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 local authority districts, counties and unitary authorities in the United Kingdom as at December 2018. The map has been created to show the United Kingdom from country level down to local authority district level. (File Size - 3,159 KB)

ArcGIS shapefile of 244 polygons providing boundary and attribute data for the fifty-five ancient counties of England and Wales as given in the 1851 census for England and Wales.

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.

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 Counties 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.

Main Topics:

These digital boundaries can be used to map economic, social and demograohic 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, which often differ substantially from both Ancient Counties and 20th century Administrative Counties.

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

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.

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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/

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.

In 2023, almost nine million people lived in Greater London, making it the most populated ceremonial county in England. The West Midlands Metropolitan County, which contains the large city of Birmingham, was the second-largest county at 2.98 million inhabitants, followed by Greater Manchester and then West Yorkshire with populations of 2.95 million and 2.4 million, respectively. Kent, Essex, and Hampshire were the three next-largest counties in terms of population, each with around 1.89 million people. A patchwork of regions England is just one of the four countries that compose the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, with England, Scotland and Wales making up Great Britain. England is therefore not to be confused with Great Britain or the United Kingdom as a whole. Within England, the next subdivisions are the nine regions of England, containing various smaller units such as unitary authorities, metropolitan counties and non-metropolitan districts. The counties in this statistic, however, are based on the ceremonial counties of England as defined by the Lieutenancies Act of 1997. Regions of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland Like England, the other countries of the United Kingdom have their own regional subdivisions, although with some different terminology. Scotland’s subdivisions are council areas, while Wales has unitary authorities, and Northern Ireland has local government districts. As of 2022, the most-populated Scottish council area was Glasgow City, with over 622,000 inhabitants. In Wales, Cardiff had the largest population among its unitary authorities, and in Northern Ireland, Belfast was the local government area with the most people living there.

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

The China Post provides postal service-related information, primarily offering Excel files for counties and towns in Chinese and English (Hanyu Pinyin, csv format).

How would you define the boundaries of a town or city in England and Wales in 2016?

Maybe your definition would be based on its population size, geographic extent or where the industry and services are located. This was a question the ONS had to consider when creating a new statistical geography called Towns and Cities.

In reality, the ability to delimit the boundaries of a city or town is difficult!

Major Towns and Cities

The new statistical geography, Towns and Cities has been created based on population size and the extent of the built environment. It contains 112 towns and cities in England and Wales, where the residential and/or workday population > 75,000 people at the 2011 Census. It has been constructed using the existing Built-Up Area boundary set produced by Ordnance Survey in 2011.

This swipe map shows where the towns and cities and built-up areas are different. Just swipe the bar from left to right.

The blue polygons are the towns and cities and the purple polygons are the built-up areas.

Northeastern United States County Boundary data are intended for geographic display of state and county boundaries at statewide and regional levels. Use it to map and label counties on a map. These data are derived from Northeastern United States Political Boundary Master layer. This information should be displayed and analyzed at scales appropriate for 1:24,000-scale data. The State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection (CTDEP) assembled this regional data layer using data from other states in order to create a single, seamless representation of political boundaries within the vicinity of Connecticut that could be easily incorporated into mapping applications as background information. More accurate and up-to-date information may be available from individual State government Geographic Information System (GIS) offices. Not intended for maps printed at map scales greater or more detailed than 1:24,000 scale (1 inch = 2,000 feet.)

Boundary_line_ceremonial_counties_region

A PDF map that shows the counties in England and Wales as at 31 December 1961. (File Size - 2.6 MB)

ArcGIS shapefile of 245polygons providing boundary and attribute data for the 55 registration counties of England and Wales as given in the 1851 census.

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.

This file contains the digital vector boundaries for Counties and Unitary Authorities, in the United Kingdom, as at December 2024.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/Counties_and_Unitary_Authorities_December_2024_Boundaries_UK_BUC/FeatureServerREST URL of WFS Server –https://dservices1.arcgis.com/ESMARspQHYMw9BZ9/arcgis/services/Counties_and_Unitary_Authorities_December_2024_Boundaries_UK_BUC/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_BUC/MapServer

The index shows the availability of county series geological maps, 1:10560 scale. The maps themselves were produced on OS County Series sheets between approximately 1860 and 1960. The list indicates whether the map has been revised or re-surveyed and gives details of any later versions that have been produced. It is advisable to discuss your requirements before ordering or travelling to view these maps.

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.

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

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.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

This research project aimed to fill a major lacuna militating against the effective exploitation of many post-medieval to mid-Victorian historical sources collected by local administrative areas: the lack of information on the boundaries of those administrative areas, the so-called 'historic' or 'ancient' parishes of England and Wales. It is known that these districts came into being during the Middle Ages, that the map of these ecclesiastical parishes was essentially complete by the fifteenth century, that these ecclesiastical boundaries were adopted during the early modern period for secular and judicial purposes, and that boundaries remained essentially unchanged until a number of reforms from the mid-nineteenth century onwards reorganised the local administrative geography of the country. The project aimed to reconstruct those boundaries as they were before the post-nineteenth century changes.
Main Topics:

The digitised maps cover the whole of England and Wales, and are organised by Ordnance Survey Sheet number. The maps contain a scanned bitmap image of the Ordnance Survey one inch to one mile (1:63,360) New Popular Edition maps (1945-8) with National Grid. They contain the boundaries of some 18,233 places, and are arranged as three electronic 'layers'. The first is a scan of the Ordnance Survey maps stored as grey tone sheet images. This enables Ordnance Survey physical, cultural and place-name content to be readily visible in the background for orientation and general location purposes, while not obscuring the added boundary and reference number material. The second layer consists of the boundaries, stored as solid red lines; and the third layer contains the reference numbers that link places on the map to the gazetteer/metadata dataset that accompanies the maps.

The maps are available on CD-ROM in Adobe Illustrator (ISBN:0-9540032-2-5) or Adobe Acrobat (ISBN:0-9540032-1-7) PDF formats. We recommend using the Adobe Illustrator format if you already have the software (as it enables you to edit the maps and select the layers to view). However, the Adobe Acrobat PDF format is perfectly suitable for viewing the maps, and we will supply the necessary reader software.

An accompanying book Historic Parishes of England and Wales: An Electronic Map of Boundaries before 1850 with a Gazetteer and Metadata by Roger Kain and Richard Oliver (ISBN:0-9540032-0-9) provides an introduction to the provenance of the maps. It also includes an abbreviated version of the gazetteer/metadata dataset, and a discussion of historical boundaries.

This unique combination publication is set to become a standard reference resource and is an invaluable tool for all those interested in plotting local area-based data from the past (population, agricultural, statistics, tax data etc.) from the fourteenth to the nineteenth centuries.

Please note: this study does not include information on named individuals and would therefore not be useful for personal family history research.