Ceremonial counties of England facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

"Ceremonial counties" redirects here. For those used for a similar ceremonial purpose in Wales, see preserved counties of Wales.

Quick facts for kids Ceremonial counties of England and shrieval counties of England
Northumberland Durham Lancashire Cheshire Derbs. Notts. Lincolnshire Leics. Staffs. Shropshire Warks. Northants. Norfolk Suffolk Essex Herts. Beds. Bucks. Oxon. Glos. Somerset Wiltshire Berkshire Kent Surrey Hampshire Dorset Devon Cornwall Heref. Worcs. Bristol East Riding of Yorkshire Rutland Cambs. Greater London Not shown: City of London Tyne & Wear Cumbria North Yorkshire South Yorks. West Yorkshire Greater Manc. Merseyside East Sussex West Sussex Isle of Wight West Midlands
Location	England
Number	48
Populations	8,000 (City of London) to 8,167,000 (Greater London)
Areas	3km² to 8,611 km²
Densities	62/km² to 4,806/km²

Ceremonial counties are special areas in England where the King or Queen's representatives, called lord-lieutenants, are appointed. Think of them as official areas for royal duties. These counties are one of the two main ways England is divided up today. The other way is for local government, which is how towns and cities are run.

Another type of county, called shrieval counties, has the exact same borders as ceremonial counties. In these areas, high sheriffs are appointed. High sheriffs are the King or Queen's representatives for legal matters. Both types of counties help the monarch stay connected to different parts of England.

The rules for ceremonial counties are found in a law called the Lieutenancies Act 1997. The rules for shrieval counties are in the Sheriffs Act 1887. Both laws describe these areas by grouping together different local government counties.

History of England's Counties
Shrieval Counties
How Ceremonial Counties are Defined
- Lieutenancy Areas since 1998
Counties from 1889 to 1974
See also

History of England's Counties

The predecessor geographic counties from 1889 to 1965.

Long ago, the historic counties of England were used for things like making sure justice was served and organizing local armies. A person called a sheriff was in charge of these tasks.

Later, during the Tudor period, a new role was created: the lord-lieutenant. This person was mainly in charge of the local army, taking over some of the sheriff's old jobs.

Special Towns and Cities

Some important towns and cities were known as counties corporate. This meant they had the right to appoint their own sheriffs and hold their own courts. Most of these special cities shared a lord-lieutenant with the larger county they were part of. The only exception was the City of London, which had its own group of lord-lieutenants led by the Lord Mayor of London.

Over time, it became official that lord-lieutenants would be appointed for both the main county and any special cities within it. This rule was made clear in the Militia Act 1882.

Changes in Yorkshire

Usually, the areas for lord-lieutenants were the same as the areas for sheriffs. But Yorkshire was different. It had one sheriff for the whole area. However, from 1660 onwards, Yorkshire was split into three parts, called ridings, and each riding had its own lord-lieutenant.

New Councils in 1889

In 1889, a big change happened. New elected councils, called county councils, were set up. These councils took over many of the day-to-day running tasks of the counties. Some towns and cities became county boroughs, which meant they were independent and didn't have to follow the county councils.

Because of these changes, some of the older sheriff or lord-lieutenant counties now included several administrative counties and independent county boroughs. The areas managed by the new county councils were called administrative counties.

The Ordnance Survey, which makes maps, started using the term geographical county to describe the widest definition of a county. For most places, this was the same as the lord-lieutenant's area.

Ceremonial counties from 1974 to 1996 (City of London not shown)

Modern Changes in 1974

In 1972, counties stopped being used for judicial (court) purposes. Then, in 1974, the old administrative counties and county boroughs were completely removed. A new system of counties was introduced, including metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties.

The sheriffs were renamed high sheriffs, and both they and the lord-lieutenants were appointed to these new county areas.

Recent Adjustments

Some counties created in 1974, like Avon, Cleveland, and Humberside, were later abolished in 1996. They were divided into smaller areas called unitary authorities.

As part of these changes, it was decided that the areas for lord-lieutenants would sometimes be different from the local government areas. This was a bit like going back to how things were before 1974. It was also decided that high sheriffs and lord-lieutenants should be appointed to the exact same areas. New rules were made in 1996 to make this happen.

These rules were then put together into the Lieutenancies Act 1997. Even though some local government counties like Herefordshire, Rutland, and Worcestershire were re-established in 1997 and 1998, the 1997 Act wasn't changed for them. This meant they also became their own lieutenancy areas again. The actual borders of the ceremonial counties haven't changed since 1998.

The official name for these areas in the law is 'counties for the purposes of the lieutenancies'. But people often use the informal term ceremonial county.

Shrieval Counties

The shrieval counties are defined by the Sheriffs Act 1887. They are very similar to the lieutenancy areas. Each shrieval county has a high sheriff appointed to it. The only exception is the City of London, which has two sheriffs instead of one.

How Ceremonial Counties are Defined

The Lieutenancies Act 1997 explains what a ceremonial county is. It describes them using the metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties (from the Local Government Act 1972), as well as Greater London and the Isles of Scilly. Even though the law doesn't use the term "ceremonial county," that's what people call them.

The law is updated whenever new local government areas are created. This makes sure the lieutenancy areas are still defined correctly. As mentioned before, the actual borders of the ceremonial counties haven't changed since 1998.

