The current counties of England are defined by the ceremonial counties, a collective name for the county areas to which are appointed a Lord Lieutenant. The office of Lord Lieutenant was created in the reign of Henry VIII. The Lord Lieutenant is the chief officer of the county and representative of the Crown. Whenever the Queen visits an area she will be accompanied by the Lord Lieutenant of that area. Legally the ceremonial counties are defined by the Lieutenancies Act 1997 as ‘Counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies in Great Britain’ with reference to the areas used for local government.

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https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/products/boundary-line#technical

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Source:

https://osdatahub.os.uk/downloads/open/BoundaryLine

Licence:

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

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This file contains the digital vector boundaries for Counties and Unitary Authorities in the United Kingdom, as at December 2019. The boundaries available are: (BUC) Ultra Generalised (500m) - clipped to the coastline (Mean High Water mark). Contains both Ordnance Survey and ONS Intellectual Property Rights. Download File SizesUltra Generalised (500m) - clipped to the coastline (200 KB)Units for the following fields:St_length = metresSt_area = metres2REST URL of ArcGIS for INSPIRE View Service https://ons-inspire.esriuk.com/arcgis/rest/services/Administrative_Boundaries/Counties_and_Unitary_Authorities_December_2019_Boundaries_UK_BUC2/MapServer/exts/InspireView REST URL of ArcGIS for INSPIRE Feature Download Service https://ons-inspire.esriuk.com/arcgis/rest/services/Administrative_Boundaries/Counties_and_Unitary_Authorities_December_2019_Boundaries_UK_BUC2/MapServer/exts/InspireFeatureDownload REST URL of Feature Access Service https://ons-inspire.esriuk.com/arcgis/rest/services/Administrative_Boundaries/Counties_and_Unitary_Authorities_December_2019_Boundaries_UK_BUC2/FeatureServer

Counties were formerly administrative units across the whole UK. Due to various administrative restructurings however, the only administrative areas still referred to as counties are the nonmetropolitan (shire) counties of England. The English metropolitan counties, although no longer administrative units, are also used for statistical purposes.

​

https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/products/boundary-line#technical

​

Source:

https://osdatahub.os.uk/downloads/open/BoundaryLine

Licence:

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

A PDF map that shows the counties and unitary authorities in the United Kingdom as at 1 April 2023. (File Size - 583 KB)

1:1,000,000 raster map showing the County boundaries of Northern Ireland. A raster map is a static image displayed on screen which is suitable as background mapping. 1:1 000,000 Raster is smallest scale OSNI raster product giving an excellent overview of Northern Ireland. Published here for OpenData. By download or use of this dataset you agree to abide by the Open Government Data Licence.Please Note for Open Data NI Users: Esri Rest API is not Broken, it will not open on its own in a Web Browser but can be copied and used in Desktop and Webmaps

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

These digital boundaries were created by the Great Britain Historical GIS Project and form part of the Great Britain Historical Database, which contains a wide range of geographically-located statistics, selected to trace the emergence of the north-south divide in Britain and to provide a synoptic view of the human geography of Britain, generally at sub-county scales.

They represent the boundaries of Registration Districts in England and Wales as in use at the date of each Census of Population between 1851 and 1911, 1911 being the last census to report extensively on these units.

These digital boundaries can be used to map economic, social and demographic statistics from the Censuses of Population, 1851 to 1911, the Registrar-General's reports from the same period, and other relevant statistical sources. They can also be used as reference maps for these administrative units.

Note that these Registration Districts were mostly identical to the Poor Law Unions which existed in the same period, but there are significant exceptions, most often where one Registration District was divided into multiple Poor Law Unions. These differences have been recorded by the Great Britain Historical GIS.

The boundary data contain the same numerical identifiers as are included in the GBHD transcriptions of census and vital registration statistics for Registration Districts, making statistical mapping straightforward.

