British Towns and Villages Network

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The Counties of England.

Select the County Council you require from the County Arms below and the other Local Authorities within the chosen county will be displayed, you can also select from here the Greater London Authority and the London Boroughs will be displayed. In either case you will be able to search downwards through the boroughs and districts to the towns, parishes and villages below. Follow this link if you wish to find a city or this link to find a town, parish or other community.

There are a few 'counties' that you will not find here, such as Rutland. These areas are now 'Unitary Authorities', forming the upper level of two-tier local government in the United Kingdom. You will now find the places listed with the other Unitary Authorities. This list comprises only those locations that have retained local government status.

 

 

The Administrative Counties of England

 

Click the County Arms or County name for further details, maps, pictures and links about each county.

The Armorial Bearings (Coats of Arms) of the Counties of England

Buckinghamshire Cambridgeshire Cornwall Cumbria The Midland Counties The Eastern Counties The Far South Western Counties The Northern Counties         Derbyshire Devon Dorset County Durham The Midland Counties The Far South Western Counties The South Western Counties The Northern Counties         East Sussex Essex Gloucestershire Hampshire The South Eastern Counties The Eastern Counties The Midland Counties The Southern Counties         Hertfordshire Kent Lancashire Leicestershire The Eastern Counties The South Eastern Counties The Northern Counties The Midland Counties         Lincolnshire Norfolk North Yorkshire Northamptonshire The Eastern Counties The Eastern Counties The Northern Counties The Midland Counties         Northumberland Nottinghamshire Oxfordshire Shropshire The Northern Counties The Midland Counties The Midland Counties The Midland Counties         Somerset Staffordshire Suffolk Surrey The South Western Counties The Midland Counties The Eastern Counties The South Eastern Counties         Warwickshire West Sussex Wiltshire Worcestershire The Midland Counties The South Eastern Counties The South Western Counties The Midland Counties               Greater London       The South Eastern Counties

 

 

The Historical Counties of England

These counties are either extinct or no longer have local authority administrative powers having being absorbed into other authorities.

Click the County Arms or County name for further details, maps, pictures and links about each county.

The Armorial Bearings (Coats of Arms) of the Counties of England

Bedfordshire Cheshire Cumberland Westmorland The Eastern Counties The Midland Counties The Northern Counties The Northern Counties         Middlesex West Yorkshire Rutland Herefordshire The South Eastern Counties The Northern Counties The Midland Counties The Midland Counties         Huntingdonshire Merseyside Tyne and Wear Berkshire The Eastern Counties The Northern Counties The Northern Counties The Southern Counties         South Yorkshire Isle of Wight West Midlands Greater Manchester The Northern Counties The Southern Counties The Midland Counties The Northern Counties

 

 

What is an English County?

An English County is, or was, an important territorial political division. Many of the names of the Counties are suffixed by the word "shire" recording for posterity that they were once controlled on behalf of the sovereign by a 'Shire Reeve' or Sheriff, the most famous of all being the "Sheriff of Nottingham" in the Tales of Robin Hood. Many of the counties can trace their origin back around 1000 years to the time of the Conquest and the Doomsday Book of King William I. As a result of the Doomsday survey William granted much of the land to the control of his followers in his name and although the name 'County' could be connected to the fact that some of them were Counts most were actually Earls.

After the granting of the lands the Counts and Earls proceeded to build castles roughly in the centre of their new lands and it is around these castles that the county towns grew up. Markets, Law Courts; originally within the castle as some still are, and other administrative services became established.

All counties represented the administrative sub divisions of the nation until the end of the Victorian period and many have continued to survive as Local Authority administrative areas to the present day. Counties themselves are further sub-divided into Boroughs and Districts some of which are Metropolitan Boroughs and Metropolitan Districts.

 

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