The Diocese of London forms part of the Church of England 's Province of Canterbury in England .
129-571: Middlesex ( / ˈ m ɪ d əl s ɛ k s / ; abbreviation: Middx ) is a historic county , a former post county , and a former administrative county in South East England ; it is now mainly within the ceremonial county of Greater London , with small sections in neighbouring ceremonial counties. The county's boundaries largely followed three rivers: the Thames in the south, the Lea to
258-510: A county corporate or "county of itself". For most practical purposes this separate status was replaced in the late 19th century when county boroughs were introduced. Bristol developed as a major port in the medieval period, straddling both sides of the River Avon which formed the ancient boundary between Gloucestershire and Somerset . In 1373 Edward III decreed …that the said town of Bristol with its suburbs and their precinct, as
387-411: A county day in which the culture and history of the historic county is celebrated; many of these county days were created in the 21st century. A direct action group, CountyWatch , was formed in 2004 to remove what its members consider to be wrongly placed county boundary signs that do not mark the historic or traditional county boundaries of England and Wales . They have removed, resorted or erected
516-406: A culvert tunnel, dividing the hall down the middle between the two counties – a division reflected in its architecture. The 1888 Act ensured that every urban sanitary district would be considered to be part of a single county. This principle was maintained in the 20th century: when county boroughs such as Birmingham , Manchester , Reading and Sheffield expanded into neighbouring counties,
645-460: A "bishop for church plants" would go ahead. Ric Thorpe was consecrated bishop suffragan of Islington on 29 September 2015. Alternative episcopal oversight (for parishes in the diocese which do not accept the ordination of women as priests) is provided by a fifth suffragan bishop, Jonathan Baker , Bishop of Fulham , who has the same ministry in the Southwark and Rochester dioceses. During
774-439: A basis for social, sporting and cultural activities. The Campaign for Historic Counties is dedicated to campaigning, both in the public arena and among parliamentarians, for the restoration of historic counties. Their objectives are: In 2013, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles formally recognised and acknowledged the continued existence of England's 39 historic counties. On 23 April 2014
903-571: A lengthy vacancy in that see, alternative episcopal oversight was offered by the then-area Bishop of Edmonton. There are also several retired bishops living in the diocese, some of whom are licensed as honorary assistant bishops : The London Diocesan Board for Schools (LDBS) has responsibility for 155 Church of England schools within the London diocese, across 18 local authorities. In December 2022, Martin Sargeant, formerly Head of Operations in
1032-686: A local badge in Middlesex and neighbouring Essex for centuries. Coats of arms were attributed by the mediaeval heralds to the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy . That assigned to the Kingdom of Essex , of which the Middle Saxon Province was part, depicted three " seaxes " or short notched swords on a red background. The seaxe was a weapon carried by Anglo-Saxon warriors, and the term "Saxon" may be derived from
1161-705: A major local government reform took place under the Local Government Act 1972 . The Act abolished administrative counties and county boroughs, and divided England (except Greater London and the Isles of Scilly) into counties. These were of two types: "metropolitan" and "non-metropolitan" counties. Apart from local government, the new counties were "substituted for counties of any other description" for judicial, shrievalty, lieutenancy and other purposes. Several counties, such as Cumberland , Herefordshire , Rutland , Westmorland and Worcestershire , vanished from
1290-550: A new initiative was announced to support the 'tapestry' of traditional English counties, including the removal of a restriction preventing the names of traditional counties being displayed on street and road signs. In August 2014, the first road sign was erected to mark the boundary of the historic county of Yorkshire. The Government is also publishing a new online interactive map of England's county boundaries. The Government has previously changed rules to allow local and county flags to be flown without planning permission, and supported
1419-582: A new office of High Sheriff of Middlesex appointed in the same manner as other English and Welsh counties, created the County of London with its own high sheriff, and restricted the jurisdiction of the sheriffs of London to the City. During the Middle Ages a number of other large cities and towns were granted the status of self-governing counties separate from adjacent counties. Such a county became known as
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#17327647704791548-496: A number of changes came into effect. The new administrative area of Greater London was created, resulting in the abolition of the administrative counties of London and Middlesex, at the same time taking in areas from surrounding counties. On the same date the new counties of Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely and of Huntingdon and Peterborough were formed by the merger of pairs of administrative counties. The new areas were also adopted for lieutenancy and shrievalty purposes. In 1974
1677-477: A number of what they claim to be "wrongly sited" county boundary signs in various parts of England. For instance, in Lancashire 30 signs were removed. CountyWatch has been criticised for such actions by the councils that erected the signs: Lancashire County Council pointed out that the taxpayers would have to pay for the signs to be re-erected. The only political party with a manifesto commitment to restore
1806-460: A public consultation in 2009 Postcomm found that many respondents objected to the use of counties in the alias file. In May 2010 Postcomm announced that it was encouraging Royal Mail to discontinue the use of counties in its alias file at the earliest opportunity. However, because some existing software included the use of counties, Royal Mail was advised not to implement the change before 2013. The historic counties of England continue to be used as
1935-628: A salaried county surveyor was to be appointed. By the 1880s it was being suggested that it would be more efficient if a wider variety of functions were provided on a county-wide basis. Some of the counties had major subdivisions. Of these, the most significant were the divisions of Yorkshire: the East Riding , West Riding , North Riding and the ainsty of York. Since Yorkshire was so large, its ridings became established as geographical terms quite apart from their original role as administrative divisions. The second largest county, Lincolnshire ,
2064-539: A self governing county corporate in the twelfth century; it was able to exert political influence in Middlesex as the sheriffs of London were given jurisdiction there, though the county otherwise remained separate. To the east of the City, the Tower Division (or Tower Hamlets) had considerable autonomy under its own Lord Lieutenant . To the west, precincts around Westminster and Charing Cross became built up. Despite London's expansion into rural Middlesex,
