The Counties of England and Borders of England

1941 AD

MAP 1. Map scanned from work by Emery Walker 1941. Note the Red ‘border’ with Wales shows Monmouthshire in England. It is an English Shire. Note the island of Anglesey. ‘Isle of the Angles.’ The 'county or shire of Monmouth' was formed from parts of the Welsh Marches by the Laws in Wales Act 1535. This act enumerates the Welsh counties as twelve in number, excluding Monmouthshire from the count, which reports to the court of Westminster.

‘MODERN’ ENGLISH COUNTIES OR COUNTY STRUCTURE

On 1 April 1974 the Local Government Act 1972 came into force. This abolished the existing local government structure in England and Wales (except in Greater London), replacing it with a new entirely two-tier system. It abolished the previously existing administrative counties and county boroughs (but not the previous non-administrative 'counties') and created a new set of 46 'counties' in England, 6 of which were metropolitan and 40 of which were non-metropolitan.

Some of the counties established by the Act were entirely new, such as Avon, Cleveland, Cumbria, Hereford and Worcester, and Humberside, along with the new metropolitan counties of Greater Manchester, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, West Midlands, and West Yorkshire. The counties of Cumberland, Herefordshire, Rutland, Westmorland and Worcestershire vanished from the administrative map, as did the county boroughs.

2007 AD.

MAP 2. The modern English county structure – note how Monmouthshire has been put outside England. But English it is.

List of English Counties. The Origins of Names of English Counties.

Avon, Cleveland and Humberside

Born 1974, died 1990 - mourned by few.

Birmingham

Anglo-Saxon derivative Beorma Ingas Ham – ham of the people of Beorma. Second largest city in England after London. City of Birmingham district has a population of 1,006,500 (2006 estimate.)

Cambridgeshire

Originally Old English Grentebrigescire, of the river Granta. Large areas of the county are extremely low-lying and Holme Fen is notable for being the UK's lowest physical point at 2.75 m (9 ft) below sea level. The highest point is in the village of Great Chishill at 146 m/480 ft above sea level. Other prominent hills are Little Trees Hill and Wandlebury Hill in the Gog Magog Downs, Rivey Hill above Linton, Rowley's Hill and the Madingley Hills.

Cheshire (The County of Chester)

There were links between Cheshire and south Lancashire before 1000 AD, when Wulfric Spot held lands in both territories. Wulfric's estates remained grouped together after his death, when they were left to his brother Ælfhelm, and indeed there still seems to have been some kind of connexion in 1086 AD, when south Lancashire was surveyed together with Cheshire by the Domesday commissioners.

Cornwall

The ‘surfing capital’ of England. Part of Saxon Wessex since 825 AD. Hilly and beautiful county with towns such as Newquay adding much life and tourism.

Cumbria / Cumberland

The ‘Umberland’ means ‘Angles living north of the River Humber’. See Northumbria below. Now joined with Westmorland, and parts of Lancashire and Yorkshire, as Cumbria. The new administrative county encompasses the Lake District, an area of rugged beauty, good hill walking, lots of rain and soggy sheep.

Derbyshire

Simply beautiful. Derbyshire is a mixture of a rural economy in the west, with a former coal mining economy in the north east (Bolsover district), the Erewash Valley around Ilkeston and in the south around Swadlincote. The county of Derbyshire offers many attractions for both tourists and local people. The county offers the spectacular Peak District scenery such as Mam Tor, Kinder Scout, and other more metropolitan attractions like Bakewell, Buxton, and Derby. Several kings of Mercia are buried in the Repton area. Repton church was the burial place of Mercian Kings. It dates from around 750 AD and contains the tombs of King Ethelbald of Mercia (757 AD), King Wiglaf in 840 AD and his grandson St Wystan who was brutally murdered.

Devon

Defenascire in Old English. Part of Anglo-Saxon Wessex since the 8th Century. Exeter is its main town. A huge maritime tradition is connected with Devon. The Devon fyrd was one of Alfred the Greats fiercest army units when fighting the invading Vikings.

Dorset

Sometimes 'Dorsetshire', a mainly rural county on the south coast of England between Hampshire and Devon. It has several resorts on the coast and a naval base at Portland next to the extraordinary Chesil Beach, several miles of shingle bank. Many of the villages have names that rival anything, for example, Puddletown, Langton Herring and the pair of Melcombe Bingham and Bingham's Melcombe.

