English Counties

Information source: Wikipedia: Counties of England

1890-1965:

  • Yorkshire split into Ridings
  • Lincolnshire split into Parts
  • Sussex split into E & W
  • Suffolk split into E & W
  • Northants split into Northants and Soke of Peterborough
  • Cambs split into Cambs and Isle of Ely
  • Hants split into Hants and IOW

1965-1974:

  • County of London expanded to Greater London
  • Middlesex swallowed mainly by Greater London, but also partly by Surrey and Herts
  • Soke of Peterborough and Huntingdonshire merged into Huntingdon and Peterborough
  • Isle of Ely merged into Cambs

1974-1995:

Metropolitan counties created:
  • Merseyside - based around Liverpool, south-west Lancashire, along with, from the other side of the River Mersey, the Wirral in north-west Cheshire
  • Greater Manchester - the Manchester urban area along with many surrounding towns
  • South Yorkshire - based upon the Sheffield-Rotherham area in the West Riding of Yorkshire
  • Tyne and Wear - the Tyneside conurbation based on Newcastle-upon-Tyne in Northumberland, along with Sunderland in County Durham
  • West Midlands - Birmingham conurbation, including the Black Country and Coventry
  • West Yorkshire - Leeds-Bradford area in the West Riding
Other significant changes were:
  • Avon formed from northern Somerset, southern Gloucestershire, and Bristol and Bath
  • Cleveland formed from southern Durham and northern part of the North Riding, focusing on the Teesside conurbation along with Guisborough and Hartlepool
  • Cumbria was formed from Westmorland, Cumberland and part of Lancashire and Yorkshire
  • Herefordshire and Worcestershire were merged into Hereford and Worcester
  • Humberside formed from eastern Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire
  • Huntingdon and Peterborough was annexed by Cambridgeshire
  • Rutland was merged into Leicestershire as a district
  • Vale of White Horse, including Berkshire's former county town Abingdon was ceded to Oxfordshire

1995:

  • Unitary Authorities start to replace two-tier structures
  • Avon, Humberside and Cleveland abolished in 1996
  • Rutland becomes separate UA in 1997
  • Hereford & Worcester split in 1998 back into Herefordshire UA and Worcestershire county
  • Berkshire split into six unitary authorities in 1998, but not formally abolished
  • Cheshire and Bedfordshire each split into two unitary authorities in 2009

Welsh Counties

Information source: Wikipedia: Counties of Wales

1889-1974:

  • 13 original counties

1974-1996:

  • Replaced by 8 two-tier authorities

1996:

  • Unitary Authorities introduced