2193-569: A single, established county town . The City of London could be regarded as its county town for most purposes and provided different locations for the various, mostly judicial, county purposes. The county assizes for Middlesex were held at the Old Bailey in the City of London. Until 1889, the High Sheriff of Middlesex was chosen by the City of London Corporation . The sessions house for
2322-510: Is a former postal county . Counties were an element of postal addressing in routine use until 1996, intended to avoid confusion between post towns , and are no longer required for the routing of the mail. The postal county did not match the boundaries of Middlesex because of the presence of the London postal district , which stretched into the county to include Tottenham, Willesden, Hornsey and Chiswick. Addresses in this area included "LONDON" which
2451-506: Is not known exactly when Middlesex was established as a county, possibly the early tenth century, but it is clear that it did not cover the whole of the former Middle Saxon Province of Essex. It was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as being divided into the six hundreds of Edmonton , Elthorne , Gore , Hounslow ( Isleworth in all later records), Ossulstone and Spelthorne . The City of London has been self-governing since
2580-569: Is said: Pimlico and Knightsbridge are almost joined to Chelsea and Kensington, and, if this infatuation continues for half a century, then, I suppose, the whole county of Middlesex will be covered in brick. Public transport in the county, including the extensive network of trams, buses and the London Underground came under control of the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933 and a New Works Programme
2709-419: Is similar usage in the single case of Berkshire, a county with a "-shire" suffix which is not named after a town and whose correct formation is "County of Berks". The "-shire" suffix was also appended for some counties, such as "Devonshire", "Dorsetshire" and "Somersetshire", despite their origin. For instance, there has been an Earl of Devonshire since 1603, and Duke of Devonshire since 1694. Great Britain
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#17327647704792838-473: Is the High Road by Bushey Heath at 502 feet (153 m). Bentley Priory Nature Reserve houses Middlesex's oldest tree: The Master Oak. There were settlements in the area of Middlesex that can be traced back thousands of years before the creation of a county. The economy of the county was dependent on the City of London from early times and was primarily agricultural. A variety of goods were provided for
2967-464: Is the post town but any overlap with the then County of London was coincidental. In 1965, Royal Mail retained the postal county because it would have been too costly to amend addresses covering the bulk of Outer London. Exceptionally, the Potters Bar post town was transferred to Hertfordshire. Geographically the postal county consisted of two unconnected areas, 6 miles (10 km) apart. The first
3096-515: The seax , a kind of knife for which they were known. The seax appears in the heraldry of the English counties of Essex and Middlesex, each of which bears three seaxes in their ceremonial emblem, or rather the Tudor heralds' idea of what a seax looked like, portrayed in each case like a falchion or scimitar . The names 'Middlesex', 'Essex', ' Sussex ' and ' Wessex ', contain the name 'Seaxe'. It
3225-472: The Angles , Saxons , Jutes , Celts and others. They are alternatively known as ancient counties , traditional counties , former counties or simply as counties . In the centuries that followed their establishment, as well as their administrative function, the counties also helped define local culture and identity. This role continued even after the counties ceased to be used for administration after
3354-614: The British Army linked the recruiting areas of infantry regiments to the counties. Each English county sent two Knights of the Shire to the House of Commons (in addition to the burgesses sent by boroughs). Yorkshire gained two members in 1821 when Grampound was disenfranchised. The Great Reform Act of 1832 reapportioned members throughout the counties, many of which were also split into parliamentary divisions. Constituencies based on
3483-573: The Corporation of London resisted attempts to expand the City of London boundaries into the county, posing problems for the administration of local government, public infrastructure, and justice. In the eighteenth and ninteenth centuries the population density was especially high in the southeast of the county, including the East and West Ends of London. In 1855 the densely populated southeast, together with sections of Kent and Surrey , came under
3612-661: The EN postcode area was in the former postal county. All post towns in the HA postcode area and UB postcode area were in the former postal county. Most of the TW postcode area was in the former postal county. The Middlesex Flag is included in the Flag Institute 's registry of county and regional flags. The flag is a banner of the arms of the former Middlesex County Council, abolished in 1965. A similar design had been used traditionally as
3741-468: The Flag Institute in encouraging a new wave of county and community flags to be designed and flown by local communities. The flags of England's historic counties have been flown from Government offices in support of these identities. All 39 counties have registered flags, with the flag of Leicestershire the last to be adopted. In July 2019 the UK Government published official guidance on Celebrating
3870-575: The Friends of Real Lancashire and the Yorkshire Ridings Society , promotes the historic counties. It states that the "...ABC contends that Britain needs a fixed popular geography, one divorced from the ever changing names and areas of local government...The ABC, therefore, seeks to fully re-establish the use of the historic counties as the standard popular geographical reference frame of Britain and to further encourage their use as
3999-554: The Furness portion of Lancashire remained separated from the rest of Lancashire by a narrow strip of Westmorland — though it was accessible by way of the Morecambe Bay tidal flats . When the first county councils were set up in 1889, they covered newly created entities known as administrative counties . Several historic subdivisions with separate county administrations were also created administrative counties, particularly
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4128-520: The Kingdom of England was united as a whole in 927 it became necessary to subdivide it for administrative convenience and to this end, earldoms were created out of the earlier kingdoms, which were in turn subdivided into shires. The whole kingdom was divided into shires by the time of the Norman conquest . Robert of Gloucester accounts for thirty-five shires and William of Malmesbury thirty-two, Henry of Huntingdon, thirty-seven. In Anglo-Saxon times