Durham

The name "Durham" comes from the Old English "dun", meaning hill, and the Old Norse "holmer", which translates to island. The original Nordic Dun Holm was changed to Duresme by the Normans. The present city of Durham can clearly be traced back to 995 AD, when a group of monks from Lindisfarne chose the strategic high peninsula as a place to settle with the body of the great English Saint Cuthbert, from whom many modern English surnames have their stem root origin.

Gloucestershire

Established by the Saxons in 577AD. The Hwiccas who occupied the district were a West Saxon tribe. A rural county with only Gloucester and Cheltenham of any size even today.

Hampshire

Named by the Saxons who wanted it to be called Southamptonshire, but that did not stick. A semi-rural county on the south coast of England, it also contains the major ports of Southampton and Portsmouth. Unusually for a coastal county, many of the nicer parts are inland, notably the New Forest. Abbreviated to 'Hants' from the Old English 'Hantescire'.

Hereforshire

The county of Herefordshire starts with a shire in the time of Aethelstan (895 – 939 AD). The area, which is now Herefordshire, was occupied by a Saxon tribe the Hecanas, as long ago as the 7th Century AD, who congregated chiefly in the fertile area about Hereford and in the mining districts round Ross-on-Wye.

Hertfordshire

The name Hertford is derived from the Anglo-Saxon heort ford, meaning deer crossing (of a watercourse.) Abbreviated to 'Herts.' One of the 'Home Counties' - in this case to the north of London.

Home Counties

A collective name for the counties immediately surrounding London. Currently these are (clockwise from the north) Hertfordshire, Essex, Kent, Surrey and Buckinghamshire.

Kent

From the Saxon Cantware. A good farming area, hence its name 'The Garden of England', with fruit orchards and hop farms. It has a number of ports, including a naval base, several old-fashioned coastal resorts and a large suburbia near London - a real mixture. It is also the nearest county to France, but then somewhere has to be!

Leicestershire

This is a landlocked county in central England. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester is a unitary authority.

Lincolnshire

Lindsey is the name of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom that lay between the Humber and the Wash. A flat and largely agricultural county on the east coast.

London

The largest City in England. Capital of the United Kingdom. As of the 2001 Census, the Greater London Urban Area had a population of 8,278,251

Metropolitan Counties

They appear on modern maps, so for information they are: Merseyside, Greater Manchester, South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, West Midlands and West Yorkshire.

Middlesex (Middle Saxons)

Abbreviated to Middx., it used to be one of the home counties but no longer exists as a separate administrative entity. It does, however, continue to field a county cricket team. (The 'sex' in Essex, Sussex, Wessex and Middlesex stands for 'Saxons', so these are East Saxons, South Saxons, West Saxons and Middle Saxons respectively.

Norfolk (North Folk)

Occasionally mentioned in the books, a largely rural county with a virtually unspoilt coast. It includes the famous Broads, flooded peat diggings now used by wildlife and for leisure boating, an uneasy combination. PG Wodehouse stayed in Hunstanton several times and the town now has a road named after him (close to the golf course).

Northamptonshire

After the Romans left, the area became part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia, and Northampton functioned as an administrative centre. Later, Rockingham Castle was built for William the Conqueror and was used as a Royal fortress until Elizabethan times. The now-ruined Fotheringhay Castle was used to imprison Mary, Queen of Scots before her execution. In 1460, during the Wars of the Roses, the Battle of Northampton took place and King Henry VI was captured. During the English Civil War Northamptonshire strongly supported the Parliamentarian cause and the Royalist forces suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Naseby in 1645 in the north of the county. King Charles I was later imprisoned at Holdenby House.

Northumbria

One of the original 7 Kingdoms of the English. Meaning ‘Angles Living North of the River Humber’. The land once part of Northumbria at its peak is now divided by modern administrative boundaries.

• North East England includes Anglian Bernicia
• Yorkshire and the Humber includes Danish Deira
• North West England includes Cumbria, though Cumbria was more of a Northumbrian colony with its own client kings for most of its history in the Early Medieval era
• Scottish Borders, West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian and East Lothian cover the extreme north. Lothian was granted to Kenneth, King of Scots in 973 AD by Edgar 'The Pacific', King of England. That cession was never law.

Rutland / Rutlandshire (Old English Roteland)

Once England’s smallest county it was brought within Leicestershire in one of the periodic shake-ups that Governments like so much. Recently it re-gained its 'independence' and is again a full county in every sense.

Shropshire

Salop is an old abbreviation for Shropshire, once used on envelopes or telegrams, and comes from the Anglo-French 'Salopesberia'. It has now been replaced by the boring 'Shrops' although Shropshire residents are still 'Salopians'. Shropshire is mainly rural, but saw the origins of the English industrial revolution in places such as Coalbrookdale and Ironbridge.