ArcGIS shapefile of 288 polygons providing boundary and attribute data for the fifty-five ancient counties of England and Wales as given in the 1831 census for England and Wales. As such this represents the counties of England and Wales as they were before the boundary changes caused by the Counties (Detached Parts) Act, 1844 (7 & 8 Vict. c. 61) which led to the elimination of some of the detached portions of counties.These data were created as part of a research program directed by Leigh Shaw-Taylor and Tony Wrigley, which aims ultimately to reconstruct the evolution of the occupational structure of Britain from the late medieval period down to the early twentieth century. These data derive from the 173 digital maps of the boundaries of English and Welsh parishes and their subdivisions produced by Roger Kain and Richard Oliver based on the listing in the 1851 census. The maps were subsequently converted into a single GIS by Burton et al. The GIS attribute data were checked, edited and enhanced with extra data from the census by Max Satchell, Tony Wrigley and a small army of research assistants with technical support from Peter Kitson and Gill Newton. Max Satchell checked and in some cases edited the GIS polygon data using a variety of cartographic and documentary sources. Of these the most important were digital scans of the Ordnance Survey first edition 1:2500 and 1:10560 maps from the Landmark Group distributed by Edina , the series of maps of registration districts and sub-districts boundaries prepared for the Registrar General prior to the censuses of 1861, 1871 and 1891 and the description of enumeration district boundaries given in the Census Enumerators Books for the censuses from 1851, 1861 and 1871. The 1:63,360 maps and Census Enumerators Books are held in The National Archives, Kew (TNA, RG 18/3-155, 198-227, HO 107, RG 9, RG 10). The work involved changing one or more elements of information about place, parish, county, or three figure census number for 2,461 (10.8 per cent) of 22,729 lines of data in the Kain and Oliver GIS. This editing process saw the redigitisation of 644 of the 22,729 polygons, the deletion of 81 polygons, and the digitisation of 525 new polygons. The original Kain and Oliver parish and place dataset did not give details of which counties its units belonged to in 1831, though the authors did note some units had changed county under the auspices of the act of 1844. Max Satchell with help from Geoffrey Stanning and input from Peter Kitson and Tony Wrigley added the 1831 census counties as an attribute to the parish GIS primarily by systematic comparison between the censuses of 1831 and 1851 - the latter's footnotes being particularly informative concerning changes in the county boundaries. In situations where the 1831 county boundary deviated from the post-1844 alignment the polygons from the Burton et al. GIS were subdivided. At the end of this exercise all 23,177 polygons of the enhanced parish GIS could be assigned an 1831 ancient county. This attribute was then used to generate the shapefile of ancient counties.

This file contains the digital vector boundaries for Counties and Unitary Authorities, in the United Kingdom, as at December 2024.The boundaries available are: (BSC) Super Generalised (200m) - clipped to the coastline (Mean High Water mark).Contains both Ordnance Survey and ONS Intellectual Property Rights.REST URL of Feature Access Service – https://services1.arcgis.com/ESMARspQHYMw9BZ9/arcgis/rest/services/Counties_and_Unitary_Authorities_December_2024_Boundaries_UK_BSC/FeatureServerREST URL of WFS Server –https://dservices1.arcgis.com/ESMARspQHYMw9BZ9/arcgis/services/Counties_and_Unitary_Authorities_December_2024_Boundaries_UK_BSC/WFSServer?service=wfs&request=getcapabilitiesREST URL of Map Server –https://services1.arcgis.com/ESMARspQHYMw9BZ9/arcgis/rest/services/Counties_and_Unitary_Authorities_December_2024_Boundaries_UK_BSC/MapServer

This file contains the digital vector boundaries for Counties, in England, as at December 2022.The boundaries available are: (BFE) Full resolution - extent of the realm (usually this is the Mean Low Water mark but in some cases boundaries extend beyond this to include off shore islands).Contains both Ordnance Survey and ONS Intellectual Property Rights.REST URL of Feature Access Service –https://services1.arcgis.com/ESMARspQHYMw9BZ9/arcgis/rest/services/Counties_December_2022_EN_BFE/FeatureServerREST URL of WFS Server –https://dservices1.arcgis.com/ESMARspQHYMw9BZ9/arcgis/services/Counties_December_2022_EN_BFE/WFSServer?service=wfs&request=getcapabilitiesREST URL of Map Server –https://services1.arcgis.com/ESMARspQHYMw9BZ9/arcgis/rest/services/Counties_(December_2022)_EN_BFE/MapServer

