Historic counties of England: Difference between revisions

The traditional counties of of England, Scotland and Wales is a historical subdivision in the United Kingdom. In England some coiuntiese still exist as a single unit, but which is no longer a county. Others no longer have a local government but may still appear on statistical tables and postal addresses.

• Avon -- now unitary authorities
• Berkshire -- now unitary authorities
• Herefordshire - now a unitary authority
• Huntingdonshire
• Middlesex -- part of Greater London, except for the south-west corner, which is now in Surrey
• Greater London -- now considered a region, not a county.
• Rutland -- now a unitary authority
• Sussex -- apparently divided into West Sussex, East Sussex
• Westmorland
• Yorkshire
• West Midlands metropolitan county -- now metropolitan districts.

Advocates of the "traditional counties" (also known as the "geographic counties") maintain that the counties are entities too important for laws simply to redefine in this way, and furthermore that in 1974 at the time of the creation of the administrative counties -- which is what are described above -- the government specifically stated that the traditional counties are not abolished: "The new county boundaries are administrative areas, and will not alter the traditional boundaries of counties, nor is it intended that the loyalties of people living in them will change, despite the different names adopted by the new administrative counties".

To confuse matters, in 1974 the Post Office recommended using new "postal counties" in addresses, which coincided with neither the new administrative counties nor the traditional counties but drew on both. It seems that it was difficult for the general public to sustain multiple notions of what a county was, and since 1974 most maps and official usages such as road signs have followed the administrative counties exclusively.

More recently, especially since the 1996 and 1999 reorganizations, it is apparent that the traditional counties have -- through cultural means such as classic literature, sports teams & other institutions, and simply thanks to their stability -- endured their supposed abolition, and the Post Office is much more flexible on how letters are addressed, allowing old or new counties in addresses. Since in effect the Post Office ignores the county anyway, fans of countyhood claim that including the county adds a useful layer of geographical information to the postal address.

See also: Counties of England, Subdivisions of England

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This map shows the counties of England, Scotland and Wales before the boundary reorganization of 1974.

Counties before 1974

References

• Map reproduced with permission of Riley Williams.

External links

• Association of British Counties - A lobby group for the traditional counties