City status in the United Kingdom facts for kids

Until the 19th century, places like York Minster often needed a big church (a cathedral) to be called a city.

City status in the United Kingdom is a special title given by the King or Queen to certain towns. It doesn't give them extra powers, but it's a big honour and makes people proud of their town. As of 2022, there are 76 cities in the UK. Most are in England (55), with seven in Wales, eight in Scotland, and six in Northern Ireland.

This special title isn't given automatically. For a long time, especially in England and Wales, a town usually had to have a cathedral (a main church for a bishop) to be called a city. This idea started in the 1540s when King Henry VIII created new church areas (called dioceses). He gave city status to six English towns that got new cathedrals. A city with a cathedral is often called a cathedral city.

In Ireland (including what is now Northern Ireland), fewer places were given city status early on. In Scotland, the government didn't officially recognise city status until the 1800s. Later, in the 20th century, the rule about needing a cathedral changed in England and Wales. Now, towns can become cities for other reasons, like having a large population.

Sometimes, old cities lost their status because of changes in local government. But most of them got it back through special documents called letters patent (official papers from the monarch). Today, Rochester and Elgin are the only places that used to be cities in the UK but aren't anymore. Just because a place has "City" in its name (like White City) doesn't mean it has official city status. Many large towns in the UK are actually bigger than some official cities.

How Cities Got Their Status

Early Days in England and Wales

Before the 1800s

The very first "cities" in Britain were strong, walled settlements built by the Romans. These were like capitals for the local tribes. Later, in the early Middle Ages, people kept a list of 28 important towns.

In the 1500s, the English King would recognise a town as a city if it had a main church (a cathedral) for a bishop. At that time, there were 22 such places in England and Wales. This link between having a cathedral and being a city became clear when King Henry VIII created new church areas. He gave city status to six towns by issuing official documents. Some cities today are very small, like Wells (about 10,000 people) and St Davids (about 2,000 people). This is because they became cities a long time ago, before towns grew much during the Industrial Revolution. After the 1500s, no new cities were created in England until the 1800s.

From 1836 to 1888

New church areas (dioceses) started being created again in 1836, starting with Ripon. Ripon's town council thought this made them a city. The same happened with Manchester. But when Queen Victoria visited Manchester in 1851, people weren't sure if it was really a city. So, Manchester officially asked for city status and got it in 1853. This set a new rule: if a town had a main church for a bishop, it could ask for city status. Because of this, places like Truro, St Albans, Liverpool, Newcastle upon Tyne and Wakefield officially became cities between 1877 and 1888.

However, the government wasn't always happy about this. They called St Albans a "fourth or fifth rate market town." They also didn't like Wakefield becoming a city because its population wasn't very big.

From 1889 to 1907

Birmingham was the first English town without a cathedral to become a city. Its council meets at the Council House.

The rule about needing a cathedral changed in England in 1889. Birmingham became a city because it was very large and had a good local government. At that time, Birmingham didn't have a cathedral, though its main church became one later. This new way of granting city status was followed by other big towns. Leeds and Sheffield became cities in 1893. Bradford, Kingston upon Hull and Nottingham became cities in 1897 to celebrate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. These were the biggest towns outside London without city status.

Between 1897 and 1914, many towns applied, but only Cardiff became a city in 1905. It was also given a special leader called a Lord Mayor because it was seen as the main city of Wales.

The City of Westminster

In 1899, local councils in London changed. The old council for the City of Westminster was removed. People wanted the new area to keep the name "City of Westminster" because it had been called a city since the time of Henry VIII. The government first said no, thinking it would be unfair to other large areas. But they changed their minds. So, the new Metropolitan Borough of Westminster was given the title "city." This showed that a new local council could take on the city status of an older area.

From 1907 to 1953

In 1907, the government and King Edward VII agreed on secret rules for future city applications. This made it harder to become a city.

The 1907 rules had three main points:

• A town needed at least 300,000 people.
• It had to be a "local metropolitan character," meaning it was a distinct and important centre for a wider area.
• It needed a good history of local government.

Even with these rules, some people still thought that having a cathedral was enough to make a town a city. For example, the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica said Southwell and St Asaph were cities, even though they didn't officially have the title.

King George V continued these rules. In 1911, Portsmouth was refused city status because it didn't meet the population rule. After World War I, Leicester became a city in 1919, even though its population was smaller. This was an exception because it was seen as getting back a title it had lost long ago. When Stoke-on-Trent applied in 1925, it was first refused for having too few people. But the decision was changed because it was very important for the pottery industry.