4257-520: The Kingdom of Kent , Surrey from the Anglian word for 'southern region', and Essex , Sussex and Middlesex come from the East Saxons , South Saxons and Middle Saxons . Norfolk and Suffolk were subdivisions representing the "North Folk" and "South Folk" of the Kingdom of East Anglia . Only one county on the south coast of England now usually takes the suffix "-shire": Hampshire , named after
4386-586: The Kingdom of the East Saxons , charter evidence shows that it was not part of their core territory. However, it is probable the county was independent at some point. At times, Essex was ruled jointly by co-Kings, and it is thought that the Middle Saxon province is likely to have been the domain of one of these co-kings. This link to Essex endured through the Diocese of London , re-established in 604 as
4515-638: The Laws in Wales Act 1535 . It was then added to the Oxford circuit of the English Assizes. For legal purposes it was regarded as part of England, but Laws since the late 19th century were often applied to " Wales and Monmouthshire ". It was listed among the English counties for parliamentary purposes until 1950 and for local government until 1974, but the Local Government Act 1972 unambiguously included
4644-498: The London post town. It is common for people to speak of " Uxbridge , Middlesex", " Dagenham , Essex" or " Bromley , Kent" (which are outside the London postal district), but much less so to speak of " Brixton , Surrey", " Greenwich , Kent", or " West Ham , Essex" (which are inside it). In 1996, following further local government reform and the modernisation of its sorting equipment, the Royal Mail ceased to use counties at all in
4773-498: The March of Wales , which after the Norman conquest had been administered by Marcher Lords largely independently of the English monarch, were incorporated into the English counties of Shropshire, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire in 1535. There was historic ambiguity as to the status of the county of Monmouthshire . As with other Marcher areas added to existing counties, it was created out of "the said Country or Dominion of Wales" by
4902-551: The Metropolitan Board of Works for certain infrastructure purposes, while remaining a part of Middlesex. and the Metropolitan Police also developed in the nineteenth century. When county councils were introduced in 1889, about twenty per cent of the area of the historic county, along with a third of its population, was incorporated into the new administrative County of London . The remainder formed
5031-596: The River Lea . The diocese covered all of Essex until 1846 when Essex became part of the Diocese of Rochester , after which St Albans and since 1914 forms the Diocese of Chelmsford . It also formerly took in southern and eastern parts of Hertfordshire. The Report of the Commissioners appointed by his Majesty to inquire into the Ecclesiastical Revenues of England and Wales (1835), noted
5160-618: The Second World War , from 1951 to 1961, the populations of the administrative county of London and of inner Middlesex were in steady decline, with population growth continuing in the outer parts of Middlesex. According to the 1961 census, Ealing, Enfield, Harrow, Hendon, Heston & Isleworth, Tottenham, Wembley, Willesden and Twickenham had each reached a population greater than 100,000, which would normally have entitled each of them to seek county borough status. If this status were to be granted to all those boroughs, it would mean that
5289-498: The assizes and quarter sessions . Later earldoms were created that were not named after a shire, particularly from the 17th century onwards, but by that time the title of earl was honorary, with no effective role in local administration. Although all of England was divided into shires by the time of the Norman conquest, some counties were formed later, such as Lancashire in the 12th century. Perhaps because of their differing origins
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5418-503: The earl and sheriff were jointly responsible for administering each shire through its shire court . Each earl was responsible for multiple shires, with some fluctuation in which shires belonged to which earldoms during this period. In the years following the Norman conquest of 1066 the large earldoms of the Anglo-Saxon era were gradually replaced by smaller earldoms corresponding to a single shire. The Norman French term for an earl
5547-563: The justices of the peace meeting in quarter sessions , and the local matters dealt with by parish vestries. As the suburbs of London spread into the area, unplanned development and outbreaks of cholera forced the creation of local boards and poor law unions to help govern most areas; in a few cases parishes appointed improvement commissioners . In rural areas, parishes began to be grouped for different administrative purposes. From 1875 these local bodies were designated as urban or rural sanitary districts. The Tower division, better known as
5676-405: The lord-lieutenants – and their subordinate justices of the peace . Counties were used initially for the administration of justice , collection of taxes and organisation of the military, and later for local government and electing parliamentary representation. They continue to form the basis of modern local government areas in many parts of the country away from the main urban areas, although
5805-553: The 12th century. The Local Government Act 1894 divided the administrative county into four rural districts and thirty-one urban districts , based on existing sanitary districts . One urban district, South Hornsey , was an exclave of Middlesex within the County of London until 1900, when it was transferred to the latter county. The rural districts were Hendon , South Mimms , Staines and Uxbridge . Because of increasing urbanisation these had all been abolished by 1934. Urban districts had been created, merged, and many had gained
5934-519: The 1540s the office of Lord Lieutenant was instituted. The lieutenants had a military role, previously exercised by the sheriffs, and were made responsible for raising and organising the militia in each county. The lieutenancies were subsequently given responsibility for the Volunteer Force . In 1871 the lieutenants lost their positions as heads of the militia, and their office became largely ceremonial. The Cardwell and Childers Reforms of
6063-423: The 17th and 18th centuries for attracting day-trippers from London. Hampton Court Palace was among the historic buildings opened to the public in the 19th century and 350,000 people visited in 1851. During the 18th century, the inner parishes of Middlesex became suburbs of the City and were increasingly urbanised. In 1794, Thomas Cox wrote of Middlesex: We may call it almost all London, being chiefly inhabited by
6192-486: The City, including crops such as grain and hay, livestock and building materials. Tourism began to develop in the late 16th century and, in 1593, John Norden noted that the county was attracting visitors to its "divers devices, neatly decked with rare inventions, environed with orchards of sundry delicate fruits, gardens with delectable walks, arbours, alleys, and great variety of pleasing dainties." Inns and tea gardens at Isleworth, Tottenham, Edmonton and Hornsey are noted in
