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Administrative Areas of England
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The first table below shows the historic counties and their administrative sub-divisions before the first round of changes and lists the successor counties for each, that is the post-change counties which contain some or all of the original county area. The second table lists the counties after the first round of changes and lists their successor counties and/or unitary authorities. In all cases only the top-tier authority is shown - either the top-tier in a two-tier arrangement or a single tier authority (shown italicised).
Additional information is provided where appropriate and available - the Chapman County Code (CCC), a unique 3 letter code for counties and regions; the common abbreviation for the area; and, for the second round of changes, the year in which the changes were (or will be) implemented.
For a brief description of the administrative changes in the United Kingdom see - Local Government Changes in the United Kingdom.
The following abbreviations are used in these tables:
| Key | |
|---|---|
| (C) | County Borough County of itself |
| (L) | London Borough |
| (M) | Metropolitan District |
| (MC) | Metropolitan County |
| (U) | Unitary Authority |
Single-tier local authorities are shown italicised.
| England - changes of 1965/1974 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Historic County | Abbrev. | CCC | Administration up to 1974 (London 1965) |
Successor Counties |
| Bedfordshire | Beds | BDF | Bedfordshire Luton (C) |
Bedfordshire |
| Berkshire | Berks | BRK | Berkshire Reading (C) |
Berkshire Oxfordshire |
| Buckinghamshire | Bucks | BKM | Buckinghamshire | Buckinghamshire Berkshire |
| Cambridgeshire | Cambs | CAM | Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely | Cambridgeshire |
| Cheshire | CHS | Cheshire Birkenhead (C) Chester (C) Stockport (C) Wallasey (C) |
Cheshire Greater Manchester (MC) Merseyside (MC) Derbyshire |
|
| Cornwall (1) | Corn | CON | Cornwall | Cornwall |
| Cumberland | CUL | Cumberland Carlisle (C) |
Cumbria | |
| Derbyshire | Derbys | DBY | Derbyshire Derby (C) |
Derbyshire |
| Devon | DEV | Devon Exeter (C) Plymouth (C) Torbay (C) |
Devon | |
| Dorset | DOR | Dorset Poole (C) |
Dorset | |
| County Durham | DUR | County Durham Darlington (C) Gateshead (C) Hartlepool 1967-74 (C) South Shields (C) Sunderland (C) Teesside 1968-74 (C) West Hartlepool until 1967 (C) |
County Durham Tyne and Wear (MC) Cleveland |
|
| Essex | ESS | Essex East Ham (C) Southend (C) West Ham (C) |
Essex Greater London |
|
| Gloucestershire | Glos | GLS | Gloucestershire Bristol (C) Gloucester (C) |
Gloucestershire Avon |
| Hampshire | Hants (2) | HAM | Hampshire Bournemouth (C) Portsmouth (C) Southampton (C) |
Hampshire Dorset |
| Isle of Wight | Isle of Wight | |||
| Herefordshire | HEF | Herefordshire | Hereford and Worcester | |
| Hertfordshire | Herts | HRT | Hertfordshire | Hertfordshire Greater London |
| Huntingdonshire | Hunts | HUN | Huntingdonshire and Peterborough | Cambridgeshire |
| Kent | KEN | Kent Canterbury (C) |
Kent Greater London |
|
| Lancashire | Lancs | LAN | Lancashire Barrow-in-Furness (C) Blackburn (C) Blackpool (C) Bolton (C) Bootle (C) Burnley (C) Bury (C) Liverpool (C) Manchester (C) Oldham (C) Preston (C) Rochdale (C) St Helens (C) Salford (C) Southport (C) Warrington (C) Wigan (C) |