This made the population rule a bit more flexible. Portsmouth and Salford then applied. Government workers thought Salford shouldn't be a city, calling it "merely a scratch collection of 240,000 people." But the Home Secretary, who used to be a Member of Parliament for a nearby area, approved Salford's request. Portsmouth also got its status in 1926.

In 1927, the government clarified what city status meant. They said: "The title of a city is a purely titular distinction. It has no connection with local government and gives no special powers. It is obtained only by a special grant from the King, or by very old right. There is no necessary connection between being a city and having a bishop's seat."

In 1928, Plymouth became a city because it was larger than Portsmouth and had grown by joining with other towns. However, the King then said he was "at an end of city making." So, Southampton's application was turned down. Sunderland and Derby were also refused in the 1930s. The next city created was Lancaster in 1937, for the coronation of King George VI. Lancaster was very small (about 50,000 people), but it was an exception because of its "long association with the crown" and being the county town of the King's Duchy. After World War II, Cambridge became a city in 1951. This was also an "exceptional" case, as it was the only ancient university town not already a city.

From 1953 to 1974

People expected new cities to be created for Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953. But only Coventry was given the special title of a lord mayoralty. Croydon applied in 1954 but was refused because it wasn't seen as separate enough from London. Derby and Southwark also failed in 1955. Changes to local government rules from 1958 stopped new city grants for a while. Southampton finally became a city in 1964.

In London, the London Government Act 1963 changed how the city was run. The City of London stayed mostly the same. But Westminster joined with two other areas to form a new London borough. In 1963, it was announced that this new area would also be called a city. This meant that when local government areas merged, the new larger area could keep the city status. This happened many times after the big local government changes in 1972-74.

In Wales, Swansea worked hard to become a city throughout the 1960s. It finally succeeded in 1969, when Charles, Prince of Wales was officially invested.

1974 Changes and New Cities

The Local Government Act 1972 completely changed local councils in England and Wales. All existing local authorities (except parish councils) were removed. This meant that the councils holding city status no longer existed. To keep the city status, new official documents were given to the new local councils created by the Act. Some of these new "cities" covered much larger areas than before, including countryside. For example, the cities of Bradford, Leeds and Winchester became much bigger.

In 1977, for Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee, Derby was chosen as a new city. It was the largest non-metropolitan area not already a city. In 1992, for the Queen's 40th anniversary, a competition was held for towns to apply for city status. Sunderland won this competition. Then, in 1994, St David's got its historic city status back. Since 2000, city status has been given out through competitions on special occasions. Many towns have applied, including Blackpool, Colchester, Croydon, Gateshead, Ipswich, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Reading, Swindon and Warrington.

Four towns in England and two in Wales have become cities since 2000:

• In 2000 (for the Millennium): Brighton and Hove and Wolverhampton.
• In 2002 (for the Queen's Golden Jubilee): Preston and Newport.
• In 2012 (for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee): Chelmsford and St Asaph.

Recent Bids for City Status (2021-2022)

In 2021, towns could apply for city status to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee in 2022. For the first time, places in overseas territories and crown dependencies could also apply. Many places applied, including Bangor (Northern Ireland), Bournemouth, Doncaster, Dunfermline, Dudley, Marazion, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Reading, St Andrews and Wrexham.

In October 2021, the Prime Minister announced that Southend-on-Sea would become a city. This was in memory of Sir David Amess, their local MP who had worked hard for this. Southend-on-Sea officially became a city in January 2022.

On May 20, 2022, eight new cities were announced from the list of applicants. At least one new city was chosen in every UK country, plus some overseas. In England, Milton Keynes, Colchester and Doncaster became cities. Dunfermline, an old royal capital, became a city in Scotland. Bangor became a city in Northern Ireland, and Wrexham in Wales. These new cities brought the total number of official cities in the UK to 76.

Greater London

Apart from the City of London and the City of Westminster, no other local areas in Greater London have been given city status. The government has usually stopped other London boroughs from becoming cities. They felt it would make the two existing cities in the capital less special. Southwark tried many times but was told not to bother. Croydon also applied several times but was refused because it was seen as just part of the big London area.

The same reasons were given when Croydon and Southwark applied for city status for the Millennium. Croydon was said to have "no particular identity of its own." Southwark was "part of London with little individual identity." Croydon tried again for the Golden Jubilee in 2002, but failed. The London Borough of Greenwich also applied, highlighting its royal history, but was not successful.

