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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

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

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