county sent two [[Knights of the Shire]] to the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] (in addition to the burgesses sent by boroughs). Yorkshire gained two members in 1821 when [[Grampound (UK Parliament constituency)|Grampound]] was disenfranchised. The [[Reform Act 1832|Great 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.

===Local government===
From the 16th century onwards the county was increasingly used as a unit of [[local government]] as the justices of the peace took on various administrative functions known as "county business". This was transacted at the [[quarter 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.<ref>Carl H. E. Zangerl  (November 1971), "The Social Composition of the County Magistracy in England and Wales, 1831–1887", ''The Journal of British Studies'' '''11'''(1):113–25.</ref> 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.<ref>''An Act for the more easy assessing, collecting and levying of County Rates'', ([[12 Geo. 2]]. c. 29)</ref> In order to build and maintain roads and bridges, a salaried county surveyor was to be appointed.<ref>[[Bridges Act 1803]] ([[43 Geo. 3]]. c. 59) and [[Grand Jury (Ireland) Act 1833]] ([[3 & 4 Will. 4]]. c. 78)</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite book |title=Local Government and Politics in Britain |last=Kingdom |first=John E |year=1991 |series=Contemporary Political Studies |publisher=[[Philip Allan]] |location=London |isbn=0-86003-832-7}}</ref>

===Subdivisions===
[[File:Yorkshire Ridings.png|thumb|200px|Yorkshire has three major subdivisions known as the [[riding (division)|riding]]s of Yorkshire:
{{ordered list
| [[North Riding of Yorkshire|North Riding]]
| [[West Riding of Yorkshire|West Riding]]
| [[East Riding of Yorkshire|East Riding]]
}}]]

Some of the counties had major subdivisions. Of these, the most significant were the divisions of Yorkshire: the [[East Riding of Yorkshire|East Riding]], [[West Riding of Yorkshire|West Riding]], [[North Riding of Yorkshire|North Riding]] and the [[ainsty]] of York. Since Yorkshire was so large, its [[Riding (division)|riding]]s 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 of Lincolnshire|parts]]": [[Parts of Lindsey]], [[Holland, Lincolnshire|Holland]] and [[Kesteven]], and the Parts of Lindsey was itself divided into three ridings ([[North Riding of Lindsey|North Riding]], [[South Riding of Lindsey|South Riding]] and [[West Riding of Lindsey|West Riding]]). Other divisions include the special status of [[Tower division|Tower Hamlets]] within [[Middlesex]], those of [[Sussex]] into [[East Sussex]] and [[West Sussex]] and [[Suffolk]] into [[East Suffolk (county)|East Suffolk]] and [[West Suffolk (county)|West Suffolk]], and, more informally and hence more vaguely, of Kent into [[East Kent]] and [[West Kent]].

Several counties had [[Liberty (division)|liberties]] or [[Soke (legal)|soke]]s within them that were administered separately. [[Cambridgeshire]] had the [[Isle of Ely]], and [[Northamptonshire]] had the [[Soke of Peterborough]]. Such divisions were used by such entities as the [[Quarter Sessions]] courts and were inherited by the later [[administrative county]] areas under the control of [[county council]]s.

Most English counties were subdivided into smaller subdivisions called [[hundred (country subdivision)|hundred]]s. Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire were divided into wapentakes (a unit of Danish origin), while Durham, Northumberland, Cumberland and Westmorland were divided into [[wards of the United Kingdom|wards]], areas originally organised for military purposes, each centred on a castle.<ref>W. L. Warren, ''The Myth of Norman Administrative Efficiency: The Prothero Lecture'' in ''Transactions of the Royal Historical Society'', 5th Ser., Vol. 34. (1984), p. 125</ref> Kent and Sussex had an intermediate level between the county and hundreds, known as [[Lathe (county subdivision)|lathe]]s in Kent and [[Rape (county subdivision)|rape]]s in Sussex. Hundreds or their equivalents were divided into [[Tithing (country subdivision)|tithing]]s and [[parish]]es (the only class of these divisions still used administratively), which in turn were divided into [[township (England)|township]]s and [[Manorialism|manor]]s. In the 17th century the [[Ossulstone]] 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.