Lieutenancy Areas since 1998

Here are the 48 ceremonial counties in England as they are today:

Location	Population (2018)	Area		Density
Location	Population (2018)	km²	mi²	/km²	/mi²
Bedfordshire	582,600	^{[convert: needs a number]}	472	1,220	Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Luton
Berkshire	812,200	^{[convert: needs a number]}	643	1,670	Bracknell Forest, Reading, Slough, West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead and Wokingham
Bristol	398,300	^{[convert: invalid number]}	3,639	9,420	Bristol
Buckinghamshire	700,100	^{[convert: needs a number]}	374	970	Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes
Cambridgeshire	748,600	^{[convert: needs a number]}	220	570	Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
Cheshire	993,200	^{[convert: needs a number]}	424	1,100	Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Halton, and Warrington
City of London	9,200	^{[convert: needs a number]}	3,172	8,220	City of London
Cornwall	519,400	^{[convert: needs a number]}	146	380	Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly
Cumbria	498,800	^{[convert: needs a number]}	73	190	Cumberland and Westmorland and Furness
Derbyshire	981,200	^{[convert: needs a number]}	373	970	Derbyshire and Derby
Devon	1,109,900	^{[convert: needs a number]}	165	430	Devon, Plymouth and Torbay
Dorset	701,900	^{[convert: needs a number]}	265	690	Dorset and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
Durham	875,700	^{[convert: needs a number]}	321	830	County Durham, Darlington, Hartlepool and part of Stockton-on-Tees north of the River Tees
East Riding of Yorkshire	576,500	^{[convert: needs a number]}	232	600	East Riding of Yorkshire and Kingston upon Hull
East Sussex	752,900	^{[convert: needs a number]}	419	1,090	East Sussex and Brighton and Hove
Essex	1,645,900	^{[convert: needs a number]}	448	1,160	Essex, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock
Gloucestershire	823,500	^{[convert: needs a number]}	261	680	Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire
Greater London	7,508,500	^{[convert: needs a number]}	4,781	12,380	None (see the London boroughs)
Greater Manchester	2,547,700	^{[convert: needs a number]}	1,997	5,170	Greater Manchester
Hampshire	1,671,000	^{[convert: needs a number]}	443	1,150	Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton
Herefordshire	178,800	^{[convert: needs a number]}	82	210	Herefordshire
Hertfordshire	1,048,200	^{[convert: needs a number]}	638	1,650	Hertfordshire
Isle of Wight	140,000	^{[convert: invalid number]}	368	950	Isle of Wight
Kent	1,621,000	^{[convert: needs a number]}	434	1,120	Kent and Medway
Lancashire	1,439,200	^{[convert: needs a number]}	468	1,210	Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool and Lancashire
Leicestershire	915,800	^{[convert: needs a number]}	425	1,100	Leicestershire and Leicester
Lincolnshire	993,300	^{[convert: needs a number]}	143	370	Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire
Merseyside	1,367,200	^{[convert: invalid number]}	2,120	5,500	Merseyside
Norfolk	824,200	^{[convert: needs a number]}	153	400	Norfolk
North Yorkshire	1,045,000	^{[convert: needs a number]}	121	310	Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, Redcar and Cleveland, York and part of Stockton-on-Tees south of the River Tees
Northamptonshire	651,800	^{[convert: needs a number]}	275	710	North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire
Northumberland	311,400	^{[convert: needs a number]}	62	160	Northumberland
Nottinghamshire	1,041,300	^{[convert: needs a number]}	482	1,250	Nottinghamshire and Nottingham
Oxfordshire	626,900	^{[convert: needs a number]}	241	620	Oxfordshire
Rutland	37,300	^{[convert: invalid number]}	95	250	Rutland
Shropshire	450,700	^{[convert: needs a number]}	129	330	Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin
Somerset	884,400	^{[convert: needs a number]}	212	550	Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset and Somerset
South Yorkshire	1,285,600	^{[convert: needs a number]}	829	2,150	South Yorkshire
Staffordshire	1,055,000	^{[convert: needs a number]}	388	1,000	Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent
Suffolk	692,100	^{[convert: needs a number]}	182	470	Suffolk
Surrey	1,075,600	^{[convert: needs a number]}	644	1,670	Surrey
Tyne and Wear	1,095,200	^{[convert: invalid number]}	2,028	5,250	Tyne and Wear
Warwickshire	533,900	^{[convert: needs a number]}	270	700	Warwickshire
West Midlands	2,591,300	^{[convert: invalid number]}	2,874	7,440	West Midlands
West Sussex	764,300	^{[convert: needs a number]}	384	990	West Sussex
West Yorkshire	2,118,600	^{[convert: needs a number]}	1,044	2,700	West Yorkshire
Wiltshire	630,700	^{[convert: needs a number]}	181	470	Swindon and Wiltshire
Worcestershire	555,900	^{[convert: needs a number]}	319	830	Worcestershire

Counties from 1889 to 1974

Not shown: City of London

Lieutenancy areas in 1890

After the county councils were created in 1889, England had different types of counties. There were counties for sheriffs and lord-lieutenants, and also administrative counties and county boroughs for local government. The Ordnance Survey called the wider areas, which included administrative counties and county boroughs, geographical counties.

Yorkshire was special because it had three lord-lieutenants (one for each riding), but only one sheriff for the whole area. The Ordnance Survey still counted it as one geographical county.

The counties used for lord-lieutenants and sheriffs were defined by grouping administrative counties and county boroughs. This meant their borders changed automatically if the administrative areas changed. There were a few small exceptions to this rule over the years. For example, the town of Great Yarmouth was split between Norfolk and Suffolk for official purposes until 1891, when it was fully placed in Norfolk.

More significant changes to the geographical counties happened in 1965. This included the creation of Greater London and a new county called Huntingdon and Peterborough. These changes led to new lord-lieutenant positions being created and some old ones being removed.