6321-714: The East Saxon see, and its boundaries continued to be based on the Kingdom of Essex until the nineteenth century. The name means territory of the middle Saxons . The word is formed from the Old English , 'middel' and ' Seaxe ' ('Saxons') ( cf. Essex , Sussex and Wessex ). In 704, it is recorded as Middleseaxon in an Anglo-Saxon chronicle, written in Latin, about land at Twickenham. The Latin text reads: " in prouincia quæ nuncupatur Middelseaxan Haec ". The Saxons derived their name, Seaxe in their own tongue, from
6450-414: The English counties started to take shape soon afterwards, with the Kingdom of Kent founded by settlers around 445. In southern England more widely, shires emerged from earlier sub-kingdoms as part of the administrative structure of Wessex , which then imposed its system of shires, boroughs (or burhs ) and ealdormen on Mercia after it came under West Saxon control during the 10th century. Once
6579-497: The Historic Counties of England, stating that "the tapestry of England's historic counties is one of the bonds which draws our nation together". Sussex and Yorkshire , both historic counties and long abandoned as units for administrative purposes, have continued to be widely recognised as cultural regions, significant in sport and used by many organisations as regional units. These counties, and several others, have
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#17327647704796708-542: The London urban area sprawls into Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. The Local Government Act 1972 sought generally to unite conurbations within a single county, while retaining the historic county boundaries as far as was practicable. In a period of financial crisis, the Post Office was able to alter many of its postal counties in accordance with the 1965 and 1974 reforms, but not all. The two major exceptions were Greater London and Greater Manchester . Greater London
6837-621: The Middlesex Quarter Sessions was Hicks Hall in Clerkenwell (just outside the City boundary) from 1612 to 1782, and Middlesex Sessions House on Clerkenwell Green from 1782 to 1921. The quarter sessions performed most of the limited administration on a county level prior to the creation of the Middlesex County Council in 1889. New Brentford was first promulgated as the county town in 1789, on
6966-645: The North of England was left depopulated and was included in the returns for Cheshire and Yorkshire in the Domesday Book. However, there is some disagreement about the status of some of this land. The area in between the River Ribble and the River Mersey , referred to as "Inter Ripam et Mersam" in the Domesday Book, was included in the returns for Cheshire. Whether this meant that this land
7095-518: The Saxons in the 9th century. Devon and Cornwall were based on the pre-Saxon Celtic tribes known in Latin as the Dumnonii and Cornovii , in the latter case with the suffix wealas , meaning foreigners, added by the Saxons. When Wessex annexed Mercia in the 10th century, it subdivided the area into various shires of roughly equal size and tax-raising potential or hidage . These generally took
7224-539: The Thames, covering 177 square miles (460 km ) and all or part of 17 London boroughs. This corresponds almost exactly to the historic county of Middlesex . It includes the City of London in which lies its cathedral, St Paul's , and also encompasses Spelthorne which is currently administered by Surrey . It encompasses most of that part of Greater London which lies north of the River Thames and west of
7353-670: The Tower Hamlets , was an area in the Southeast of the county covering what is now the London Borough of Tower Hamlets as well as most of what is now the London Borough of Hackney . The territory had its origin in the medieval Manor of Stepney . The area was unusual in combining Hundred and many County responsibilities, to form a "county within a county" comparable to one of the Ridings of Yorkshire . Of particular note
7482-555: The administrative County of London . The Act also provided that the part of Middlesex in the administrative county of London should be "severed from Middlesex, and form a separate county for all non-administrative purposes". The part of the County of London that had been transferred from Middlesex was divided in 1900 into 18 metropolitan boroughs : Following the Local Government Act 1888, the remaining county came under
7611-444: The administrative county of Hertfordshire , and Sunbury-on-Thames Urban District and Staines Urban District , which became part of the administrative county of Surrey . Following the changes, local acts of Parliament relating to Middlesex were henceforth to apply to the entirety of the nine "North West London Boroughs". In 1974, the three urban districts that had been transferred to Hertfordshire and Surrey were abolished and became
7740-616: The administrative county of Middlesex, governed by the Middlesex County Council , which met regularly at the Middlesex Guildhall in Westminster. Further suburban growth, stimulated by the improvement and expansion of public transport, as well as the setting up of new industries , led to the creation of Greater London in 1965, an area which included almost all of the historic county of Middlesex, with
7869-783: The administrative map, while new entities such as Avon , Cleveland , Cumbria and Humberside appeared, in addition to the six new metropolitan counties . The built-up areas of conurbations tend to cross historic county boundaries freely. Examples are Bournemouth – Poole – Christchurch ( Dorset and Hampshire ) Greater Manchester ( Cheshire , Derbyshire and Lancashire ), Merseyside (Cheshire and Lancashire), Teesside (Yorkshire and County Durham), South Yorkshire (Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire ), Tyneside (County Durham and Northumberland ) and West Midlands ( Staffordshire , Warwickshire and Worcestershire ). Greater London itself straddles five ancient counties — Essex , Hertfordshire , Kent, Middlesex , Surrey — and
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#17327647704797998-421: The ancient county boundaries remained in use until 1918. From the 16th century onwards the county was increasingly used as a unit of local government as the justices of the peace took on various administrative functions known as "county business". This was transacted at the quarter sessions , summoned four times a year by the lord lieutenant. By the 19th century the county magistrates were exercising powers over
8127-614: The ancient county of Middlesex. In 1965 these merged to form seven of the twelve current boroughs of Inner London : In April 1965, nearly all of the area of the historic county of Middlesex became part of Greater London , under the control of the Greater London Council , and formed the new outer London boroughs of Barnet (part only), Brent , Ealing , Enfield , Haringey , Harrow , Hillingdon , Hounslow and Richmond upon Thames (part only). The remaining areas were Potters Bar Urban District , which became part of
8256-630: The annual net income for the London see was £13,929. This made it the third wealthiest diocese in England after Canterbury and Durham . Following the huge growth of the metropolis and its population in the 19th century, successive Bishops of London successfully campaigned for the appointment of several suffragan bishops to assist them in the care of the northern half of what became the County of London and later Greater London. A system of assigning "districts" to these suffragans evolved into an experimental area scheme in 1970. An archbishop's commission on
