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The historic counties of England are areas that were established for administration by the Normans, in many cases based on earlier kingdoms and shires created by the Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Celts and others. They are alternatively known as ancient counties, [2] [3] traditional counties, [4] former counties [5] [6] or simply as counties. [7]
The present layout of the counties was established in 1535 with the passing of the Laws of Wales Act. This act abolished the old Marcher lordships in the south and created the counties of Denbighshire, Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire, Brecknockshire and Monmouthshire. Map showing the modern administrative areas of Warwickshire and the West Midlands.
The division of England into shires, later known as counties, began in the Kingdom of Wessex in the mid-Saxon period, many of the Wessex shires representing previously independent kingdoms. With the Wessex conquest of Mercia in the 9th and 10th centuries, the system was extended to central England.
Cutting through the north Devon landscape are the valleys of the Taw, Torridge and their tributaries: made famous as the country of the two rivers in Henry Williamson's Tarka the Otter. Between Appledore and Instow the estuary of the Torridge joins the estuary of the Taw as its enters Bideford Bay.
There are 92 historic counties in the UK: 39 in England, 6 in Northern Ireland, 34 in Scotland, and 13 in Wales. Their longevity have made the 92 historic counties an indelible part of the history, heritage, geography and culture of the nation. Our country’s division into counties goes back to mediæval and feudal times.
Map of the Historic Counties. This is a large-scale map of the historic counties of the United Kingdom. This map is based on Definition A of the Historic Counties Standard whereby detached parts of counties are associated with their host county. It uses county border data from the Historic County Borders Project. A printable A3-size map is also ...
There are two main legal definitions of the counties in modern usage: the 84 counties for the purposes of local government, and the 48 counties for the purposes of lieutenancy, also termed the ceremonial counties. The historic counties of England were mostly formed as shires or divisions of the earlier kingdoms which gradually united by the ...
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