Staffordshire

Formed the decade after the year 913 AD; that being the date at which Stafford - the strategic military fording-point for an army to cross the Trent - became a secure fortified stronghold & the new capital of Mercia under Queen Æthelflæd.Landlocked Staffordshire, bang in the middle of England. Discover the amazing countryside in Staffordshire - the Peak District, Cannock Chase, Staffordshire Moorlands, the National Forest.

Somerset

The first known use of the Old English name Somersæte was in 845 AD, after the region fell to the Saxons. A mainly rural county in the west coast of England with a largely north-facing coast onto the Bristol Channel. Visitors should note the local accent where the 's' sound almost becomes a 'z' so Somerset becomes 'Zummerzet'. Beware 'scrumpy' cider, particularly if still and cloudy - it has the alcohol content of wine and 'stingeth like a zerpent'.

Suffolk (Suth or South Folk)

Ipswich, the county town is home to The Ipswich Transport Museum which boasts the largest collection of transport items in Britain devoted to just one town. Close to the centre of Ipswich you will find 'Christchurch Mansion' an outstanding 16th century Manor house set in an historic 100 acre park, which first opened as a free museum in 1896. Suffolk's other main towns include Felixstowe, a pretty seaside resort, Lowestoft, a popular holiday destination and the most easterly town in England and Newmarket, famous for its Race Meetings.

Sussex (South Saxons)

From the Old English Suth Seax. Created by the South Saxon warlord Ælle and his 3 sons, Cymen and Wlencing and Cissa. A largely rural county on the south coast with light industry and Gatwick Airport. The holiday resorts of Brighton – Old English Beorhthelmes tūn (Beorhthelm's farmstead), and Bognor Regis are past their prime and Eastbourne now has one of the largest populations of the elderly in the country. That said, Brighton has one of the first municipally approved naturist beaches in England and a new Marina; by contrast, the Victorian Voulkes beach railway still runs. Inland are several race courses, including Goodwood, and some beautiful but gentle countryside. Newhaven is a cross-channel ferry port.

Surrey

Surrey is from the Old English Suth Reg. South Region – or southern military region (against the Vikings) referring to its vulnerable position on the south bank of the river Thames. In 675 AD it is noted as Sudergeona in Old English. Like Sussex it one of the last Saxon Pagan strongholds to convert to Christianity.

Warwickshire

The second 'W' is not pronounced. Abbreviated to 'Warks'. Warwickshire is perhaps best known for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare from Stratford-upon-Avon. Warwick and Kenilworth castles are also very famous.

Wessex (West Saxons)

Not a county but a region, roughly covering Cornwall, Somerset, Devon and Dorset.

Worcestershire

Pronounced "Woo-ster-sher" not "War-sester-shire" and abbreviated to 'Worcs'. Worcestershire is a fairly rural county. The Malvern Hills, which run from the south of the county into Herefordshire, are made up mainly of volcanic igneous rock and metamorphic rock, some of which date from before 1200 million years ago.

Yorkshire

A huge county by UK standards, including industrial areas, large cities, coastal resorts and open moorland. It has been the subject of many boundary changes. York (Jorvik – or ‘town of the Vikings’,) is the main city

Where do English counties originate from? The spread of the Ethnic English peoples on the British Isles.

MAP 3. 838 AD. The coverage of the island by aboriginal English peoples, post the migration period. This sets out where the spread of modern English counties are. Or ‘should’ be?

Notes:

1. Over the next centuries the spread widened.
2. New evidence has shown that Anglo-Saxons colonised the Orkney Islands before Vikings arrived.
3. The area at the bottom of what some call ‘Wales’ (Monmouthshire to Pembrokeshire) has so many English who have never spoke Welsh that it is called ‘Little England’.
4. The Lowlands of what is now called Scotland are occupied primarily by Anglo-Saxon peoples. Edinburgh is from the Old English Edwin’s Burgh. A Saxon (probably Northumbrian) warlord.

The English Borders. The northern limit of England.

MAP 4. The position of the old Roman Antonine Wall is set above. It is much further north that the ‘traditional’ border along the River Dee north of Berwick on MAP 1. Is this the real English / Scottish border?

In Anglo-Saxon times the Scottish Borders, West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian and East Lothian covered the extreme north of England. Lothian was granted to Kenneth, King of Scots in 973 AD by Edgar 'The Pacific', and King of England. That cession was never law