8385-436: The area added became associated with the county borough's geographic county. However, this principle was not applied to Stockport or Cardiff , which remained divided, the latter even divided between Wales and England (from 1938 Cardiff included Rumney in the territory of the historic county of Monmouthshire , which was legally regarded as part of England until 1972 when it was instead assigned to Wales). On 1 April 1965,
8514-418: The area as part of Wales. A charter of Henry I in about 1130 gave the City of London its own Sheriff . The Sheriff of London also had jurisdiction over the county of Middlesex, so that "London and Middlesex were from that time regarded as one from an administrative point of view", although they retained their separate identities. This relationship continued until the Local Government Act 1888 created
8643-657: The basis for county cricket teams and the governance of cricket in England through the ECB County Boards . There are exceptions in that Rutland is integrated with Leicestershire; the Isle of Wight has its own board outside the Hampshire one; there is a board for the ceremonial county of Cumbria which is representative of both Cumberland and Westmorland. In addition, the ECB County Boards include one for
8772-526: The basis that it was where elections of knights of the shire (or Members of Parliament ) were held from 1701. Thus a traveller's and historian's London regional summary of 1795 states that (New) Brentford was "considered as the county-town; but there is no town-hall or other public building". Middlesex County Council took over at the Guildhall in Westminster , which became the Middlesex Guildhall . In
8901-542: The boroughs of Barnet, Brent, Ealing, Enfield, Haringey, Harrow, Hillingdon and Hounslow. It was abolished on 1 July 2003. The title Earl of Middlesex was created twice, in 1622 and 1677, but became extinct in 1843. The county lay within the London Basin and the most significant feature was the River Thames , which formed the southern boundary. The River Lea and the River Colne formed natural boundaries to
9030-434: The boroughs or cities of Lincoln (1409), Nottingham (1448), Lichfield (1556) and Worcester (1622) as counties. The County of the City of Coventry was separated from Warwickshire in 1451, and included an extensive area of countryside surrounding the city. Charters granting separate county status to the cities and boroughs of Chester (1238/9), York (1396), Newcastle upon Tyne (1400) and Kingston-upon-Hull (with
9159-444: The boundaries and political functions of all ancient counties, including Middlesex and Monmouthshire , is the English Democrats Party . By the late Middle Ages the county was being used as the basis of a number of functions. The Assize Courts used counties, or their major divisions, as a basis for their organisation. Justices of the peace originating in Norman times as Knights of the Peace, were appointed in each county. At
9288-438: The boundaries now exist, henceforward shall be separated and exempt in every way from the said counties of Gloucester and Somerset, on land and by water; that it shall be a county in itself and be called the county of Bristol for ever… Similar arrangements were later applied to Norwich (1404), Southampton (1447), Canterbury (1471), Gloucester (1483), Exeter (1537), and Poole (1571). Charters were granted constituting
9417-545: The boundary, these feed into the Welsh Harp Lake or Brent Reservoir which becomes the River Brent ). This formed a long protrusion of Hertfordshire into the county. The county was once well wooded, with much of it covered by the ancient Forest of Middlesex ; Domesday returns for Middlesex indicate that it was around 30% wooded (much of it wood-pasture ) in 1086, about double the English average. The highest point
9546-534: The central town with the suffix "-shire", for example Yorkshire . Former kingdoms which became earldoms in the united England did not feature this formulation; so for Kent, Surrey and the Isle of Wight, the former kingdoms of the Jutes , "...shire" was not used. Counties ending in the suffix "-sex", the former Saxon kingdoms, are also in this category. Some of these names include compass directions. The third category includes counties such as Cornwall and Devon where
9675-565: The citizens, who fill the towns in it with their country houses, to which they often resort that they may breathe a little sweet air, free from the fogs and smoke of the City. In 1803, Sir John Sinclair, president of the Board of Agriculture , spoke of the need to cultivate the substantial Finchley Common and Hounslow Heath (perhaps prophetic of the Dig for Victory campaign of World War II ) and fellow Board member Middleton estimated that one tenth of
9804-498: The control of Middlesex County Council except for the parish of Monken Hadley , which became part of Hertfordshire . The area of responsibility of the Lord Lieutenant of Middlesex was reduced accordingly. Middlesex did not contain any county boroughs , so the county and administrative county (the area of county council control) were identical. At this time, Middlesex regained the right to appoint its own sheriff, lost in
9933-525: The counties varied considerably in size . The county boundaries were fairly static until the Local Government Act 1888 . Each shire was responsible for gathering taxes for the central government; for local defence; and for justice, through assize courts . In southern England the counties were mostly subdivisions of the Kingdom of Wessex , and in many areas represented annexed, previously independent, kingdoms or other tribal territories. Kent derives from
10062-686: The counties. In most cases, these consist of simple truncation, usually with an "s" at the end signifying "shire", such as "Berks" for Berkshire or "Bucks" for Buckinghamshire . Some abbreviations are not obvious, such as "Salop" for Shropshire , from the Norman -derived word for its county town Shrewsbury ; "Oxon" for Oxfordshire , from Latin Oxonia (referring to both the county and the city of Oxford ); "Hants" for Hampshire ; and "Northants" for Northamptonshire . Counties can be prefixed with "County of" in official contexts with any "-shire" suffix dropped, such as "County of Kent" or "County of York". There
10191-580: The country of Wales. A review of the structure of local government in England by the Local Government Commission for England led to the restoration of the East Riding of Yorkshire , Herefordshire , Rutland and Worcestershire as administrative areas in the 1990s; the abolition of Avon, Cleveland and Humberside within 25 years of their creation; and the restoration of the traditional borders between Somerset and Gloucestershire (except at Bristol ), County Durham and Yorkshire (towards
10320-579: The county, 17,000 acres (6,900 ha), was uncultivated common, capable of improvement. However, William Cobbett , in his Rural Rides first serialised in 1822, said that Thomas Babington wrote in 1843, "An acre in Middlesex is worth a principality in Utopia " which contrasts neatly with its agricultural description. The building of radial railway lines from 1839 caused a fundamental shift away from agricultural supply for London towards large scale house building. Tottenham , Edmonton and Enfield in
