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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

  1. Includes the Isles of Scilly.
  2. "Hants" derives from "Hantshaving", the original name for this county.
  3. "Oxon" is an abbreviation of "Oxonia", the Latin name for Oxford.
  4. "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.