In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a county town is the most important town or city in a county. It is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county and the place where the county's members of Parliament are elected. Following the establishment of the English county councils in 1889, the headquarters of the new councils were usually located in the county town of each county. However, the concept of a county town pre-dates the establishment of these councils.
The concept of a county town is ill-defined and unofficial. Some counties have their administrative bodies located elsewhere. For example, Lancaster is the county town of Lancashire, but the county council is located in Preston. Some county towns are no longer situated within the administrative county because of changes in the county's boundaries. For example, Nottingham is administered by a unitary authority separate from the rest of Nottinghamshire.
This list shows county towns prior to the reforms of 1889.
This list shows county towns prior to the reforms of 1889.
County | County town |
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Beaumaris |
Brecknockshire | Brecon |
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Caernarfon |
Cardiganshire | Cardigan |
Carmarthenshire | Carmarthen |
Denbighshire | Ruthin (formerly Denbigh) |
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Mold (formerly Flint) |
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Cardiff |
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Dolgellau |
Montgomeryshire | Welshpool (formerly Montgomery) |
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Monmouth[a] |
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Haverfordwest (formerly Pembroke) |
Radnorshire | Presteigne (formerly New Radnor) |
County | County town |
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County Antrim | Antrim |
County Armagh | Armagh |
County Down | Downpatrick |
County Fermanagh | Enniskillen |
County Londonderry | Coleraine |
County Tyrone | Omagh |
Note – Despite the fact that Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland, it is not the county town of any county. Greater Belfast straddles two counties (Antrim and Down).
With the creation of elected county councils in 1889 the location of administrative headquarters in some cases moved away from the traditional county town. Furthermore, in 1965 and 1974 there were major boundary changes in England and Wales and administrative counties were replaced with new metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties. The boundaries underwent further alterations between 1995 and 1998 to create unitary authorities and some of the ancient counties and county towns were restored. (Note: not all headquarters are or were called County Halls or Shire Halls e.g.: Cumbria County Council's HQ up until 2016 was called The Courts and have since moved to Cumbria House.) Before 1974 many of the county halls were located in towns and cities that had the status of a county borough i.e.: a borough outside of the county council's jurisdiction.
County council | Date | Headquarters |
---|---|---|
Avon | 1974 to 1996 | Bristol |
Bedfordshire | 1889 to 2009 | Bedford |
Berkshire | 1889 to 1998 | Reading (county borough until 1974) |
Bristol | 1996 onwards | Bristol |
Buckinghamshire | 1889 onwards | Aylesbury |
Cambridgeshire | 1889 to 1965 1974 onwards |
Cambridge (until 2021) Alconbury Weald (after 2021) |
Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely | 1965 to 1974 | Cambridge |
Cheshire | 1889 to 2009 | Chester |
Cleveland | 1974 to 1996 | Middlesbrough |
Cornwall | 1889 onwards | Truro |
Cumberland | 1889 to 1974 | Carlisle (county borough from 1914) |
Cumbria | 1974 onwards | Carlisle |
Derbyshire | 1889 onwards | Matlock (moved from Derby, county borough 1958)[21] |
Devon | 1889 onwards | Exeter (county borough until 1974). In 1963 the Devon County Buildings Area was transferred from the county borough of Exeter to the administrative county of Devon, of which it formed an exclave until 1974.[22] |
Dorset | 1889 onwards | Dorchester |
Durham | 1889 onwards | Durham |
Essex | 1889 onwards | Chelmsford |
Gloucestershire | 1889 onwards | Gloucester (county borough until 1974) |
Greater London | 1965 to 1986 2002 onwards |
County Hall, Lambeth (Greater London Council) (1965–1986) City Hall, Southwark (Greater London Authority) (2002–2021) City Hall, Newham (Greater London Authority) (2021 onwards) |