10449-561: The county. The areas closest to London were served by the Metropolitan Police from 1829, and from 1840 the entire county was included in the Metropolitan Police District . Local government in the county was unaffected by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 , and civic works continued to be the responsibility of the individual parish vestries or ad hoc improvement commissioners . From 1855,
10578-442: The creation of administrative counties in 1889, which were themselves amended by further local government reforms in the years following. Unlike the partly self-governing boroughs that covered urban areas, the counties of medieval England existed primarily as a means of enforcing central government power, enabling monarchs to exercise control over local areas through their chosen representatives – originally sheriffs and later
10707-478: The diocesan arrangements in Greater London was established in 1975 and chaired by Edmund Compton ; its report considered but did not recommend forming all Greater London into an ecclesiastical province . Since the formal institution of the London area scheme (the first of its kind) in 1979, the diocese has been divided into five episcopal areas, each of which is the particular responsibility of one of
10836-478: The diocese's suffragan bishops . It is further divided into archdeaconries and deaneries, as shown below. ( Bishop of London ) (area Bishop of Edmonton ) (area Bishop of Kensington ) (area Bishop of Stepney ) (area Bishop of Willesden ) Under the London area scheme the diocesan bishop, the Bishop of London retains oversight of the two cities of London and Westminster while
10965-405: The direction of mail. Instead it now uses the outward code (first half) of the postcode. The former postal counties were removed in 2000 from its Postcode Address File database and included in an "alias file", which is used to cross-reference details that may be added by users but are no longer required, such as former street names or historic, administrative and former postal counties. During
11094-483: The districts of Hertsmere (part only) and Spelthorne respectively. In 1995 the village of Poyle was transferred from Spelthorne to the Berkshire borough of Slough . Additionally, the Greater London boundary to the west and north has been subject to several small changes since 1965. On its creation in 1965, Greater London was divided into five Commission Areas for justice. The one named "Middlesex" consisted of
11223-557: The east and the Colne to the west. A line of hills formed the northern boundary with Hertfordshire . The county was the second smallest of the historic counties of England, after Rutland . The name of the county derives from its origin as a homeland for the Middle Saxon people in the early Middle Ages , with the county subsequently formed from part of that territory in either the ninth or tenth century. The City of London became
11352-421: The east and west. The entire south west boundary of Middlesex followed a gently descending meander of the Thames without hills. In many places "Middlesex bank" is more accurate than "north bank" — for instance at Teddington the river flows north-westward, so the left (Middlesex) bank is the south-west bank. The largely low-lying county was dominated by clay in its north and alluvium on gravel in its south. In
11481-401: The former town of "Hamwic" (sic), the site of which is now a part of the city of Southampton . A "lost" Saxon county was Winchcombeshire which lasted from 1007 to 1017 before being incorporated into Gloucestershire . Dorset and Somerset derive their names from the saete or inhabitants of the areas around the towns of Dorchester and Somerton respectively; the names were first used by
11610-452: The four area bishops have responsibility in their own episcopal areas. The suffragan see of Stepney was created in 1895, Kensington in 1901, Willesden in 1911 and Edmonton in 1970. The suffragan see of Marlborough existed from 1888 to 1918. On 1 May 2015, it was announced that Richard Chartres ' (then-Bishop of London) proposal to take the See of Islington out of abeyance for the appointment of
11739-539: The head of the legal hierarchy were the High Sheriff and the Custos rotulorum (keeper of the rolls) for each county. The justices had responsibility for maintaining county gaols and houses of correction . During the 19th century penal reformers campaigned against the often primitive conditions in gaols, and under the Prison Act 1877 they came under Home Office control. Until the 19th century law enforcement
11868-713: The historic county boundary runs right up the middle of the high street; in Royal Tunbridge Wells the historic county boundary had a theatre (now the Corn Exchange) built right on it, with the actors playing in Sussex to an audience in Kent; and in Todmorden, the historically fractious border between Lancashire and Yorkshire (the river known as Walsden Water) had Todmorden Town Hall built right on top of it on
11997-430: The licensing of alehouses, the construction of bridges, prisons and asylums, the superintendence of main roads, public buildings and charitable institutions, and the regulation of weights and measures. The justices were empowered to levy local taxes to support these activities, and in 1739 these were unified as a single "county rate", under the control of a county treasurer. In order to build and maintain roads and bridges,
12126-456: The metropolitan area remained largely rural until the middle of the 19th century and so the special boards of local government for various metropolitan areas were late in developing. Other than the Cities of London and Westminster, there were no ancient boroughs . The importance of the hundred courts declined, and such local administration as there was divided between "county business" conducted by
12255-631: The mouth of the River Tees ; not in Teesdale ), and Yorkshire and Lincolnshire for ceremonial purposes in these areas. The case of Huntingdonshire was considered twice, but the Commission found that "there was no exceptional county allegiance to Huntingdonshire, as had been perceived in Rutland and Herefordshire". The Association of British Counties (ABC), with its regional affiliates, such as
12384-469: The name corresponds to the tribes who inhabited the area. County Durham is anomalous in terms of naming and origin, not falling into any of the three categories. Instead, it was a diocese that was turned into the County Palatine of Durham , ruled by the Bishop of Durham . The expected form would otherwise be "Durhamshire", but it was rarely used. There are customary abbreviations for many of
12513-508: The name of the main town (the county town ) of the county, along with "-shire". Examples are Northamptonshire and Warwickshire . In some cases the original names have been worn down: for example, Cheshire was originally "Chestershire". In the east Midlands, it is thought that county boundaries may represent a 9th-century division of the Danelaw between units of the Danish army. Rutland
