Home About Britain Counties of Britain

The government, most helpfully, seem to change the county boundaries so often that it is hard for even the British to keep up.

For administrative purposes the Local Government Act of 1992 abolished the administrative County Councils of Avon, Cleveland, Humberside, Isle of Wight and North Yorkshire. The County Councils of Berkshire, Hereford and Worcestershire were abolished on 1 April 1998 and on this date the County Council of Worcestershire was established.

The Metropolitan Counties of Greater Manchester, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, West Midlands and West Yorkshire remain as geographical counties.

Below is what we believe to be the up to date and definitive guide to the geographical Counties of England and their administrative authorities. We have also merged Sussex and the Yorkshires for ease of use.

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Counties of England and their Districts

Bristol

Bristol City

Bedfordshire

Luton, Mid Bedfordshire, Bedford, South Bedfordshire

Berkshire

Bracknell Forest, Reading, Slough, West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead, Wokingham

Buckinghamshire

Aylesbury Vale, Chiltern, Milton Keynes, South Buckinghamshire, Wycombe

Cambridgeshire

Cambridge City, East Cambridgeshire, Fenland, Huntingdonshire, Peterborough City, South Cambridgeshire

Cheshire

Chester City, Congleton, Crewe and Nantwich, Ellesmere Port and Neston, Halton, Macclesfield, Vale Royal, Warrington

Cleveland/Teesside

Redcar & Cleveland, Hartlepool, Stockton on Tees, Middlesborough, Darlington

Cornwall

Caradon, Carrick, Kerrier, North Cornwall, Penwith, Restormel

Cumbria

Allerdale, Barrow-in-Furness, Carlisle City, Copeland, Eden, South Lakeland

Derbyshire

Amber Valley, Bolsover, Chesterfield, Derby City, Derbyshire Dales, Erewash, High Peak, North East Derbyshire, South East Derbyshire

Devon

East Devon, Exeter City, Mid Devon, North Devon, Plymouth City, South Hams, Teignbridge, Torbay, Torridge, West Devon

Dorset

Bournemouth, Christchurch, East Dorset, North Dorset, Poole, Purbeck, West Dorset, Weymouth and Portland

Durham

Chester le Street, Darlington, Derwentshire, Durham City, Easington, Hartlepool, Sedgefield, Stockton (north of the River Tees), Teesdale, Wear Valley

East Riding of Yorkshire

East Riding of Yorkshire (formerly East Yorkshire, Beverley, Holderness and part of Boothferry), City of Kingston-upon-Hull

East Sussex

Brighton and Hove, Eastbourne, Hastings, Lewes, Rother, Wealden

Essex

Basildon, Braintree, Brentwood, Castlepoint, Chelmsford, Colchester, Epping Forest, Harlow, Maldon, Rochford, Southend-on-Sea, Tendring, Thurrock, Uttlesford

Gloucestershire

Cheltenham, Cotswolds, Forest of Dean, Gloucester City, Stroud, South Gloucestershire, Tewkesbury

Greater Manchester

Bolton, Bury, Manchester City, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford City, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan (all Metropolitan Councils)

Hampshire

Basingstoke and Deane, East Hampshire, Eastleigh, Fareham, Gosport, Hart, Havant, New Forest, Portsmouth City, Rushmoor, Southampton City, Test Valley, Winchester City

Herefordshire

Herefordshire

Hertfordshire

Bishops Stortford, Broxbourne, Dacorum, East Hertfordshire, Hertford, Hertsmere, North Hertfordshire, St Albans City, Stevenage, Three Rivers, Watford, Welwyn Hatfield

Kent

Ashford, Canterbury City, Dartford, Dover, Gravesham, Maidstone, Medway, Sevenoaks, Shepway, Swale, Thanet, Tonbridge and Malling, Tunbridge Wells

Lancashire

Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Burnley, Bury ,Chorley, Fylde, Hyndburn, Lancashire City, Pendle, Preston, Ribble Valley, Rossendale, South Ribble, West Lancashire, Wyre, Bolton (Metropolitan Council)

Leicestershire

Blaby, Charnwood, Harborough, Hinckley & Bosworth, Leicester City, Melton, North West Leicestershire, Oadby and Wigston, Rutland

Lincolnshire

Boston, East Lincolnshire (formerly Cleethorpes and Great Grimsby), East Lindsey, Lincoln City, North Kesteven, North Lincolnshire (formerly Glandford, Scunthorpe and part of Boothferry), South Holland, South Kesteven, West Lindsey

Merseyside

Knowsley, Liverpool City, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral (all Metropolitan Councils)

Norfolk

Breckland, Broadland, Great Yarmouth, Kings Lynn and West Norfolk, South Norfolk

Northamptonshire

Corby, Daventry, East Northamptonshire, Kettering, Northampton, South Northamptonshire, Wellingborough

Northumberland

Alnwick, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Blyth Valley, Tynedale, Wansbeck