Rochester's Lost Status

Rochester was recognised as a city from 1211 until 1998. In 1974, its city council was removed and became part of the Borough of Medway. However, special documents said the old city area could still be called the "City of Rochester" to remember its long history. In 1979, the borough was renamed Rochester-upon-Medway. In 1982, new documents gave city status to the entire borough.

But on April 1, 1998, the Rochester-upon-Medway council was removed and became part of a new council called Medway. Since the city status was tied to the old council, it was lost when the council was abolished. The Medway Council only found out in 2002 that Rochester was no longer on the official list of cities. They tried to get it back for the 2012 Diamond Jubilee but failed.

Scotland's Cities

Before 1889, Scotland didn't have cities given by official royal documents. The closest thing was a "royal burgh." The word "city" wasn't always used consistently. Edinburgh and Perth used the Latin word civitas (city) a long time ago. But the English word "city" wasn't common until the 1400s. Unlike England, having a cathedral wasn't linked to being a city in Scotland. Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh were accepted as cities by the 1700s. Perth and Elgin also used the title. In 1856, Dunfermline decided to call itself a city because it had been a royal capital. Its status was only officially recognised in 2022.

In 1889, Dundee was officially granted city status. This made people wonder about other towns using the title. In 1891, Aberdeen's city status was confirmed. Inverness tried to become a city in 1897 but was refused. In 1929, Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow were made "counties of cities," which meant they were important local government areas. In 1969, the government said there were six cities in Scotland. In 1972, Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Elgin, Glasgow and Perth were listed as cities.

In 1975, Scotland's local government was completely changed. All burghs were removed. The new areas for Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Dundee and Glasgow had "City" in their names. These four cities were confirmed again in 1996. Since then, four more Scottish cities have been named: Inverness (2000), Stirling (2002), Perth (2012), and Dunfermline (2022). For these four newer cities, there are no special "city councils" or formal city boundaries.

Cities in Ireland and Northern Ireland

Historically, city status in Ireland was given by royal documents. Many towns in Ireland with cathedrals were never called cities. However, Armagh was seen as a city because it was the main church seat for all of Ireland. It lost its city status in 1840. The only old city with a special document in today's Northern Ireland is Derry. It was rebuilt after being attacked in 1608 and was named "Londonderry" in 1615.

In 1887, Belfast asked for city status to celebrate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. Belfast argued it was like Liverpool and Manchester in England, and had more people than Dublin. After some discussion, Belfast became a city in 1888. This was new because it was given for being a large industrial town, not for having a cathedral. Birmingham in England and Dundee in Scotland soon followed Belfast's example.

In 1994, Armagh got its city status back. In 2002, Lisburn and Newry were two of five towns in the UK that became cities for Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee. For Lisburn, the status covered the whole local government area. Newry, like Inverness and Stirling in Scotland, doesn't have formal boundaries or a city council.

Cities in Overseas Territories

During the British Empire, the government could declare cities in Crown colonies when new bishops were appointed. For example, Georgetown (in what was then British Guiana) became the "City of Georgetown" in 1842. This also happened for Gibraltar, Jamestown, St Helena, Bridgetown, Barbados, St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda, Victoria, Hong Kong and Nassau, Bahamas. Most of these places are now independent countries. Gibraltar and St Helena are still British Overseas Territories. This practice stopped in 1865.

Hamilton, Bermuda became a city in 1897 for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. Since the year 2000, the UK government has held competitions to grant city status to settlements. In 2021, for Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee, Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories could apply for the first time. Applicants included George Town (Cayman Islands), Gibraltar, Stanley (Falkland Islands), Douglas and Peel (Isle of Man). It was later found that Gibraltar had already been named a city long ago, but it was missing from the official list for 140 years. Stanley and Douglas were granted the honour.

How City Status is Given Now

Today, if a town wants to become a city, it sends a request to the King or Queen through the Lord Chancellor. The Lord Chancellor then advises the monarch. The rule is that city status is usually given only to very important towns that are large, have a unique character, and are well-governed. So, it's rare for a town to become a city unless there's a special event. Competitions for new cities are often held for royal events like coronations or jubilees, or for big milestones like the Millennium.

Lord Mayors

Some cities in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland have a special leader called a lord mayor, instead of just a mayor. In Scotland, the equivalent is a lord provost. Lord mayors have the right to be called "The Right Worshipful The Lord Mayor." The lord mayors and provosts of Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, the City of London and York have an even higher title: "The Right Honourable the Lord Mayor" (or Provost). This title is linked to their role, not to the person themselves.

