Administrative counties of England
Administrative counties were a level of
subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government from
1889 to
1974.
They were created by the
Local Government Act 1888 and abolished by the
Local Government Act 1972. They were replaced by the
metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England which are often referred to, somewhat incorrectly, as administrative counties.
The administrative counties didn't exist prior to
1888, see
traditional counties of England for the history of the English counties before then.
Introduction of county councils
In
1888 the government, led by the Tory Prime Minister
Lord Salisbury established
county councils for all of
England and Wales, covering areas known as
administrative counties. Excluded from administrative counties were the
county boroughs, which were what today are known as
unitary authorities.
Cambridgeshire,
Lincolnshire,
Northamptonshire,
Suffolk,
Sussex, and
Yorkshire were split up for administrative purposes, following historical divisions used by the Courts of
Quarter Sessions.
Additionally there was a
County of London which covered the area today known as
Inner London. The
Isle of Wight was originally included under the administrative county of
Hampshire but obtained its own county council in
1890.
In
1894 a uniform two-tier system was established, with subdivisions of the administrative counties called
urban districts,
rural districts and
municipal boroughs. The structure was complete once the County of London was divided into
metropolitan boroughs in
1900.
Some exclaves had been left untouched by the
1844 Act, but in
1894 county councils were given the power to adjust county boundaries, and most anomalies were removed in the next few years. For example the
Measham area of
Derbyshire was placed under the control of
Leicestershire County Council in
1897.
Map 1890-1965
This map follows the usual practice of not showing
county boroughs. Instead, they were included in their 'host' county. When a county borough expanded into territory of a county that wasn't the one it came from, maps often showed this as an increase in size of the county the county borough was associated with. So, for example,
Bristol south of the
River Avon would be shown as part of
Gloucestershire rather than
Somerset.
Monmouthshire, not shown on the map, was reckoned among the English counties for most of this period.
The
1889 Act did not contain a list of the administrative counties: it was not until
1933 and the passing of a new
Local Government Act that they were enumerated in the Act's schedule. In official legislation the suffix "
shire" was generally not used: references being to (for example) "the administrative county of Bedford" or the "county council of the county of Northampton". In the case of Lancashire and Cheshire the councils were officially the "county council of the palatine county". Shropshire was always officially entitled the "county of Salop". The right of
Berkshire to be described as a "royal county" was recognised by the monarch in
1958. On
April 1,
1959 the administrative county of Southampton was renamed as Hampshire.
This system was the basis of the
ceremonial counties used for Lieutenancy - except that Cambridgeshire, Hampshire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Suffolk and Sussex were not split for Lieutenancy. (Yorkshire, however, was).
Encroachment
As
urbanisation increased, and
suburbs were built on a scale not seen before, the urban areas surrounding various towns and cities started to cross traditional county borders. Since
boroughs,
urban districts, and
parishes could not cross administrative county boundaries, the administrative county borders were adjusted.
Examples of these include:
*
Beauchief,
Dore,
Norton,
Totley in
Derbyshire, annexed by
Sheffield in
West Riding, in
1934*
Caversham in
Oxfordshire, annexed by
Reading, Berkshire, in
1911*
Little Bowden in
Northamptonshire, annexed by
Market Harborough,
Leicestershire*half of
Tamworth,
Staffordshire, historically in
Warwickshire*
Winshill in
Derbyshire, annexed by
Burton upon Trent*
Wythenshawe in
Cheshire, annexed by
City of Manchester,
Lancashire*
Reddish and the Heatons in
Lancashire, annexed by
Stockport County Borough,
CheshireGreater London
Throughout the next century, debates took place about what should be done about local government in respect of the increasing urbanisation of the country. Proposals to expand or change county boroughs or to create larger urban counties were discussed, but nothing happened until
1963, when legislation was passed to come into effect in
1965.
The County of London was expanded and renamed
Greater London, taking three of the county boroughs, more of
Surrey and
Kent, parts of
Essex and
Hertfordshire and consuming nearly all of
Middlesex - the remaining parts being ceded to Surrey and Hertfordshire. Some other changes took place, such as the
Soke of Peterborough and
Huntingdonshire being merged into
Huntingdon and Peterborough, and the merger of the original
Cambridgeshire county council and the
Isle of Ely county council.
Map 1965-1974
The map below is shown with the county boroughs immediately prior to 1974.In
1974 the administrative counties were abolished by the
Local Government Act 1972 and replaced with the
metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England.
*
List of articles about local government in the United Kingdom*
History of the counties*
administrative County *
Celtic Frontier or County Boundary? Competing discourses of a late nineteenth century British border
