A vision of Britain through time
A vision of Britain from 1801 to now.
Including maps, statistical trends and historical descriptions.
A vision of Britain through time
A vision of Britain from 1801 to now.
Including maps, statistical trends and historical descriptions.
| Type: | Ancient County |
| Identifier: | ANC_CNTY |
| Number of units in system: | |
| Geographical Level: | 7 (County) |
| ADL Feature Type: | countries, 2nd order divisions |
| May have as parts: | Ancient District , Ecclesiastical Parish , Division of Ancient County , Parish-level Unit , Ancient Vill , 1841 Occupation reporting area |
| May have preceded: | Modern (post 1974) County , Poor Law/Registration County , Administrative County , District/Unitary Authority |
| Possible status values: | Sheriffdom (Srom) |
The Normans introduced the 'county' to England as territorial divisions with administrative, political and legal functions, superseding the Anglo-Saxon 'Shires' dating from the tenth century, each governed by an Earl. An act of union, in 1536, between England and Wales led to the formation of Welsh counties. The Ancient English Counties numbered forty, twenty maritime and twenty Inland, the Welsh Ancient Counties numbered twelve. The ancient counties of England and Wales went out of official use with the creation of the new administrative counties. Many of these new counties, which were for administration purposes, were divided up into smaller units; Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Suffolk and Sussex, and the following became separate units; Isle of Ely, Isle of Wight, Soke of Peterborough and London