Greater Manchester | 1974 to 1986 | Manchester |
Hampshire | 1889 onwards | Winchester |
Herefordshire | 1889 to 1974 1998 onwards |
Hereford |
Hereford and Worcester | 1974 to 1998 | Worcester |
Hertfordshire | 1889 onwards | Hertford |
Humberside | 1974 to 1996 | Beverley |
Huntingdonshire | 1889 to 1965 | Huntingdon |
Huntingdon and Peterborough | 1965 to 1974 | Huntingdon |
Isle of Ely | 1889 to 1965 | March |
Isle of Wight | 1890 onwards | Newport |
Kent | 1889 onwards | Maidstone |
Lancashire | 1889 onwards | Preston (county borough until 1974) |
Leicestershire | 1889 onwards | Leicester |
Lincolnshire, Parts of Lindsey | 1889 to 1974 | Lincoln (county borough) |
Lincolnshire, Parts of Holland | 1889 to 1974 | Boston |
Lincolnshire, Parts of Kesteven | 1889 to 1974 | Sleaford |
Lincolnshire | 1974 onwards | Lincoln |
London | 1889 to 1965 | Spring Gardens, Westminster until 1922, County Hall at Lambeth thereafter |
Merseyside | 1974 to 1986 | Liverpool |
Middlesex | 1889 to 1965 | Middlesex Guildhall at Westminster in County of London |
Norfolk | 1889 onwards | Norwich (county borough until 1974) |
Northamptonshire | 1889 onwards | Northampton (county borough until 1974) |
Northumberland | 1889 onwards | County Hall Newcastle upon Tyne 1889 – 1981[23] County Hall Morpeth since 1981[24] |
Nottinghamshire | 1889 onwards | West Bridgford (moved from county borough of Nottingham in 1959) |
Oxfordshire | 1889 onwards | Oxford (county borough until 1974) |
Soke of Peterborough | 1889 to 1965 | Peterborough |
Rutland | 1889 to 1974 1997 onwards |
Oakham |
Shropshire | 1889 onwards | Shrewsbury |
Somerset | 1889 onwards | Taunton |
Staffordshire | 1889 onwards | Stafford |
East Suffolk | 1889 to 1974 | Ipswich (county borough) |
West Suffolk | 1889 to 1974 | Bury St Edmunds |
Suffolk | 1974 onwards | Ipswich |
Surrey | 1889 onwards | Inner London Sessions House, Newington (until 1893) County Hall, Kingston upon Thames (1893–2020) Woodhatch Place, Reigate (2021 onwards)[25] |
East Sussex | 1889 onwards | Lewes |
West Sussex | 1889 onwards | Chichester (originally jointly with Horsham)[17] |
Tyne and Wear | 1974 to 1986 | Newcastle upon Tyne |
Warwickshire | 1889 onwards | Warwick |
West Midlands | 1974 to 1986 | Birmingham |
Westmorland | 1889 to 1974 | Kendal |
Wiltshire | 1889 onwards | Trowbridge |
Worcestershire | 1889 to 1974 1998 onwards |
Worcester (county borough until 1974) |
Yorkshire, East Riding | 1889 to 1974 1996 onwards |
Beverley (later HQ of Humberside) |
Yorkshire, North Riding | 1889 to 1974 | Northallerton |
North Yorkshire | 1974 onwards | Northallerton |
South Yorkshire | 1974 to 1986 | Barnsley |
Yorkshire, West Riding | 1889 to 1974 | Wakefield (county borough from 1915) |
West Yorkshire | 1974 to 1986 | Wakefield |
County council | Date | Headquarters |
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Anglesey | 1889 to 1974 | Beaumaris1 |
Brecknockshire | 1889 to 1974 | Brecon |
Caernarvonshire | 1889 to 1974 | Caernarfon |
Carmarthenshire | 1889 to 1974 1996 onwards |
Carmarthen |
Cardiganshire | 1889 to 1974 | Aberystwyth2 |
Ceredigion | 1996 onwards | Aberaeron |
Clwyd | 1974 to 1996 | Mold |
Denbighshire | 1889 to 1974 | Denbigh |
Dyfed | 1974 to 1996 | Carmarthen |
Flintshire | 1889 to 1974 | Mold |
Glamorgan | 1889 to 1974 | Cardiff (county borough) |
Gwent | 1974 to 1996 | Newport (1974–78), Cwmbran (1978–96) |
Gwynedd | 1974 onwards | Caernarfon |
Mid Glamorgan | 1974 to 1996 | Cardiff (extraterritorial) |
Merionethshire | 1889 to 1974 | Dolgellau |
Montgomeryshire | 1889 to 1974 | Welshpool |
Monmouthshire | 1889 to 1974 | Newport (county borough from 1891) |
Radnorshire | 1889 to 1974 | Presteigne3 |
Pembrokeshire | 1889 to 1974 1996 onwards |
Haverfordwest |
Powys | 1974 onwards | Llandrindod Wells |
South Glamorgan | 1974 to 1996 | Cardiff |
West Glamorgan | 1974 to 1996 | Swansea |
Ynys Môn (Anglesey) | 1996 onwards | Llangefni |
The follow lists the location of the administration of each of the 31 local authorities in the Republic of Ireland, with 26 of the traditional counties.
Jamaica's three counties were established in 1758 to facilitate the holding of courts along the lines of the British county court system, with each county having a county town.[26] The counties have no current administrative relevance.
County | County town |
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Cornwall | Savanna-la-Mar |
Middlesex | Spanish Town |
Surrey | Kingston |