North Yorkshire

Craven, Hambleton, Harrogate, Redcar and Ceveland, Middlesborough, Richmondshire, Scarborough, Selby, Stockton (south of the River Tees)

Nottinghamshire

Ashfield, Bassetlaw, Broxtowe, Gedling, Mansfield, Newark and Sherwood, Nottingham City, Rushcliffe

Oxfordshire

North Oxfordshire (Cherwell), Oxford City, South Oxfordshire, Vale of White Horse

Rutland

Rutland is now a ceremonial county, but for administrative purposes is a Unitary Council of Leicestershire

Shropshire

Bridgnorth, North Shropshire, Oswestry, Shrewsbury and Atcham, South Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin

Somerset

Bath & North East Somerset, Mendip, North Somerset, Sedgemoor, South Somerset, Taunton Deane, West Somerset

South Yorkshire

Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, Sheffield City (all Metropolitan Councils)

Staffordshire

Cannock Chase, East Staffordshire, Lichfield, Newcastle-under-Lyme, South Staffordshire, Stafford, Staffordshire Moorlands, Stoke-on-Trent City, Tamworth

Suffolk

Babergh, Forest Heath, Mid Suffolk, St Edmundsbury, Suffolk Coastal, Waveney

Surrey

Elmbridge, Epson and Ewell, Guildford, Mole Valley, Reigate and Banstead, Runnymede, Spelthorne, Surrey Heath, Tandridge, Waverley, Woking

Tyne and Wear

Gateshead, Newcastle-upon-Tyne City, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Sunderland City (all Metropolitan Councils)

Warwickshire

North Warwickshire, Nuneaton and Bedworth, Rugby, Stratford-on-Avon, Warwick

West Midlands

Birmingham City, Coventry City, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall, Wolverhampton (all Metropolitan Councils)

West Sussex

Adur, Arun , Chichester, Crawley, Horsham, Mid Sussex, Worthing

West Yorkshire

Bradford City, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds City, Wakefield City (all Metropolitan Councils)

Wiltshire

Kennet, North Wiltshire, Thamesdown (Swindon), West Wiltshire, Salisbury

Worcestershire

Bromsgrove, Malvern Hills, Redditch, Worcester City, Wychavon, Wyre Forest

London and its Boroughs
There are 32 London Boroughs and these are listed below.
Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Camden, Corporation of London, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond-upon-Thames, Southwark, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth, Westminster City.

Wales

The 1992 Local Government Act created 22 Unitary Authorities as listed below.
Click here for a free full colour brochure on Wales

Blaenau Gwent

South Wales

Bridgend

South Wales

Caerphilly

South Wales

Cardiff

South Wales

Carmarthenshire

West Wales

Ceredigion

West Wales

Conwy

North Wales

Denbighshire

North Wales

Flintshire

North Wales

Gwynedd

North Wales

Isle of Anglesey

North Wales

Merthyr Tydfil

South Wales

Monmouthshire

South Wales

Neath Port Talbot

South Wales

Newport

South Wales

Pembrokeshire

West Wales

Powys

Mid Wales

Rhondda Cynon Taff

South Wales

Swansea

South Wales

Torfaen

South Wales

Vale of Glamorgan

South Wales

Wrexham

North Wales

Scotland

The Local Government Act 1992 abolished Scotland's Regional Councils and created 29 Unitary Councils. There are 32 Unitary Councils as Island Councils were already Unitary Councils.

Aberdeen City

Aberdeenshire

Angus

Argyll and Bute

Clackmannanshire

Dumfries and Galloway

Dundee City

East Ayrshire

East Dunbartonshire

East Lothian

East Renfrewshire

Edinburgh

Falkirk

Fife

Glasgow

Highlands

Inverclyde

Midlothian

Moray

North Ayrshire

North Lanarkshire

Orkney

Perth and Kinross

Renfrewshire

Scottish Borders

Shetland

South Ayrshire

South Lanarkshire

Stirling

West Dunbartonshire

Western Isles (Na H-Eileanan An Lan)

West Lothian

Channel Islands

The Channel Islands are the only part of the Duchy of Normandy that remains in English hands. They have belonged to the Crown since 1066.
Jersey
Guernsey
Guernsey has seven dependencies as follows:
Alderney, Brechou, Great Sark, Little Sark, Herm, Jethou, Lihou

Isles of Scilly

The Council of the Isles of Scilly is unique administratively in the United Kingdom. A non political Council of the Isles of Scilly and comprising 21 members, administer the five inhabited islands of:
St Mary's, Tresco, Bryher, St Agnes, St Martins

The Isle of Man

The Isle of Man is governed by the Tynwald, a legislature consisting of the Legislative Council and the House of Keys. The Legislative Council is composed of the Bishop of Sodor and Man, the Attorney General and eight other members whom the House of Keys appoints. The House of Keys is comprised of 24 elected members.

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