This dataset is from the Ordnance Survey and it provides a representation of the hierarchy of administrative and electoral boundaries for GB (England, Scotland and Wales). The product is part of the new OS Open products suite and is designed to be used with other OpenData sets.The dataset is made up of 18 layers which are grouped in their respective categories. It contains all levels of electoral and administrative boundaries, from district, wards, civil parishes (or communities) up to parliamentary and assembly constituencies. The layers can be grouped as followed:Administrative Boundaries• Mean high water (GB)• Country (GB)• Historic European regions (GB)• Historic counties (GB)• Ceremonial counties (GB)• District, Metropolitan district, Unitary authority (GB)• Civil parish and community (GB)• Ward (district, unitary, metropolitan, London borough) (England, Scotland)• English region (England)• County (England)• Community (Wales)Electoral Boundaries• Westminster constituencies (GB)• Scottish and Welsh constituency• Scottish and Welsh electoral region• Polling districts (England)• County electoral division (England)• Unitary electoral division (England and Wales)• Greater London Authority Assembly constituenciesThe currency of this data is 04/2022 and the coverage of this service is GB.The map projection is British National Grid.

From Parliamentary constituencies to council wards, Boundary-Line™ maps every administrative boundary in detail for you. And what's more, it's completely free to download and use.

Bring statistics to life For academics or policy-makers, Boundary-Line brings the statistics in your reports to life. It lets you show differences between regions or councils using easy-to-read shaded maps.

A robust framework Monitoring outcomes by area is key for public bodies. Boundary-Line gives you a robust analytical framework to ensure the right communities get the right resources.

Individual properties When you're consulting on updating boundaries to take account of population change, Boundary-Line lets you show on a map where the line's being drawn, right down to the level of individual properties.

This file contains the digital vector boundaries for County Electoral Division, in England, as at May 2023.The boundaries available are: (BUC) Ultra Generalised (500m) - clipped to the coastline (Mean High Water Mark).Contains both Ordnance Survey and ONS Intellectual Property Rights.

REST URL of Feature Access Service – https://services1.arcgis.com/ESMARspQHYMw9BZ9/arcgis/rest/services/County_Electoral_Division_May_2023_Boundaries_EN_BUC/FeatureServerREST URL of WFS Server –https://dservices1.arcgis.com/ESMARspQHYMw9BZ9/arcgis/services/County_Electoral_Division_May_2023_Boundaries_EN_BUC/WFSServer?service=wfs&request=getcapabilitiesREST URL of Map Server –https://services1.arcgis.com/ESMARspQHYMw9BZ9/arcgis/rest/services/County_Electoral_Division_(May_2023)_Boundaries_EN_BUC/MapServer

This file contains the digital vector boundaries for County Electoral Division, in England, as at May 2023.The boundaries available are: (BGC) Generalised (20m) - clipped to the coastline (Mean High Water mark).Contains both Ordnance Survey and ONS Intellectual Property Rights.

REST URL of Feature Access Service – https://services1.arcgis.com/ESMARspQHYMw9BZ9/arcgis/rest/services/County_Electoral_Division_May_2023_Boundaries_EN_BGC/FeatureServerREST URL of WFS Server –https://dservices1.arcgis.com/ESMARspQHYMw9BZ9/arcgis/services/County_Electoral_Division_May_2023_Boundaries_EN_BGC/WFSServer?service=wfs&request=getcapabilitiesREST URL of Map Server –https://services1.arcgis.com/ESMARspQHYMw9BZ9/arcgis/rest/services/County_Electoral_Division_(May_2023)_Boundaries_EN_BGC/MapServer

Counties dataset generated from the 2019 National Statutory Boundary dataset. Ungeneralised.

The division into counties based on the model used in the English system, was introduced gradually by English settlers from the late 12th century onwards. These land divisions were formed following the Norman invasion of Ireland in imitation of the counties then in use as units of local government in the Kingdom of England. The older term "shire" was historically equivalent to "county". The principal function of the county was to impose royal control in the areas of taxation, security and the administration of justice at local level. Following a survey under the 1825 Boundary Survey Act, an extensive series of maps of Ireland was created by the Irish division of the Ordnance Survey for taxation purposes. These maps both documented and standardised the boundaries of the thirty two counties of Ireland.

