Counties of GB

Counties of Great Britain

Here is a list of the historic counties listed roughly south to north in groups of each country of Great Britain with some overlaps as some existed at different times:

  • Cornwall
  • Devon
  • Somerset
  • Dorset
  • Wiltshire
  • Hampshire
  • Sussex
  • Surrey
  • Kent
  • Essex
  • Middlesex
  • Hertfordshire
  • Buckinghamshire
  • Oxfordshire
  • Berkshire
  • Gloucestershire
  • Worcestershire
  • Herefordshire
  • Shropshire
  • Staffordshire
  • Warwickshire
  • Leicestershire
  • Rutland
  • Northamptonshire
  • Bedfordshire
  • Cambridgeshire
  • Huntingdonshire
  • Norfolk
  • Suffolk
  • Essex (formerly part of the historic county of Suffolk)
  • Lincolnshire
  • Nottinghamshire
  • Derbyshire
  • Cheshire
  • Lancashire
  • Westmorland (merged with Cumberland and part of North Lancashire to form Cumbria in 1974)
  • Cumberland
  • Northumberland
  • County Durham
  • Monmouthshire
  • Glamorgan
  • Carmarthenshire
  • Pembrokeshire
  • Cardiganshire
  • Montgomeryshire
  • Merionethshire
  • Caernarfonshire
  • Denbighshire
  • Flintshire
  • Anglesey
  • Brecknockshire
  • Radnorshire
  • Dumfriesshire
  • Kirkcudbrightshire
  • Wigtownshire
  • Ayrshire
  • Renfrewshire
  • Lanarkshire
  • Peeblesshire
  • Selkirkshire
  • Roxburghshire
  • Berwickshire
  • East Lothian (Haddingtonshire)
  • Midlothian (Edinburghshire)
  • West Lothian (Linlithgowshire)
  • Fife
  • Stirlingshire
  • Perthshire
  • Angus (Forfarshire)
  • Kincardineshire
  • Aberdeenshire
  • Banffshire
  • Morayshire
  • Nairnshire
  • Ross and Cromarty
  • Inverness-shire
  • Argyllshire
  • Dunbartonshire
  • Stirlingshire
  • Clackmannanshire
  • Kinross-shire
  • Wigtownshire

I would ask companies to ensure their IT systems and publicity only use historic county names to describe the areas fully covered by landmark counties, not modern administrative areas or their different geographical and organisational sectors, which should be given other words to avoid confusion.

Find out more about these via the: Association of British Counties with links to specific counties on my previous similar blog post

Also, see the British Counties Campaign

Here is another list of counties as csv:

Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Hampshire, Sussex, Surrey, Kent, Essex, Middlesex, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Cheshire, Lancashire, Westmorland, Cumberland, Northumberland, County Durham, Anglesey, Caernarfonshire, Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Glamorgan, Merionethshire, Monmouthshire, Montgomeryshire, Pembrokeshire, Radnorshire, Fife, Clackmannanshire, Kinross-shire, Perthshire, Angus (Forfarshire), Kincardineshire, Aberdeenshire, Banffshire, Morayshire, Nairnshire, Ross and Cromarty, Inverness-shire, Argyllshire, Dunbartonshire (Dumbartonshire), Stirlingshire (including Falkirk), West Lothian (Linlithgowshire), Midlothian (Edinburghshire), East Lothian (Haddingtonshire), Berwickshire, Roxburghshire, Selkirkshire, Peeblesshire, Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, Ayrshire, Dumfriesshire, Kirkcudbrightshire, Wigtownshire

and then separated by | as required by some scripts for drops downs in address input:

Cornwall | Devon | Somerset | Dorset | Wiltshire | Hampshire | Sussex | Surrey | Kent | Essex | Middlesex | Hertfordshire | Buckinghamshire | Oxfordshire | Berkshire | Gloucestershire | Worcestershire | Herefordshire | Shropshire | Staffordshire | Warwickshire | Leicestershire | Rutland | Northamptonshire | Bedfordshire | Cambridgeshire | Huntingdonshire | Norfolk | Suffolk | Lincolnshire | Nottinghamshire | Derbyshire | Cheshire | Lancashire | Westmorland | Cumberland | Northumberland | County Durham | Anglesey | Caernarfonshire | Cardiganshire | Carmarthenshire | Denbighshire | Flintshire | Glamorgan | Merionethshire | Monmouthshire | Montgomeryshire | Pembrokeshire | Radnorshire | Fife | Clackmannanshire | Kinross-shire | Perthshire | Angus (Forfarshire) | Kincardineshire | Aberdeenshire | Banffshire | Morayshire | Nairnshire | Ross and Cromarty | Inverness-shire | Argyllshire | Dunbartonshire (Dumbartonshire) | Stirlingshire (including Falkirk) | West Lothian (Linlithgowshire) | Midlothian (Edinburghshire) | East Lothian (Haddingtonshire) | Berwickshire | Roxburghshire | Selkirkshire | Peeblesshire | Lanarkshire | Renfrewshire | Ayrshire | Dumfriesshire | Kirkcudbrightshire | Wigtownshire