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

A PDF map that shows the local authority districts, counties and unitary authorities in the United Kingdom as at April 2023. The map has been created to show the United Kingdom from country level down to local authority district level. (File Size - 1,909 KB)

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The Great Britain Historical Database has been assembled as part of the ongoing Great Britain Historical GIS Project. The project aims to trace the emergence of the north-south divide in Britain and to provide a synoptic view of the human geography of Britain at sub-county scales. Further information about the project is available on A Vision of Britain webpages, where users can browse the database's documentation system online. 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 Administrative Counties in England and Wales as in use at the date of each Census of Population between 1911 and 1971, 1911 being the first census to report extensively on these units. Main Topics: These digital boundaries can be used to map economic, social and demographic statistics from the Censuses of Population, 1911 to 1971, 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. These units were aggregations of Local Government Districts and differed significantly from both Ancient Counties and the Registration Counties covered by earlier censuses. Difference include that the three Ridings of Yorkshire and the three Parts of Lincolnshire were separate Administrative Counties, as were East and West Suffolk, and East and West Sussex. The Isle of Ely and the Soke of Peterborough were also separate Administrative Counties until 1965, when Middlesex was also abolished as the County of London was expanded to become Greater London. The Isle of Wight was a separate Administrative County from Hampshire throughout the period. The boundary data contain the same numerical identifiers as are included in the GBHD transcriptions of census and vital registration statistics for Administrative Counties, making statistical mapping straightforward.

The Crop Map of England (CROME) is a polygon vector dataset mainly containing the crop types of England. The dataset contains approximately 32 million hexagonal cells classifying England into over 15 main crop types, grassland, and non-agricultural land covers, such as Woodland, Water Bodies, Fallow Land and other non-agricultural land covers. The classification was created automatically using supervised classification (Random Forest Classification) from the combination of Sentinel-1 Radar and Sentinel-2 Optical Satellite images during the period late October 2021 – September 2022. The dataset was created to aid the classification of crop types from optical imagery, which can be affected by cloud cover. The results were checked against survey data collected by field inspectors and visually validated. The data has been split into the Ordnance Survey Ceremonial Counties and each county is given a three letter code. Please refer to the CROME specification document to see which county each CODE label represents.

This data shows the local authority districts, council areas (Scotland) and unitary authorities for Great Britain. A JPEG image of the map is also contained in the download.

This polygonal dataset is depicts the various historical administrative boundaries within the Deep Mapping Estate Archives project area. The township boundaries have been recreated from a range of sources, including the Ordnance Survey, Tithe maps and Turnpike maps. The historic parish boundaries, Hundred Boundaries and County Boundaries have been created from the 1st Edition 25" Ordnance Survey mapping as depicted between 1869-1874. The polygons has been generated from Modern Ordnance Survey Topographic Layer and have been altered to reflect the historical mapping source. This data was created as part of the AHRC's Deep Mapping Estate Archives project in March 2022 using ESRI ArcPro 2.9.1. The data has been imported into the ArcGIS online system as a shapefile and is available for public use under the Non-Commercial Open Government Licence.

This map is a mosaic image comprising of over 50 individual 1st Edition Ordnance Survey 25" to the Mile (1:2500) County Series sheets. These map cover the extent of the AHRC Deep Mapping Estate Archives project boundary straddling the counties of both Flintshire and Denbighshire. These maps were surveyed between 1869-1874. Each map sheet was georeferenced as part of the AHRC's Deep Mapping Estate Archives project in January 2022 using ESRI ArcPro 2.9.1 utilising multi-point georeferencing (around 250-600) control points as well as the spline transformation. Each map has then been mosaiced together into a single images and has been imported into ArcGIS online as a Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) file and is available for public use under the Non-Commercial Open Government Licence.

Public Access

This dataset is part of the Geographical repository maintained by Opendatasoft. This dataset contains data for regions in the United Kingdom.Government offices for the regions (GOR) were established across England in 1994. Reflecting a number of government departments, their aim was to work in partnership with local people and organisations in order to maximise prosperity and the quality of life within their area. In 1996 the GORs became the primary classification for the presentation of regional statistics. GORs were built up of complete counties/unitary authorities, so although they were subject to change, they always reflected administrative boundaries as at the end of the previous year. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland were not subdivided into GORs but are listed with them as regions in UK-wide statistical comparisons. After the Comprehensive Spending Review, it was confirmed that the GORs would close on 31 March 2011, shifting focus away from regions to local areas. However, there is still a requirement to maintain a region-level geography for statistical purposes. Processors and tools are using this data.EnhancementsAdd ISO 3166-3 codes.Simplify geometries to provide better performance across the services.Add administrative hierarchy.

