County town facts for kids

In Great Britain and Ireland, a county town is like the main or most important town in a county. It's often where the county's government offices are, where important court cases happen, and where people vote for their representatives in parliament. Even though county councils (local governments) started in England in 1889, the idea of a county town is much older than that.

The idea of a county town isn't always super clear or official. Sometimes, the main offices for a county are in a different town. For example, Lancaster is known as the county town of Lancashire, but the county's main council building is in Preston. Also, some county towns, like Nottingham or Brighton and Hove, are now separate from their counties for administrative reasons. But they are still considered part of their counties geographically.

County Towns Through History in Great Britain

County towns have played a big role in how areas were governed for a long time. They were the centers for important decisions and meetings.

England's Historic County Towns

This list shows towns that were important county centers at different times in history.

County	Named after or of same root	Places that held county functions
Bedfordshire	Bedford
Berkshire	N/A	Reading or Abingdon
Buckinghamshire	Buckingham	Aylesbury
Cambridgeshire	Cambridge	Ely
Cheshire	Chester
Cornwall	N/A	Truro, Bodmin or Launceston
Cumberland	Carlisle (county later renamed)	Cockermouth or Penrith
Derbyshire	Derby
Devon	N/A	Exeter
Dorset	Dorchester	Poole
County Durham	Durham	Bishop Auckland or Sadberge
Essex	N/A	Chelmsford
Gloucestershire	Gloucester	Bristol
Hampshire	Southampton	Winchester
Herefordshire	Hereford
Hertfordshire	Hertford
Huntingdonshire	Huntingdon
Kent	Canterbury (name of same origin)	Maidstone
Lancashire	Lancaster	Preston
Leicestershire	Leicester
Lincolnshire	Lincoln
Middlesex	N/A	Brentford, Clerkenwell, London or Westminster
Norfolk	N/A	Norwich
Northamptonshire	Northampton
Northumberland	N/A	Alnwick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Morpeth or Berwick upon Tweed
Nottinghamshire	Nottingham
Oxfordshire	Oxford
Rutland	N/A	Oakham
Shropshire	Shrewsbury (spellings diverged)
Somerset	Somerton	Taunton, Ilchester, Bath or Wells
Staffordshire	Stafford	Lichfield
Suffolk	N/A	Ipswich
Surrey	N/A	Guildford, Newington or Southwark
Sussex	N/A	Lewes, Chichester or Horsham
Warwickshire	Warwick	Coventry
Westmorland	N/A	Appleby or Kendal
Wiltshire	Wilton	Trowbridge, Salisbury or Devizes
Worcestershire	Worcester
Yorkshire	York	Kingston upon Hull

Scotland's Historic County Towns

Here are the historic county towns for Scotland.

County	County town
Aberdeenshire	Aberdeen
Angus (or Forfarshire)	Forfar
Argyll	Lochgilphead (formerly Inveraray)
Ayrshire	Ayr
Banffshire	Banff
Berwickshire	Duns, Scottish Borders (formerly Berwick-upon-Tweed, formerly Greenlaw)
Bute	Rothesay
Caithness	Wick
Clackmannanshire	Alloa (formerly Clackmannan)
Cromartyshire	Cromarty
Dumfriesshire	Dumfries
Dunbartonshire	Dumbarton
East Lothian (or Haddingtonshire)	Haddington
Fife	Cupar
Inverness-shire	Inverness
Kincardineshire	Stonehaven (formerly Kincardine)
Kinross-shire	Kinross
Kirkcudbrightshire	Kirkcudbright
Lanarkshire	Lanark
Midlothian (or Edinburghshire)	Edinburgh
Morayshire (or Elginshire)	Elgin
Nairnshire	Nairn
Orkney	Kirkwall
Peeblesshire	Peebles
Perthshire	Perth
Renfrewshire	Renfrew
Ross-shire	Dingwall (also the county town of Ross and Cromarty)
Roxburghshire	Jedburgh (formerly Roxburgh)
Selkirkshire	Selkirk
Shetland	Lerwick
Stirlingshire	Stirling
Sutherland	Dornoch
West Lothian (or Linlithgowshire)	Linlithgow
Wigtownshire	Wigtown

Wales' Historic County Towns

After the Norman invasion of Wales, a system of counties was created. Many of these counties were named after the main Norman power center in the area. The Laws in Wales Act of 1535 made these historic counties official. Today, Wales uses different areas for government, but the historic county towns are still important for tradition.

Name in English	Name in Welsh	County town in English	County town in Welsh
Anglesey	Ynys Môn	Llangefni (formerly Beaumaris?)	Llangefni Biwmares
Brecknockshire	Brycheiniog	Brecon	Aberhonddu
Caernarfonshire (formerly Carnarvonshire)	Sir Gaernarfon	Caernarfon	Caernarfon
Cardiganshire	Ceredigion	Cardigan	Aberteifi
Carmarthenshire	Sir Gaerfyrddin	Carmarthen	Caerfyrddin
Denbighshire	Sir Ddinbych	Ruthin (formerly Denbigh)	Rhuthun (formerly Dinbych)
Flintshire	Sir y Fflint	Mold (formerly Flint)	Yr Wyddgrug (formerly Y Fflint)
Glamorgan	Morgannwg	Cardiff	Caerdydd
Merioneth or Merionethshire	Meirionnydd or Sir Feirionnydd	Dolgellau	Dolgellau
Montgomeryshire	Sir Drefaldwyn	Welshpool (formerly Montgomery)	Y Trallwng (formerly Trefaldwyn)
Monmouthshire	Sir Fynwy	Monmouth	Trefynwy
Pembrokeshire	Sir Benfro	Haverfordwest (formerly Pembroke)	Hwlffordd (formerly Penfro)
Radnorshire	Sir Faesyfed	Presteigne (formerly New Radnor)	Llanandras (former Maesyfed)

County Towns After 19th-Century Changes

In the late 1800s, big changes happened in how counties were run. New elected county councils were created. This sometimes meant that the main administrative offices moved away from the very old county towns. More changes happened in the 1960s and 1970s, creating new types of counties. Even more changes in the 1990s brought back some of the older county ideas.

England, from 1889

This table shows where county councils in England had their main offices from 1889 onwards.

England, from 1965

Here are the headquarters for county councils in England after 1965.

Wales, from 1889

This table shows the main administrative towns for Welsh counties from 1889.

¹ Because of better transport and a more central spot, some government tasks moved to Llangefni. ² Cardigan was often still called 'the county town' because of its name. But important court sessions were held in Lampeter, while Aberystwyth handled the county council's administration. So, Aberystwyth was the actual county town. ³ Due to better transport and a more central location, some government tasks moved to Llandrindod Wells.

County Towns in Ireland

In Ireland, county towns are where the local government offices are located.

Republic of Ireland

This list shows where the main offices are for the 31 local authorities in the Republic of Ireland.

Northern Ireland

Here are the county towns in Northern Ireland.

Even though Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland, it's not the county town for any single county. Greater Belfast actually stretches across two counties: Antrim and Down.

County Towns in Jamaica

Jamaica also has counties, which were set up in 1758. This was to help with holding court cases, similar to the British system. Each county had its own county town. Today, these counties don't have any administrative role, meaning they aren't used for government purposes anymore.

See also

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In Spanish: County town para niños