Lancashire Greater Manchester (MC) Merseyside (MC) Cheshire Cumbria |
| Leicestershire | Leics | LEI | Leicestershire Leicester (C) |
Leicestershire |
| Lincolnshire | Lincs | LIN | Lincolnshire (Holland) | Lincolnshire |
| Lincolnshire (Kesteven) | Lincolnshire | |||
| Lincolnshire (Lindsey) Grimsby (C) Lincoln (C) |
Lincolnshire Humberside |
|||
| London | LND | London | Greater London | |
| Middlesex | Middx | MDX | Middlesex | Greater London |
| Norfolk | NFK | Norfolk Norwich (C) Yarmouth (C) |
Norfolk | |
| Northamptonshire | Northants | NTH | Northamptonshire Northampton (C) |
Northamptonshire |
| Northumberland | Northumb | NBL | Northumberland Berwick-upon-Tweed (C) Newcastle-upon-Tyne (C) Tynemouth (C) |
Northumberland Tyne and Wear (MC) |
| Nottinghamshire | Notts | NTT | Nottinghamshire Nottingham (C) |
Nottinghamshire South Yorkshire (MC) |
| Oxfordshire | Oxon (3) | OXF | Oxfordshire Oxford (C) |
Oxfordshire |
| Rutland | RUT | Rutland | Leicestershire | |
| Shropshire | Salop (4) | SAL | Shropshire | Shropshire |
| Somerset | SOM | Somerset Bath (C) Bristol (C) |
Somerset Avon |
|
| Staffordshire | Staffs | STS | Staffordshire Burton-upon-Trent (C) Dudley (C) Stoke-on-Trent (C) Walsall (C) West Bromwich (C) Wolverhampton (C) |
Staffordshire West Midlands (MC) |
| Suffolk | SFK | Suffolk (East) Ipswich (C) |
Suffolk Norfolk |
|
| Suffolk (West) | Suffolk | |||
| Surrey | SRY | Surrey Croydon (C) |
Surrey West Sussex Greater London |
|
| Sussex | SSX | Sussex (East) Brighton (C) Eastbourne (C) Hastings (C) |
East Sussex West Sussex |
|
| Sussex (West) | West Sussex | |||
| Warwickshire | Warks | WAR | Warwickshire Birmingham (C) Coventry (C) Solihull (C) |
Warwickshire West Midlands (MC) |
| Westmorland | WES | Westmorland | Cumbria | |
| Wiltshire | Wilts | WIL | Wiltshire | Wiltshire |
| Worcestershire | Worcs | WOR | Worcestershire Dudley (C) Warley (C) Worcester (C) |
Hereford and Worcester West Midlands (MC) |
| Yorkshire | Yorks | YKS | Yorkshire (East Riding) ERY Kingston-upon-Hull (C) |
Humberside North Yorkshire |
| Yorkshire (North Riding) NRY Middlesbrough until 1968 (C) Teesside 1968-74 (C) |
North Yorkshire Cleveland Durham |
|||
| Yorkshire (West Riding) WRY Barnsley (C) Bradford (C) Dewsbury (C) Doncaster (C) Halifax (C) Huddersfield (C) Leeds (C) Rotherham (C) Sheffield (C) Wakefield (C) |
West Yorkshire (MC) Greater Manchester (MC) South Yorkshire (MC) Cumbria Humberside Lancashire North Yorkshire |
|||
| York (C) | North Yorkshire | |||
| England - changes of 1986-1998 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Counties 1974-1986/1998 | CCC | Year | Successor Counties and Unitary Authorities |
| Avon | AVN | 1996 | Bristol (U) North Somerset (U) Bath and North East Somerset (U) South Gloucestershire (U) |
| Bedfordshire | BDF | 1997 | Bedfordshire Luton (U) |
| Berkshire | BRK | 1998 | Bracknell Forest (U) West Berkshire (U) Reading (U) Slough (U) Windsor and Maidenhead (U) Wokingham (U) |
| Buckinghamshire | BKM | 1997 | Buckinghamshire Milton Keynes (U) |
| Cambridgeshire | CAM | 1998 | Cambridgeshire Peterborough (U) |
| Cheshire | CHS | 1998 | Cheshire Halton (U) Warrington (U) |
| Cleveland | CLV | 1996 | Hartlepool (U) Middlesbrough (U) Redcar and Cleveland (U) Stockton-on-Tees (U) |
| Cornwall (1) | CON | -- | Cornwall |