==List of counties==
The historic counties are as follows:
{| class="wikitable sortable" id="list" style=font-size:90%;
! County
! Other names
! Contraction
! Additional status
! 1891 area rank {{ref|a|a}}
! Origins
|-
| {{flag|Bedfordshire}}
| County of Bedford
| Beds<ref name=cod>{{cite book |title=Concise Oxford Dictionary |year=1967 |edition=5 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=[[Oxford]] |pages=1524–1540 |chapter=Appendix I. General Abbreviations}}</ref><ref name=why/><ref name=words>{{cite book |last1=Dale |first1=Rodney |last2=Puttick |first2=Steve |publisher=Wordsworth Editions |page=[https://archive.org/details/wordsworthdictio0000dale/page/319 319] |isbn=978-1-85326-385-9 |title=The Wordsworth Dictionary of Abbreviations and Acronyms |url=https://archive.org/details/wordsworthdictio0000dale |url-access=registration |year=1997}}</ref>
|
| 36
| Anglo-Saxon origins as a shire.
|-
| {{flag|Berkshire}}
| County of Berks
| Berks<ref name=cod/><ref name=why>{{Cite FTP |url=ftp://ftp.royalmail.com/Downloads/public/cmwalk/doc/active/doc21800003/PAF_Digest_Dec_03.pdf |server=Royal Mail |url-status=dead |title=PAF Digest Issue 6.0 |access-date=May 6, 2017}}</ref><ref name=words/>
| Royal county
| 34
| Anglo-Saxon origins as a shire.
|-
|{{flag|Buckinghamshire}}
| County of Buckingham
| Bucks<ref name=cod/><ref name=why/><ref name=words/>
|
| 33
| Anglo-Saxon origins as a shire of the [[Kingdom of Mercia]].
|-
| {{flag|Cambridgeshire}}
| County of Cambridge
| Cambs<ref name=cod/><ref name=why/><ref name=words/>
|
| 25
| Anglo-Saxon origins as a shire. First mentioned early in the 11th century.
|-
| {{flag|Cheshire}}
| County of Chester
| Ches<ref name=cod/><ref name=words/>
| [[County palatine]]
| 20
| Anglo-Saxon origins as a shire, probably dating from early in the 10th century.
|-
| {{flag|Cornwall}}
| Kernow
| Corn<ref name=cod/><ref name=words/>
| [[Duchy of Cornwall|Duchy]] + partial palatine powers
| 15
| The western part of [[Dumnonia]] and then the [[Kingdom of Cornwall]].
|-
| {{flag|Cumberland}}
|
| Cumb<ref name=cod/><ref name=words/>
|
| 11
| After [[Henry II of England|Henry 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.
|-
| {{flag|Derbyshire}}
| County of Derby
| Derbys<ref name=words/>
|
| 19
| Formed in the late Anglo-Saxon period from part of the Mercian Kingdom's province of the Peak District.
|-
| {{flag|Devon}}
| Devonshire
|
|
| 3
| An Anglo-Saxon shire who name was derived from the Celtic kingdom of [[Dumnonia]], with the shire of Devon forming the central-west part of the former kingdom.
|-
| {{flag|Dorset}}
| Dorsetshire
| Dor<ref name=words/>
|
| 23
| Ninth century Anglo-Saxon origins as a region of the people around Dorchester. First named as a shire in the 10th century.
|-
| {{flag|County Durham}}
| County of Durham (informally, ''County Durham'')
| Co Dur<ref name=words/>
| [[County palatine]]
| 21
| The Anglo-Saxon [[Liberty of Durham]]. Recognized as a county palatine in 1293.
|-
| {{flag|Essex}}
|
|
|
| 10
| Established in the late Anglo-Saxon period, some time after the larger former [[Kingdom of Essex|Kingdom of the East Saxons]] had lost its independence.
|-
| {{flag|Gloucestershire}}
| County of Gloucester
| Glos<ref name=cod/><ref name=why/><ref name=words/>
|
| 17
| Anglo-Saxon origins as a shire.
|-
| {{flag|Hampshire}}
| County of Southampton,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hampshirehighsheriff.org.uk/Previous%20High%20Sheriffs%20of%20Hampshire.php|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120326213359/http://www.hampshirehighsheriff.org.uk/Previous%20High%20Sheriffs%20of%20Hampshire.php|url-status=dead|title=Hampshire High Sheriff|archivedate=26 March 2012}}<br/>[http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/descriptions/entry_page.jsp?text_id=929180 Vision of Britain] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170416182801/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/descriptions/entry_page.jsp?text_id=929180 |date=16 April 2017 }}</ref> Southamptonshire
| Hants<ref name=cod/><ref name=why/><ref name=words/>
|
| 8
| Anglo-Saxon origins as a shire.
|-
| {{flag|Herefordshire}}
| County of Hereford
| Here<ref name=words/>
|
| 27
| Recorded as an Anglo-Saxon shire from the time of [[Athelstan]] (895–939).
|-
| {{flag|Hertfordshire}}
| County of Hertford
| Herts<ref name=cod/><ref name=why/><ref name=words/>
|
| 35
| Anglo-Saxon origins as a shire.
|-
| {{flag|Huntingdonshire}}
| County of Huntingdon
| Hunts<ref name=cod/><ref name=words/>
|
| 37
| Of Danish origin, the shire of Huntingdon was first delimited in Anglo-Saxon times.
|-