Coordinate Reference System: Irish Transverse Mercator.

This dataset is provided by Tailte Éireann – National Mapping Division

Digital map boundaries of areas within Lincolnshire. Themes include Administrative, Electoral, Statistical, Health, and more.

You are able to use any of the boundary data sets for any purpose providing you acknowledge the copyright and the source of the data by including the following attributions:

To use OS OpenData datasets (which all boundaries below are), include the following attribution statement:

Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right [year]

To use ONS OpenData datasets (which all boundaries below are except Electoral Divisions and Parishes 2011), you must also include the following attribution statement:

Contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right [year]

Parishes are subdivisions of local authorities in many parts of England, and their councils are the most local level of government. Unlike electoral wards/divisions however, parishes are not found in all parts of England. The Welsh equivalents are communities. Note that the full term for administrative parishes is 'civil parishes', to distinguish them from the ecclesiastical parishes which are found in all parts of the UK.

​

https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/products/boundary-line#technical

​

Source:

https://osdatahub.os.uk/downloads/open/BoundaryLine

Licence:

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

This spatial dataset is an output of the Natural England County & City Natural Capital Atlas project (July 2020). It shows variation in ecosystem service flow for habitats across England, based on indicators identified by NE in the 2018 Natural Capital Indicators project. The dataset comprises a hexagonal grid which summarises indicator values across the country (each unit = 5km²).

Natural Capital is an important aspect of current environmental policy and management. This dataset, in combination with the other project outputs, will support understanding of Natural Capital in England and serve as a valuable engagement tool to communicate concepts of the Natural Capital approach to a wide variety of stakeholders.

For full methodology and user guide see documents ‘NCAtlas_Devon’ and ‘NC-Mapping-User-Guidance’ at http://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/6672365834731520.

For full metadata documentation see the data package download below.

Copyright statement: LCM2015 © NERC (CEH) 2011. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown Copyright 2007. © Defra. Contains Defra information © Defra - Project MB0102. © Environment Agency. © Forestry Commission. © Historic England [year]. © Joint Nature Conservation Committee. © Natural England copyright. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right [year]. Contains data supplied by © NERC - Centre for Ecology & Hydrology. © Natural England copyright. Natural England Licence No. 2011/052 British Geological Survey © NERC, all rights reserved, © NSRI Cranfield University. Contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right [year]. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right [year]. Contains Rural Payments Agency. © Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council. © Bath & North East Somerset Council. © Bedford Borough Council. © London Borough of Bexley. © Birmingham City Council. © Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council. © Blackpool Council. © Bolton Council. © BCP Council. © Bracknell Forest Council. © City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council. © Brighton & Hove City Council. © Bristol City Council. © London Borough of Bromley. © Buckinghamshire County Council. © Bury Council. © Calderdale Council. © Cambridgeshire County Council. © Central Bedfordshire Council. © Cheshire East Council. © Cheshire West and Chester Council. © Cornwall Council. © Cumbria County Council. © Derbyshire County Council. © Devon County Council. © Doncaster Council. © Dorset Council. © Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council. © Durham County Council. © East Riding of Yorkshire Council. © East Sussex County Council. © Essex County Council. © Gateshead Council. © Gloucestershire County Council. © Hampshire County Council. © Herefordshire Council. © Hertfordshire County Council. © Hull City Council. © Isle of Anglesey County Council. © Isle of Wight Council. © Kent County Council. © Kirklees Council. © Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council. © Lake District National Park. © Lancashire County Council. © Leicester City Council. © Leicestershire County Council. © Lincolnshire County Council. © Manchester City Council. © Medway Council. © Norfolk County Council. © North Lincolnshire Council. © North Somerset Council. © North Yorkshire County Council. © Northamptonshire County Council. © Northumberland County Council. © Nottingham City Council. © Nottinghamshire County Council. © Oldham Council. © Oxfordshire County Council. © Peterborough City Council. © Plymouth City Council. © Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council. © Portsmouth City Council. © Reading Borough Council. © Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council. © Rochdale Borough Council. © Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council. © Rutland County Council. © Salford City Council. © Sefton Council. © Sheffield City Council. © Shropshire Council. © Slough Borough Council. © Somerset County Council. © South Gloucestershire Council. © Southampton City Council. © St Helens Council. © Staffordshire County Council. © Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council. © Stockton Council. © Suffolk County Council. © Surrey County Council. © Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council. © Thurrock Council. © Torbay Council. © Trafford Council. © Wakefield Council. © Walsall Council. © Warrington Borough Council. © Warwickshire County Council. © West Berkshire Council. © West Sussex County Council. © Wigan Council. © Wiltshire Council. © Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Council. © Wirral Council. © Wokingham Borough Council. © Worcestershire County Council. © City of York Council.

