Rediscover the places that have shaped Britain and Ireland for centuries. By the Historic Counties Institute.
Britain & Ireland
Joined January 2020
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Real Counties retweeted
Did Michael Heseltine “rip up” England’s historic counties in 1974? What The @Telegraph got wrong 👇
Real Counties retweeted
NEW FEATURES on our interactive map!
As well as browsing the counties, you can search, compare councils & lieutenancies, view census data & even switch on the original 19th-century @OrdnanceSurvey First Edition mapping!
Find it at RealCounties.com View article
Real Counties retweeted
Think only Yorkshire has Ridings? 🤔
Think again!
Lincolnshire has them too.
Lindsey - one of Lincolnshire’s three 'Parts', alongside Kesteven and Holland - is itself divided into the North, South and West Ridings.
Detailed interactive version at RealCounties.com
ALT Map of the 'parts' of Lincolnshire and ridings of Lindsey - from RealCounties.com
Real Counties retweeted
Around the turn of the 11th century, Derbyshire emerged as a shire.
By about 1048, it was already recorded as Derbyscir - centuries before the landscapes that later made the county famous were transformed by industry.
From the high moors and limestone dales of the Peak, down the Derwent valley to Derby and the Trent lowlands, these contrasting landscapes form one enduring county:
Derbyshire - the County of Derby.
ALT Map of Derbyshire, the County of Derby - from RealCounties.com
Real Counties retweeted
Lancashire’s six hundreds - Lonsdale, Amounderness, Blackburn, Leyland, Salford and West Derby - preserve a territorial geography with roots older than Lancashire itself.
When Domesday Book was compiled in 1086, Lancashire had not yet emerged as a county, but several of these divisions already existed, while Amounderness and Lonsdale were established territorial names in the north.
As Lancashire took shape in the 12th century, these older divisions were consolidated into its familiar six hundreds.
A fascinating reminder that the county was built from an even older landscape of local territories.
ALT Map of the Lancashire Hundreds - from RealCounties.com
Real Counties retweeted
Not one landscape but a powerful sequence: Mersey estuary, industrial towns, Pennine valleys, Ribble & Fylde, Lancaster plain, tidal bay, mountain country.
Morecambe Bay is not a gap in that geography: its sands are the living connection between the main body of Lancs & Furness.
ALT Map of geographic Lancashire / the County of Lancaster - courtesy of RealCounties.com
Real Counties retweeted
Long before Argyllshire took county form around 1293, this was a heartland of Dál Riata and the western Gaelic world.
From Kintyre and Cowal to Lorn, Ardnamurchan and the Inner Hebrides, sea lochs and islands formed not a barrier but a connected maritime landscape - the “coast of the Gael”:
Argyllshire - Earra-Ghàidheal.
ALT Map of Argyllshire / County of Argyll - from RealCounties.com
Real Counties retweeted
You’ve probably been told:
“Yorkshire used to have three ridings but hasn't anymore.”
It sounds true.
But it isn’t.
Yorkshire's ridings haven’t changed, only administration has.
So why are we pretending otherwise?
ALT Map of Yorkshire showing the three ridings and eight cities - from RealCounties.com
Real Counties retweeted
Think England’s counties were created by the Normans after 1066?
Think again.
Most of England’s historic counties were already centuries old by the time William the Conqueror arrived - with origins in ancient kingdoms, shires and territories dating back to the Anglo-Saxon period and earlier.
Yorkshire. Kent. Sussex. Essex. Norfolk. Somerset. Devon.
These are not modern administrative inventions - they are part of England’s historic geography and identity, enduring for hundreds (and often well over a thousand) years.
The Normans conquered England.
They did not invent England’s counties.
ALT Map of the historic counties of England - from RealCounties.com
Real Counties retweeted
Our interactive map is now faster, smarter and easier to use.
Place searches that could take 30+ seconds now usually return in under a second, with improved matching, instant map movement and clearer historic county, council and lieutenancy information.
Find it at RealCounties.com
ALT Faster Search - Better Map. Interactive map of counties now faster than ever. Find it at RealCounties.com
Real Counties retweeted
You’ve probably been told:
“Peterborough used to be in Northamptonshire but isn't anymore.”
It sounds true.
But it isn’t.
Northamptonshire hasn’t changed, only administration has.
So why are we pretending otherwise?
ALT Map of Northamptonshire, the County of Northampton - from RealCounties.com
Real Counties retweeted
The counties were never abolished. So why does everyone think they were?
The Government has repeatedly stated that the traditional counties were not altered by local government reorganisation.
Yet maps, signs and everyday language have encouraged generations to believe precisely the opposite...
Real Counties retweeted
Our first census statistics by geographic county are now LIVE on the RealCounties interactive map! 📊🗺️
Explore official census data across Britain’s historic counties - with much more to come.
Simply select 'Show Statistics' to begin.
Find the map via RealCounties.com
Real Counties retweeted
Our first Census by Geographic County graphic is here! 📊
Using official @ONS 2021 Census data for England and Wales, we’ve calculated and ranked population by the enduring geographic counties - rather than council or lieutenancy areas.
This is the first of many graphics bringing official statistics back to a stable county geography.
Explore the data on our interactive map - find it at RealCounties.com
ALT Map showing population by geographic county, figures from census 2021 - from RealCounties.com
Real Counties retweeted
To be fair, both Arsenal and Tottenham (and Chelsea, Fulham, Brentford, & QPR) play in Middlesex. No borders have moved. Don’t confuse real ancient counties with more recent administrative councils…
Real Counties retweeted
You’ve probably been told:
“County boundaries have always changed.”
But is that really true?
The 1831 Census said county limits had “undergone no alteration” since Domesday - and had been “jealously maintained.”
Today, the @ONS still recognises those same historic counties.
Administration has changed.
The counties endured.
Follow @RealCounties for more county myths and facts.
ALT Graphic showing the quotes from 1831 and 2024 - from RealCounties.com
Real Counties retweeted
You've probably been told:
"Battersea used to be in Surrey, but isn't anymore."
But is that really true?
The county hasn't changed - only administration has.
Follow @RealCounties for more county myths and facts.
ALT Map of the County of Surrey - from RealCounties.com
Real Counties retweeted
📊 Coming soon to RealCounties.com
We’re bringing official @ONS and Census data to our interactive map - making it possible to explore key statistics by geographic county.
We’ll also be producing clear, shareable graphics showing how the counties compare across population, demographics and other important measures.
Stable county geography. Official data. A whole new way to explore Britain.
🌐 RealCounties.com
ALT Infographic explaining that ONS data will be introduced to the RealCounties map and resources soon - from RealCounties.com
Real Counties retweeted
The scale is different, but the principle is universal: a people’s inheritance survives only while it is remembered, understood and respected.
Across Britain and Ireland, the historic counties - our oldest surviving territorial framework - are dismissed by some as obsolete, and obscured beneath temporary administrative boundaries.
Erase the geography, and we begin to sever people from the memory carried within it.
Real Counties retweeted
The Minton tiles at @SGHLpool have been hidden under a wooden floor for their preservation since 1860.
Until September, visitors can view the Hall’s extraordinary Minton floor, a vast mosaic made up of around 30,000 handcrafted tiles.
Liverpool: one of Lancashire's 5 cities. 🌹