Updated Boundaries of Ancient Woodland polygons covering England. This is the updated spatial dataset that describes the geographic extent and location of ancient woodland in England (excluding the Isles of Scilly). Ancient Woodland features will be approved county-by-county for publication throughout the first year of production until the data product coverage extends across England. Where available this dataset takes precedence over the Ancient Woodland – England dataset.The update revises the inventory to address problems and gaps in the previous iteration. Technological advances mean that small ancient woodlands (0.25-2ha) are being represented within the inventory for the first time as well as wood pasture and parkland being represented as its own category. The inventory identifies ancient woodland sites in England. Ancient woodland is identified by studying the presence or absence of woods from historic maps, information about the wood's name, shape, internal boundaries, location relative to other features, ground survey, and aerial photography. The information recorded about each wood and stored on the Inventory Database includes its grid reference, its area in hectares and how much is semi-natural or replanted. Prior to the digitisation of the boundaries, only paper maps depicting each ancient wood at 1:50 000 scale were available. Attribution statement: © Natural England 2024. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database rights 2024. OS AC0000851168.It includes Ancient Semi-Natural Woodland (ASNW), which retains a native tree and shrub cover; Plantation on Ancient Woodland Sites (PAWS), where the original tree cover has been felled and replaced by planting, often with conifers; Ancient Wood Pasture (AWPP), where the trees are managed in tandem with a long established tradition of grazing, characteristically with at least some veteran trees or shrubs or; Infilled Ancient Wood Pasture (IAWPP) which has become infilled with trees arising from planting or natural regeneration.Updated Boundaries of Ancient Woodland polygons covering England. This is the updated spatial dataset that describes the geographic extent and location of ancient woodland in England (excluding the Isles of Scilly). Ancient Woodland features will be approved county-by-county for publication throughout the first year of production until the data product coverage extends across England. Where available this dataset takes precedence over the Ancient Woodland – England dataset. The AWI Update project will deliver an accurate inventory of the entirety of England’s ancient woodland resource, including those woods smaller than 2ha which are currently not mapped on the AWI. It will also ensure that the AWI is used and respected by planners, developers, land managers and all those who make and use spatial plans in England’s countryside.The ancient woodland boundaries are digitised to OS MasterMap - assessed by licencing staff as suitable for OS Presumption to Publish process. However, the maps that Ancient Woodlands are based upon include the OS 1” First Edition maps, the OS 1:25 000 and the OS 1:50 000 maps. The boundaries cannot be taken as precise, especially where they are surrounded by woodland, and are only precisely comparable with other boundaries at the 1” map scale (1:63 360). The inventory identifies over 22,000 ancient woodland sites in England. Ancient woodland is identified using presence or absence of woods from old maps, information about the wood's name, shape, internal boundaries, location relative to other features, ground survey, and aerial photography. The information recorded about each wood and stored on the Inventory Database includes its grid reference, its area in hectares and how much is semi-natural or replanted. Prior to the digitisation of the boundaries, only paper maps depicting each ancient wood at 1:50 000 scale were available. The datasets consulted: OS MasterMap, OS First Edition Maps (Historic County Series Maps Epoch 1-4), Historic OS Drawings, Aerial Imagery, Original AWI Datasheets, Open Source old historical maps (varies depending on county agreements), BSBI Indicator species data, County Tithe Maps, Forestry Commission National Forest Inventory and Forest Condition Survey. Besides the isolated and modified woodland boundaries derived from OS MasterMap that have been identified Ancient Woodland, additional third party data is viewed for informative purposes only during the creation of the project layer. No data from any other of these third party sources is copied, transferred or viewable in the layer to be published."Full metadata can be viewed on data.gov.uk.

This polygonal dataset is depicts the various historical administrative boundaries within the Deep Mapping Estate Archives project area. The township boundaries have been recreated from a range of sources, including the Ordnance Survey, Tithe maps and Turnpike maps. The historic parish boundaries, Hundred Boundaries and County Boundaries have been created from the 1st Edition 25" Ordnance Survey mapping as depicted between 1869-1874. The polygons has been generated from Modern Ordnance Survey Topographic Layer and have been altered to reflect the historical mapping source. This data was created as part of the AHRC's Deep Mapping Estate Archives project in March 2022 using ESRI ArcPro 2.9.1. The data has been imported into the ArcGIS online system as a shapefile and is available for public use under the Non-Commercial Open Government Licence.

Nature Recovery Network map of the Midlands Heartland Heathland area including Core Habitats (Primary and Associated Habitats), Heathland Creation Opportunity areas and Secondary Enhancement Areas. The data provides evidence to aid the targeting of heathland restoration and creation in a crucial landscape corridor. A number of information sources and data layers were used to produce this layer. The Primary, Associated and Restorable habitat polygons were produced based on habitat and species data held by EcoRecord and SER to complement NE priority habitat inventory data. Heathland Creation Opportunity areas were identified based on a number of environmental criteria including historic landuse, habitats, and soils. For a full description of the methodology see the following report: Midlands Heathland Heartland Lowland: Heathland Nature Recovery Opportunity Mapping. Datasets Used:Habitat data - SERSpecies data - SERLocal Sites data - SERHabitat data - EcoRecordSpecies data - EcoRecordLocal Sites data - EcoRecordOS MasterMap – OS1:50000 scale colour raster (OS)Soils data - Cranfield University [NSRI]Black Country HLC data - Wolverhampton CCBirmingham HLC data - Birmingham CC1775 Map of the County of Stafford - W. YatesFull metadata can be viewed on data.gov.uk.