This dataset is refreshed on a weekly basis from the datasets the team works on daily.Last update date: 06 March 2025.National Highways Operational Highway Boundary (RedLine) maps out the land belonging to the highway for the whole Strategic Road Network (SRN). It comprises two layers; one being the an outline and another showing the registration status / category of land of land that makes up the boundary. Due to the process involved in creating junctions with local highway authority (LHA) roads, land in this dataset may represent LHA highway (owned by National Highways but the responsibility of the LHA to maintain). Surplus land or land held for future projects does not form part of this dataset.The highway boundary is derived from:Ordnance Survey Mastermap Topography,HM Land Registry National Polygon Service (National Highway titles only), andplots researched and digitised during the course of the RedLine Boundary Project.The boundary is split into categories describing the decisions made for particular plots of land. These categories are as follows:Auto-RedLine category is for plots created from an automated process using Ordnance Survey MasterMap Topography as a base. Land is not registered under National Highways' name. For example, but not limited to, unregistered ‘ancient’ highway vested in Highways England, or bridge carrying highways over a rail line.NH Title within RedLine category is for plots created from Land Registry Cadastral parcels whose proprietor is National Highways or a predecessor. Land in this category is within the highway boundary (audited) or meets a certain threshold by the algorithm.NH Title outside RedLine category is for plots created in the same way as above but these areas are thought to be outside the highway boundary. Where the Confidence is Low, land in this category is yet to be audited. Where the Confidence is High, land in this category has been reviewed and audited as outside our operational boundary.National Highways (Technician) Data category is for plots created by National Highways, digitised land parcels relating to highway land that is not registered, not yet registered or un-registerable.Road in Tunnel category, created using tunnel outlines from Ordnance Survey MasterMap Topography data. These represent tunnels on Highways England’s network. Land is not registered under National Highways' name, but land above the tunnel may be in National Highways’ title. Please refer to the definitive land ownership records held at HM Land Registry.The process attribute details how the decision was made for the particular plot of land. These are as follows:Automated category denotes data produced by an automated process. These areas are yet to be audited by the company.Audited category denotes data that has been audited by the company.Technician Data (Awaiting Audit) category denotes data that was created by National Highways but is yet to be audited and confirmed as final.The confidence attribute details how confident you can be in the decision. This attribute is derived from both the decisions made during the building of the underlying automated dataset as well as whether the section has been researched and/or audited by National Highways staff. These are as follows:High category denotes land that has a high probability of being within the RedLine boundary. These areas typically are audited or are features that are close to or on the highway.Moderate category denotes land that is likely to be within the highway boundary but is subject to change once the area has been audited.Low category denotes land that is less likely to be within the highway boundary. These plots typically represent Highways England registered land that the automated process has marked as outside the highway boundary.Please note that this dataset is indicative only. For queries about this dataset please contact the GIS and Research Team.

This data shows the local authority districts, council areas (Scotland) and unitary authorities for Great Britain. The attached Layer File can be used to symbolise the different types of boundaries. A JPEG image of the map is also contained in the download. This dataset was made from the OS OpenData Boundary Line product http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/products/boundary-line/index.html. GIS vector data. This dataset was first accessioned in the EDINA ShareGeo Open repository on 2012-05-10 and migrated to Edinburgh DataShare on 2017-02-21.