| {{flag|Kent}}
|
|
|
| 9
| The Jutish [[Kingdom of Kent]]. Designated as county palatine in 1067.
|-
| {{flag|Lancashire}}
| County of Lancaster
| Lancs<ref name=cod/><ref name=why/><ref name=words/>
| [[County palatine]]
| 6
| The hundreds in-between the [[Mersey]] and the [[River Ribble|Ribble]] in the [[Domesday Book]]. Established as a county in 1182.
|-
|{{flag|Leicestershire}}
| County of Leicester
| Leics<ref name=cod/><ref name=why/><ref name=words/>
|
| 28
| Oldest surviving record of the county name is in the Domesday Book of 1087.
|-
| {{flag|Lincolnshire}}
| County of Lincoln
| Lincs<ref name=cod/><ref name=why/><ref name=words/>
|
| 2
| The Anglo-Saxon [[Kingdom of Lindsey]] was established in the 5th or 6th century and later it was merged with the Danelaw borough of [[Stamford, Lincolnshire|Stamford]] to form Lincolnshire.
|-
| {{flag|Middlesex}}
|
| Mx,<ref name=cod/> Middx,<ref name=why/> Mddx<ref name=words/>
|
| 38
| The county has its roots in the [[Middle Saxons|Middle Saxon]] Province of the Anglo-Saxon [[Kingdom of Essex]].
|-
| {{flag|Norfolk}}
|
| Norf<ref name=words/>
|
| 4
| Originally the northern half of the [[Kingdom of East Anglia]], it was first mentioned in Anglo-Saxon wills dating from the middle of the 11th century.
|-
| {{flag|Northamptonshire}}
| County of Northampton
| Northants<ref name=cod/><ref name=why/><ref name=words/>
|
| 22
| Of Anglo-Saxon origins, the county's name was first recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 1011.
|-
| {{flag|Northumberland}}
|
| Northumb,<ref name=cod/><ref name=words/> Northd<ref name=why/><ref name=words/>
|
| 5
| The Anglo-Saxon kingdom of [[Bernicia]], which became the northern part of Anglo-Saxon [[Northumbria]]. Incorporated into England in AD 927 and subsequently absorbed into the [[Earldom of Northumbria]] before the northern part became the [[Earldom of Northumberland]] in 1377.
|-
| {{flag|Nottinghamshire}}
| County of Nottingham
| Notts<ref name=cod/><ref name=why/><ref name=words/>
|
| 26
| Although established as an organised territory by 6th century, its first mention in historical records occurs in 1016 when it was harried by [[Canute the Great|Canute]]. 
|-
| {{flag|Oxfordshire}}
| County of Oxford
| Oxon<ref name=cod/><ref name=why/><ref name=words/>
|
| 31
| Anglo-Saxon origins as a shire.
|-
| {{flag|Rutland}}
| Rutlandshire
| Rut<ref name=words/>
|
| 39
| An Anglo-Saxon [[Soke (legal)|soke]] that was first mentioned as a separate county in 1159.
|-
| {{flag|Shropshire}}
| County of Salop
| Shrops, Salop<ref name=cod/>
|
| 16
| Anglo-Saxon origins as a shire of the [[Kingdom of Mercia]].
|-
| {{flag|Somerset}}
| Somersetshire
| Som<ref name=cod/><ref name=words/>
|
| 7
| Anglo-Saxon origins as a shire of Wessex with a documented history dating back to the reign of [[Ine of Wessex|King Ine]].
|-
| {{flag|Staffordshire}}
| County of Stafford
| Staffs,<ref name=cod/><ref name=why/> Staf<ref name=words/>
|
| 18
| Although probably established early in the 10th century, its first mention in historical records occurs in 1016 when it was harried by Canute. 
|-
| {{flag|Suffolk}}
|
| Suff<ref name=words/>
|
| 12
| Formed from the southern part of the [[Kingdom 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.
|-
| {{flag|Surrey}}
|
| Sy<ref name=words/>
|
| 30
|
|-
| {{flag|Sussex}}
|
| Sx,<ref name="Langscape">{{cite web |title=Counties Abbreviations |work=LangScape: The language of landscape |url=http://www.langscape.org.uk/about/CountyAbbreviations.html |access-date=26 October 2011 |archive-date=30 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170430003425/http://www.langscape.org.uk/about/CountyAbbreviations.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Ssx<ref name=words/>
| Kingdom of Sussex emerged in the 5th century and subsumed into an Anglo-Saxon shire of Wessex in 9th century.
| 13
|
|-
| {{flag|Warwickshire}}
| County of Warwick
| Warks,<ref name=why/> War,<ref name=cod/> Warw<ref name=words/>
|
| 24
|
|-
| {{flag|Westmorland}}
|
| Westm<ref name=words/>
|
| 29
| The [[Barony of Kendal]] and the [[Barony of Westmorland]] were formed into the single county of Westmorland in 1226-7.
|-
| {{flag|Wiltshire}}
| County of Wilts
| Wilts<ref name=cod/><ref name=why/><ref name=words/>
|
| 14
|
|-
| {{flag|Worcestershire}}
| County of Worcester
| Worcs<ref name=cod/><ref name=why/><ref name=words/>
|
| 32
| First constituted as an Anglo-Saxon shire in 927 but associated with the older kingdom of the [[Hwicce]].
|-
| {{flag|Yorkshire}}
| County of York
| Yorks<ref name=cod/><ref name=words/>
|
| 1
| Anglian [[Deira]] then [[Scandinavian York]]
|}