Currently, there are 76 official cities in the UK. 31 of these have a lord mayor or lord provost. In England, 23 cities have lord mayors. In Wales, two cities have lord mayors. In Scotland, four cities have lord provosts. In Northern Ireland, two cities have lord mayors.

In the Republic of Ireland, the leader of Dublin is the Lord Mayor of Dublin, a title given in 1665. Cork also has a Lord Mayor of Cork, a title granted in 1900.

Competitions are held for cities that want to gain the distinction of having a lord mayor. In 2002, Exeter won this honour. In 2012, as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations, Armagh received the distinction.

City Councils

Being a city doesn't give a place any special rights other than the name itself. But the title "city" is very respected, so towns compete fiercely to get it.

Historically, city status was given to specific local government areas, like a borough. However, recent grants have been given to the "town" itself. In most cases, the town and its local government area are the same. So, the existing council becomes the city council.

Most cities have city councils. Their powers can vary depending on where they are in the UK.

England

In England, 13 cities are in large metropolitan areas, and their councils manage everything locally. 14 cities are "unitary authorities," meaning their councils also manage all local services. Another 14 cities have regular "district councils," which work under a larger county council. In London, Westminster City Council is like a London borough council, and the City of London Corporation is the council for the City of London. Eight smaller cities, like Ripon and Wells, have city councils that are like parish councils, with limited powers. Two cities, Bath and Chester, don't have city councils. Durham has a "city" parish council. These cities keep their status through special groups called "charter trustees."

Scotland

Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow are large council areas and have their own city councils. The cities of Dunfermline, Perth, Stirling and Inverness are part of larger council areas that are not cities. These four cities don't have their own city councils.

Wales

Cardiff, Newport, and Swansea are main local government areas and have city councils. Wrexham, which became a city in 2022, still has its county borough council. The city councils of Bangor, St Asaph and St Davids are like community councils with limited powers.

Northern Ireland

Belfast City Council is a local government district council. Since local government changes in 2015, the other four cities (Armagh, Derry, Lisburn and Newry) are part of larger districts and don't have their own city councils.

How City Status is Officially Given

City status is given by official documents called letters patent. It's not usually given by a royal charter, except for some old cases in Ireland. There are 20 towns in England and Wales that were recognised as cities because they had used the title for a very long time (before 1189) and had special privileges. These old cities include:

• Bangor (Wales)
• Bath
• Canterbury
• Carlisle
• Chichester
• Coventry
• Durham
• Ely
• Exeter
• Hereford
• Lichfield
• Lincoln
• City of London
• Norwich
• Rochester (lost status in 1998)
• Salisbury
• Wells
• Winchester
• Worcester
• York

These 20 cities were also places where there were 22 very old church areas (dioceses) before the English Reformation. Bath and Wells was one diocese. The other three were in Wales:

• Llandaff was not considered a city because it didn't have special privileges. It joined Cardiff in 1922.
• St Asaph was never seen as a city, but it was given the status in 2012.
• St Davids used to be a borough but lost its status in 1886. It got its city title back in 1994.

Having city status doesn't bring any special benefits other than the name. If a local government area that holds city status is removed, new official documents are needed to confirm the city status for the new area. This happened to many cities after 1974. York and Hereford had their status confirmed twice. If this isn't done, the city status can be lost, as happened to Rochester in 1998. St David's and Armagh also lost their status but later got it back.

Official Cities Today

There are currently 76 official cities in the UK. 17 of these have been created since the year 2000 through competitions to celebrate the new millennium and Queen Elizabeth II's jubilees. Many towns want this honour, with over 40 applying in recent competitions. City status has been given to different types of places, including towns, local government districts, and even small civil parishes.

Smallest and Largest Cities

It's tricky to rank cities by size because "population" can mean different things. It can be the number of people in the city council area, or in the wider urban area. The official area of a UK city is usually its local government boundary. This boundary might include both built-up areas and countryside. Or, a city's built-up area might spread beyond its official boundary into other areas that aren't cities.

The City of London is very small, but it's in the middle of a huge urban area. So, "small" might best describe cities with tiny urban areas surrounded by countryside, like Wells. Below are lists of the top 5 smallest and largest cities by population, city council area, and urban area, using 2021 census figures.