12642-417: The newly created areas sometimes have considerably altered boundaries from the historic counties on which they are based. The name of a county often gives a clue to how it was formed, either as a division that took its name from a centre of administration, an ancient kingdom, or an area occupied by an ethnic group. The majority of English counties are in the first category, with the name formed by combining
12771-467: The north developed first as working-class residential suburbs with easy access to central London. The line to Windsor through Middlesex was completed in 1848, and the railway to Potters Bar in 1850; and the Metropolitan and District Railways started a series of extensions into the county in 1878. Closer to London, the districts of Acton , Willesden , Ealing and Hornsey came within reach of
12900-560: The north, the boundary ran along a WSW/ENE aligned ridge of hills. From the Colne to Barnet Gate Wood , this boundary is marked by a 20 kilometre hedge of great antiquity. East of the wood the hedge continues but did not forms the county boundary, suggesting that the eastern part of the boundary is younger. After Barnett Gate Wood the hedge continues east to Arkley where it divides into two branches, one continuing east to Chipping Barnet and Cockfosters , with another heading north to form
13029-579: The parish boundary between Shenley and Ridge , both in Hertforshire. Neither branch formed part of the county boundary. The change to the county boundary was probably caused in the late 8th century, before Middlesex took the form of a county, when the Liberty of St Albans was created from parts of the Dioceses of London and Lincoln . The hills are broken by Barnet or 'Dollis' valleys. (South of
13158-474: The parishes of the densely populated area in the south east, but excluding the City of London, came within the responsibility of the Metropolitan Board of Works for certain infrastructure purposes, though the area remained a part of Middlesex. Despite this innovation, the system was described by commentators at the time as one "in chaos". In 1889, under the Local Government Act 1888 , the metropolitan area of approximately 30,000 acres (120 km) became part of
13287-496: The population of the administrative county of Middlesex would be reduced by over half, to just under one million. Evidence submitted to the Royal Commission on Local Government in Greater London included a recommendation to divide Middlesex into two administrative counties of North Middlesex and West Middlesex. However, the commission instead proposed abolition of the county and merging of the boroughs and districts. This
13416-486: The post towns of Uxbridge , Staines and Northwood and therefore in the postal county of Middlesex. Egham Hythe , Surrey also had postal addresses of Staines, Middlesex. Conversely, Hampton Wick was conveniently placed in Kingston , Surrey with its sorting offices just across the river. Nearby Hampton Court Palace has a postal address of East Molesey , therefore associating it with Surrey. The Enfield post town in
13545-465: The rest included in neighbouring ceremonial counties. The county has its roots in the settlement of the Middle Saxons . The extent of the province is not clear, and probably varied over time, but it is clear that it occupied at least the area of the current county and much of Hertfordshire . Although the province appeared to have come under the dominion of, and is only ever recorded as a part of
13674-435: The same year, this location was placed into the new County of London , and was thus outside the council's area of jurisdiction. The population of inner London (then the County of London ) declined after its creation in 1889 as more residents moved into the outer suburbs. In the interwar years , suburban London expanded further, with improvement and expansion of public transport, and the setting up of new industries . After
13803-623: The separate ridings of Yorkshire , the separate parts of Lincolnshire, and the East and West divisions of Sussex. The Local Government Act 1888 also contained wording to create both a new "administrative county" and a "county" of London , and to ensure that the county boroughs which were created at the same time continued for non-administrative purposes to be part of the county which they geographically lay. These counties were to be used "for all purposes, whether sheriff, lieutenant, custos rotulorum, justices, militia, coroner, or other". The effect
13932-417: The six hundreds, Ossulstone contained the districts closest to the City of London. During the 17th century it was divided into four divisions, which, along with the Liberty of Westminster , largely took over the administrative functions of the hundred. The divisions were named Finsbury , Holborn , Kensington and Tower . The county had parliamentary representation from the 13th century. Middlesex outside
14061-597: The status of municipal borough by 1965. The districts as at the 1961 census were: After 1889, the growth of London continued, and the county became almost entirely filled by suburbs of London, with a big rise in population density. This process was accelerated by the Metro-land developments, which covered a large part of the county. The expanding urbanisation had, however, been foretold in 1771 by Tobias Smollett in The Expedition of Humphry Clinker , in which it
14190-405: The surrounding area of Hullshire ) (1440). In 1551 Berwick upon Tweed , on the border with Scotland , was created a county corporate. The ancient counties have many anomalies, and many small exclaves , where a parcel of land was politically part of one county despite not being physically connected to the rest of the county. The Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844 was passed, the effect of which
14319-570: The thirteenth century and became a county in its own right, a county corporate . Middlesex also included Westminster , which was separate from the City of London. Westminster Abbey dominated the area of Westminster, until the Dissolution of the Monasteries greatly reduced its influence. A Court of Burgesses was established, in 1585, to fill the power vacuum left behind by the Abbey. Of
14448-575: The time of the Domesday Book , some parts of what later became Wales were included in English counties: Monmouth , for example, was included in Herefordshire . Additionally, the Domesday Book included, as part of Cheshire, areas that later became part of Wales, including the two hundreds of Atiscross and Exestan , and the southern part of Duddestan Hundred (as it was known as the time), which later became known as Maelor Saesneg (English Maelor), and (later still) " Flintshire Detached". Parts of
14577-637: The tram and bus networks, providing cheap transport to central London. After World War I , the availability of labour and proximity to London made areas such as Hayes and Park Royal ideal locations for the developing new industries . New jobs attracted more people to the county and the population continued to rise, reaching a peak in 1951. Middlesex became the location of facilities for the film industry. Twickenham Studios were established in 1913. There were also studios at Cricklewood Studios , Gainsborough Pictures , Isleworth Studios , Kew Bridge Studios and Southall Studios . Middlesex (abbreviated Middx)
