Real Counties
@RealCounties

Rediscover the places that have shaped Britain and Ireland for centuries. By the Historic Counties Institute.

 Britain & Ireland
RealCounties.com
Joined January 2020
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What is the difference between the County Palatine of Lancaster and the wider Duchy area? The County Palatine of Lancaster is distinct from the Duchy of Lancaster, which extends beyond geographic Lancashire. Local government changes did not modify it.
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What is the difference between the County Palatine of Lancaster and the wider Duchy area?

The County Palatine of Lancaster is not the same thing as every area over which the Duchy of Lancaster has exercised a function. That distinction is essential to understanding a surprisingly confusing
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When even the Duchy of Lancaster gets Lancashire wrong, it shows just how deeply Britain’s confusion between counties and administrative areas now runs.
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When even the Duchy of Lancaster gets Lancashire wrong

How confusion between geographic counties and administrative areas has reached one of Britain’s oldest institutions For decades, Britain has used the word county for several very different

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Is Newmarket in Suffolk or Cambridgeshire?

Newmarket is in both Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The town genuinely straddles the boundary between the two geographic counties. Through the historic centre, the county boundary follows the High
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Scottish local-government reform: HCI calls for new authority names to respect county identities

Historic Counties Institute says administrative reform will not change Scotland’s geographic counties — and that the new system should avoid council names which obscure them. The Historic Counties
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What is a sheriffdom – and is a Scottish sheriffdom the same thing as a county?

A sheriffdom is the territorial jurisdiction associated with a sheriff. In medieval Scotland, sheriffdoms became one of the principal ways in which the Crown organised its authority across the
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Is Liverpool in Lancashire or Merseyside?

Liverpool is geographically in Lancashire. More precisely, it lies in the historic or geographic County of Lancaster. Merseyside refers to a different geographical layer: it was the name given to a

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Is Musselburgh in Midlothian?

Yes. Musselburgh is geographically in the historic county of Midlothian, also known as Edinburghshire. For local government, however, it is within the East Lothian council area, and for lieutenancy
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Is Cardiff in Glamorgan?

Yes. Cardiff (Caerdydd) is geographically in the historic county of Glamorgan (Morgannwg), and Cardiff is the county town of Glamorgan. The Gazetteer of British Place Names records Cardiff as a city
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What actually changed in Scotland in 1975?

On 16 May 1975, Scotland underwent one of the biggest reorganisations of local government in its history. County councils, burgh councils and the other local-authority structures then in existence

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Why does legislation use the word “county” for things that are not the ancient geographic counties?

Because legislation can give a word a special meaning for a particular legal purpose. When an Act calls an area a “county”, that does not automatically mean Parliament has identified, created or
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Dragon or Wyvern? Why Somerset’s Emblem Is a Dragon - and Wessex’s Is a Wyvern

Somerset’s familiar red beast is often called a wyvern. It is not. In English heraldry it is a dragon — and the documentary evidence is unusually clear. The confusion comes partly from Somerset’s deep

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Local government reorganisation paused - a chance to fix the lieutenancies once and for all

The Government has launched a full review of local government reorganisation in England, pausing the decisions announced in July. For the Historic Counties Institute, the immediate cases of Rutland
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