The historic counties of England are included in the [[Index of Place Names]] (IPN) published by the [[Office 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.

==Administrative and ceremonial uses==
At the time of the [[2009 structural changes to local government in England]], the ancient counties continue to form, with considerably altered boundaries, many of the [[ceremonial counties of England|ceremonial]] and [[Non-metropolitan county|non-metropolitan counties]] in England. Some ancient counties have their names preserved in multiple contemporary units, such as Yorkshire in [[North Yorkshire]] and [[West Yorkshire]] or now correspond to another type of subdivision, such as the [[Huntingdonshire]] district. In some areas ancient counties have been abandoned for local government use and then later revived.

==Other uses==
The [[Watsonian vice-counties|vice 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 make [[longitudinal study]] of biodiversity easier. They also cover the rest of Great Britain and Ireland.

==See also==
* [[Counties of Northern Ireland]]
* [[Historic counties of Scotland]]
* [[Historic counties of Wales]]
* [[English county histories]]

==Footnotes==
*Note {{note|a|a}}: [[List of ancient counties of England by area in 1891|1889 areas recorded in 1891 census]]. Accurate measurements were not available until the 19th century, as a by-product of the [[Ordnance Survey]]'s boundary survey. The officially recorded areas were adjusted to match the new data at the time of the 1861 [[Census]], replacing the less reliable figures previously used by the [[Registrar General]].<ref>David Fletcher, ''The Ordnance Survey's Nineteenth Century Boundary Survey: Context, Characteristics and Impact'', Imago Mundi, Vol. 51. (1999), pp. 131-146.</ref>

==References==
'''Notes'''
{{reflist}}

'''Bibliography'''
{{refbegin}}
*{{Cite book|last=Crosby|first=A.|year=1996|title=A History of Cheshire. (The Darwen County History Series.)|location=Chichester, West Sussex, UK|publisher=Phillimore & Co. Ltd.|isbn=0-85033-932-4}}
*{{Cite book|last1=Harris|first1=B. E.|last2=Thacker|first2=A. T.|year=1987|title=The Victoria History of the County of Chester. (Volume 1: Physique, Prehistory, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, and Domesday)|location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0-19-722761-9}}
*{{Cite book|last=Morgan|first=P.|year=1978|title=Domesday Book Cheshire: Including Lancashire, Cumbria, and North Wales|location=Chichester, Sussex|publisher=Phillimore & Co. Ltd.|isbn=0-85033-140-4}}
*{{Cite book|last1=Phillips|first1=A. D. M.|last2=Phillips|first2=C. B.|year=2002|title=A New Historical Atlas of Cheshire|location=Chester, UK|publisher=Cheshire County Council and Cheshire Community Council Publications Trust|isbn=0-904532-46-1}}
*{{Cite book|last=Sylvester|first=D.|year=1980|title=A History of Cheshire. (The Darwen County History Series)|edition=2nd|location=London and Chichester, Sussex|publisher=Phillimore & Co. Ltd.|isbn=0-85033-384-9}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.historiccountiestrust.co.uk/ The Historic Counties Trust]
*[http://realcounties.org.uk/ Campaign for Historic Counties]
*[https://wikishire.co.uk/map/ Interactive map of the historic counties]
*[https://communities.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Compare/storytelling_compare/index.html?appid=7b0e661ef66b4a7aacb5a9acf55108ac Interactive map comparing historic counties to current counties]
*[https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/celebrating-the-historic-counties-of-england/celebrating-the-historic-counties-of-england Celebrating the Historic Counties of England]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Historic Counties Of England}}
[[Category:History of England by county| ]]
[[Category:Counties of England established in antiquity| ]]
[[Category:Counties of England]]
[[Category:Vernacular geography|Counties England]]