14706-490: The word. These arms became associated with the two counties that approximated to the kingdom: Middlesex and Essex . County authorities, militia and volunteer regiments associated with both counties used the attributed arms. Historic counties of England The historic counties of England are areas that were established for administration by the Normans , in many cases based on earlier kingdoms and shires created by
14835-502: Was subsequently treated as part of Worcestershire , as the remainder already was. Exclaves that the 1844 Act did not touch included the part of Derbyshire around Donisthorpe , locally in Leicestershire ; a part of Huntingdonshire near Woodbury Park , separated by Cambridgeshire ; and most of the larger exclaves of Worcestershire, including the town of Dudley , which remained surrounded by Staffordshire . Additionally,
14964-448: Was a comte or count ; whilst in England the title count was not used for the person, the territory they controlled nevertheless became known as a 'county'. As the shires and counties were generally the same areas from the 12th century onwards, the terms shire and county came to be used interchangeably. The earls' role in administering their counties was gradually reduced as the shire court was eclipsed in importance by other courts, notably
15093-586: Was a successor to the Viking kingdom of York and the Brittonic kingdom of Elmet ; at the time of the Domesday Book in 1086 it was considered to include what was to become northern Lancashire , as well as parts of Cumberland , and Westmorland . Most of the later Cumberland and Westmorland were under Scottish rule until 1092. After the Norman Conquest in 1066 and the harrying of the North , much of
15222-541: Was actually part of Cheshire is however not clear. The Northeast land that later became County Durham and Northumberland , was left unrecorded. Cumberland, Westmorland, Lancashire, County Durham and Northumberland were established as counties in the 12th century. Lancashire can be firmly dated to 1182. Part of the domain of the Bishops of Durham , Hexhamshire was split off and was considered an independent county until 1572, when it became part of Northumberland. At
15351-653: Was also sub divided into three historic " parts ": Parts of Lindsey , Holland and Kesteven , and the Parts of Lindsey was itself divided into three ridings ( North Riding , South Riding and West Riding ). Other divisions include the special status of Tower Hamlets within Middlesex , those of Sussex into East Sussex and West Sussex and Suffolk into East Suffolk and West Suffolk , and, more informally and hence more vaguely, of Kent into East Kent and West Kent . Diocese of London It lies directly north of
15480-570: Was an anomalous territory or soke , associated with Nottinghamshire , but it eventually became considered the smallest county. Lincolnshire was the successor to the Kingdom of Lindsey , and took on the territories of Kesteven and Holland when Stamford became the only Danelaw borough to fail to become a county town. Much of Northumbria was also shired, the best known of these counties being Hallamshire and Cravenshire . The Normans did not use these divisions, and so they are not generally regarded as ancient counties. The huge county of Yorkshire
15609-520: Was developed to further enhance services during the 1930s. Partly because of its proximity to the capital, the county had a major role during the Second World War. The county was subject to aerial bombardment and contained military establishments, such as RAF Uxbridge and RAF Heston , which were involved in the Battle of Britain . Middlesex arguably never, and certainly not since 1789, had
15738-547: Was enacted by Parliament as the London Government Act 1963 , which came into force on 1 April 1965. The Act abolished the administrative counties of Middlesex and London. The Administration of Justice Act 1964 abolished the Middlesex magistracy and lieutenancy , and altered the jurisdiction of the Central Criminal Court. Eighteen of London County Council Metropolitan Boroughs were part of
15867-629: Was first divided into administrative areas by the Romans, most likely following major geographical features such as rivers. Before their arrival there were distinct tribal areas, but they were in a constant state of flux as territory was gained and lost. After the demise of Roman Britain around 410 these first divisions of land were generally abandoned, although traditional divisions taking the form of petty kingdoms such as Powys , Dumnonia and Elmet remained in those areas which remained British , such as south west England . The areas that would later form
15996-606: Was in and around Enfield and the second, larger area was to the west. This led the retention of 25 Post Towns to this day: † = postal county was not required The postal county had many border inconsistencies where its constituent post towns encroached on neighbouring counties, such as the villages of Denham in Buckinghamshire, Wraysbury in Berkshire and Eastbury in Hertfordshire which were respectively in
16125-619: Was its military autonomy: it had its own Lord-Lieutenant of the Tower Hamlets and was thus independent of the Lord Lieutenant of Middlesex . By the 19th century, the East End of London had expanded to the eastern boundary with Essex, and the Tower division , an area which approximated to the East End, had reached a population of over a million. When the railways were built, the north western suburbs of London steadily spread over large parts of
16254-485: Was mostly carried out at the parish level. With an increasingly mobile population, however, the system became outdated. Following the successful establishment of the Metropolitan Police in London, the County Police Act 1839 empowered justices of the peace to form county constabularies outside boroughs. The formation of county police forces was made compulsory by the County and Borough Police Act 1856 . In
16383-623: Was not adopted in 1965, since, according to the Post Office at the time, it would have been too expensive to do so, while it gave as its reason for not adopting Greater Manchester the ambiguity of the name with the Manchester post town . Perhaps as a result of this, the ancient counties appear not to have fallen completely out of use for locating places in Greater Manchester, along with areas of Greater London that are not part of
16512-557: Was that new county boroughs which were counties corporate retained their status as separate counties. In retrospect, these "statutory" counties can be identified as the predecessors of the ceremonial counties of England. The censuses of 1891, 1901 and 1911 provided figures for the "ancient counties". Several towns are historically divided between counties, including Banbury , Burton upon Trent , Newmarket , Peterborough , Royal Tunbridge Wells , Royston , Stamford, Tamworth , Todmorden , Warrington and Wisbech . In Newmarket and Tamworth
16641-560: Was to treat many of these exclaves as part of the county which surrounded them. This had already been done for Parliamentary purposes under the Great Reform Act 1832. Large exclaves affected by the 1844 Act included the County Durham exclaves of Islandshire , Bedlingtonshire and Norhamshire , which were subsequently treated as hundreds of Northumberland ; and those parts of Halesowen forming part of Shropshire, which
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