Largest Cities

Towns Not Cities

Populous Towns

The word "city" can mean any large settlement, but there's no fixed rule. Many British towns have large urban areas that could be cities based on their population. Some have even applied for city status but were turned down. The following are some of the largest urban areas in the UK that don't have an official city as part of them (2011 Census):

The largest local councils that have tried and failed to get city status in recent competitions include:

• London Borough of Croydon – 390,719 people
• Metropolitan Borough of Dudley – 312,925 people
• Metropolitan Borough of Wirral – 312,293 people
• Metropolitan Borough of Stockport – 284,528 people
• Metropolitan Borough of Bolton – 261,037 people
• Borough of Medway – 249,488 people
• London Borough of Southwark – 244,866 people
• London Borough of Tower Hamlets – 220,500 people
• London Borough of Greenwich – 214,403 people (became a Royal Borough in 2012)
• Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead – 200,300 people
• Borough of Northampton – 194,458 people (its council was removed in 2021)
• Borough of Warrington – 191,084 people
• Borough of Luton – 184,371 people
• Borough of Bournemouth – 183,491 people (its council was removed)
• Borough of Swindon – 180,051 people
• Borough of Telford and Wrekin – 161,600 people
• Borough of Reading – 155,300 people
• Borough of Blackpool – 142,100 people
• Borough of Middlesbrough – 138,400 people

Cathedral Towns

A "cathedral city" is a place that has a cathedral and is also officially a city.

England and Wales

Since having a cathedral is no longer the only way to become a city, some towns have cathedrals but are not cities. These include:

There are 16 English and Welsh cities that have never had cathedrals of the Church of England within their borders. These include Brighton and Hove, Cambridge, Hull, Lancaster, Leeds, Milton Keynes, Nottingham, Plymouth, Preston, Salford, Southampton, Southend-on-Sea, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland, Swansea, and Wolverhampton.

Bath Abbey and Westminster Abbey were once cathedrals for a short time. These cities kept their city status even after their churches stopped being cathedrals.

Scotland

Scotland's national church, the Church of Scotland, doesn't have bishops, so it has "high kirks" instead of cathedrals. However, some very old cathedrals from before the Scottish Reformation are still used by the Church of Scotland and are still called cathedrals, like in Glasgow and Aberdeen. Others, like St Andrews, are now ruins.

Both Perth and Elgin were recognised as cities before 1975. Perth's city status was given back in 2012. Also, five other places that used to have cathedrals—Brechin, Dunblane, Dunkeld, Kirkwall and St Andrews—are often called cities, especially in local names. For example, the local football team is Brechin City F.C.. Other places like Dornoch, Fortrose, Lismore, Saddell and Whithorn also have old cathedrals but have never been called cities.

Some towns have cathedrals from other churches (not the Church of Scotland) but are not cities. These include Ayr, Millport, Oban, Motherwell and Paisley. Some of these, like Ayr, Motherwell, and Paisley, have more people than official cities like Perth, Stirling, and Inverness.

Of the cities granted status in the 21st century, Inverness (2001) has an Episcopal cathedral. Stirling (2002) has never had any kind of cathedral. Perth (2012) has an Episcopal cathedral but no old cathedral from before the Reformation.

Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland, having a cathedral has almost never been enough to get city status, except for Armagh. The Church of Ireland stopped being the official church in 1871. The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica did call Armagh (which lost city status in 1840) and Lisburn cities. Armagh officially got its city status back in 1994, and Lisburn became a city in 2002.

There are four towns in Northern Ireland with Church of Ireland cathedrals that are not cities: Clogher, Downpatrick, Dromore and Enniskillen. Newry is the only city in Northern Ireland that doesn't have a Church of Ireland cathedral.

Towns That Claim City Status

Some towns call themselves cities in certain situations, even though they don't have the official title.

• Ballymena in Northern Ireland has been known as "The City of the Seven Towers" since the 1800s.
• The local council for Brechin is called "City of Brechin & District Community Council." Its football team is Brechin City F.C.. Brechin also has a cathedral and used to be a bishop's seat.
• Dunkeld, which had a bishop until the 1600s, is sometimes called a city. It even has a "City Hall."
• The local council for Elgin is called "City and Royal Burgh of Elgin Community Council." Its football team is Elgin City F.C..
• Guildford has a cathedral, and its football team is Guildford City F.C.. In 2013, the local council didn't apply for city status, thinking it wouldn't win.
• Letchworth Garden City and Welwyn Garden City are "New Towns" in Hertfordshire. They were built to help with overcrowding in London as part of the "Garden City movement."
• After failing to get city status, Reading started using "City Centre" on its buses and car park signs. Reading's urban area has over 350,000 people, making it larger than many official cities. However, the official population of the Borough of Reading is smaller because some of its large suburbs are in other local areas.

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See also

In Spanish: Estatus de ciudad en el Reino Unido para niños