| Cumbria | CMA | -- | Cumbria |
| Derbyshire | DBY | 1997 | Derbyshire Derby City (U) |
| Devon | DEV | 1998 | Devon Plymouth (U) Torbay (U) |
| Dorset | DOR | 1997 | Dorset Bournemouth (U) Poole (U) |
| County Durham | DUR | 1997 | County Durham Darlington (U) |
| East Sussex | SXE | 1997 | East Sussex Brighton and Hove (U) |
| Essex | ESS | 1998 | Essex Southend (U) Thurrock (U) |
| Gloucestershire | GLS | --- | Gloucestershire |
| Greater London | 1986 | Barking and Dagenham (L) Barnet (L) Bexley (L) Brent (L) Bromley (L) Camden (L) Corporation of London (L) Croydon (L) Ealing (L) Enfield (L) Greenwich (L) Hackney (L) Hammersmith and Fulham (L) Haringey (L) Harrow (L) Havering (L) Hillingdon (L) Hounslow (L) Islington (L) Kensington and Chelsea (L) Kingston-upon-Thames (L) Lambeth (L) Lewisham (L) Merton (L) Newham (L) Redbridge (L) Richmond-upon-Thames (L) Southwark (L) Sutton (L) Tower Hamlets (L) Waltham Forest (L) Wandsworth (L) Westminster (L) |
|
| Greater Manchester (MC) | GTM | 1986 | Wigan (M) Bolton (M) Bury (M) Rochdale (M) Oldham (M) Tameside (M) Stockport (M) Manchester (M) Salford (M) Trafford (M) |
| Hampshire | HAM | 1997 | Hampshire Portsmouth (U) Southampton (U) |
| Hereford and Worcester | HWR | 1998 | Worcestershire Herefordshire (U) |
| Hertfordshire | HRT | --- | Hertfordshire |
| Humberside | HUM | 1996 | East Riding of Yorkshire (U) City of Kingston upon Hull (U) North Lincolnshire (U) North East Lincolnshire (U) |
| Isle of Wight | IOW | 1995 | Isle of Wight (U) |
| Kent | KEN | 1998 | Kent The Medway Towns (U) |
| Lancashire | LAN | 1998 | Lancashire Blackburn with Darwen (U) Blackpool (U) |
| Leicestershire | LEI | 1997 | Leicestershire Leicester City (U) Rutland (U) |
| Lincolnshire | LIN | --- | Lincolnshire |
| Merseyside (MC) | MSY | 1986 | Wirral (M) Sefton (M) Liverpool (M) Knowsley (M) St Helens (M) |
| Norfolk | NFK | --- | Norfolk |
| Northamptonshire | NTH | --- | Northamptonshire |
| Northumberland | NBL | --- | Northumberland |
| North Yorkshire | NYK | 1996 | North Yorkshire York (U) |
| Nottinghamshire | NTT | 1998 | Nottinghamshire Nottingham City (U) |
| Oxfordshire | OXF | --- | Oxfordshire |
| Shropshire | SAL | 1998 | Shropshire The Wrekin (U) |
| Somerset | SOM | --- | Somerset |
| South Yorkshire (MC) | SYK | 1986 | Barnsley (M) Doncaster (M) Rotherham (M) Sheffield (M) |
| Staffordshire | STS | 1997 | Staffordshire Stoke on Trent (U) |
| Suffolk | SFK | --- | Suffolk |
| Surrey | SRY | --- | Surrey |
| Tyne and Wear (MC) | TWR | 1986 | Newcastle-upon-Tyne (M) North Tyneside (M) South Tyneside (M) Gateshead (M) Sunderland (M) |
| Warwickshire | WAR | --- | Warwickshire |
| West Midlands (MC) | WMD | 1986 | Walsall (M) Wolverhampton (M) Dudley (M) Sandwell (M) Birmingham (M) Solihull (M) Coventry (M) |
| West Sussex | SXW | --- | West Sussex |
| West Yorkshire (MC) | WYK | 1986 | Calderdale (M) Bradford (M) Leeds (M) Wakefield (M) Kirklees (M) |
| Wiltshire | WIL | 1997 | Wiltshire Swindon (U) |
Notes
- Includes the Isles of Scilly.
- "Hants" derives from "Hantshaving", the original name for this county.
- "Oxon" is an abbreviation of "Oxonia", the Latin name for Oxford.
- "Salop" derives from "Sloppesberie", the original Anglo-French name for this county.
© GENUKI and Contributors 1993, 1997
Page created by Phil Lloyd in January 1993. Revised and updated in September 1997 by Brian Pears.