Hello all,
One for the standards specialists this (apologies for boring the socks off
the rest of you...!). I'd welcome comments on thoughts on the list of
ceremonial counties set out below. What follows gives some background.
1) the issue.
Work in hand at the English National Monuments Record suggests the need for
a fairly thorough review of the list of admininistrative areas that we use
for indexing and retrieval of records. Issues that will need to be taken
into account include:-
- integration of our standard with O.S. standards such as BoundaryLine,
- integration of standards used on our own records (e.g. the Listed
Buildings Records, NMR Monuments records etc - there are a small number of
discrepancies dating back to RCHME / EH merger),
- method for provision of the standard to SMRs and other local and national
thematic groups etc
One issue though that needs immediate attention, however, are 'Ceremonial
Counties'. These are emerging as the favourite way to deal with the
complexities left over from local government reorganisation, which did away
with some of the more recent creations such as Avon, but also split up
historic areas such as Berkshire. What is needed is an agreed list of useful
area names covering the whole of England for indexing records that is larger
and more familiar to users than District / Unitary authority names.
2) the proposal. Ceremonial counties
Ceremonial counties are those areas represented by a 'Lord Lieutenant' - a
deputy of the Queen. The Lord Lieutenants Act 1997
http://www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1997/97023--b.htm includes a schedule
defining these areas, but the list is not entirely unambiguous, e.g. over
the status of the Isle of Wight. Other sources of information provide more
detail (though conflicting in some points) e.g.
http://www.gwydir.demon.co.uk/uklocalgov/whtsacty.htm (including a map)and
the splendidly named Association of British Counties
http://www.abcounties.co.uk/index.htm . There seems to be agreement in these
sources though that Lieutenancy Counties = Ceremonial counties = the best
current way to index areas at a level that people are familiar with.
To take this forward I am proposing the following list, based on these
sources (notes in brackets). I'd welcome comments and reaction from
potential users.
For those who want more detail I am preparing an Access database which maps
these terms to terms currently in use in the NMR (and promoted through the
INSCRIPTION standard).
Its all a lot simpler in Scotland and Wales!
Edmund Lee
English Heritage
CEREMONIAL COUNTY LIST
BEDFORDSHIRE (inc Luton)
BERKSHIRE
BRISTOL
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE (inc Milton Keynes)
CAMBRIDGESHIRE
CHESHIRE
CITY OF LONDON
CORNWALL (inc the Isles of Scilly)
CUMBRIA
DERBYSHIRE
DEVON
DORSET
DURHAM (includes bits of Stockton North of the Tees etc)
EAST SUSSEX (inc Brighton and Hove)
ESSEX
GLOUCESTERSHIRE (includes South Gloucestershire - formerly part of Avon)
GREATER LONDON (excluding the City of London)
GREATER MANCHESTER
HAMPSHIRE (inc. Portsmouth & Southampton)
HEREFORDSHIRE
HERTFORDSHIRE
ISLE OF WIGHT
KENT
LANCASHIRE
LEICESTERSHIRE (includes Leicester)
LINCOLNSHIRE
MERSEYSIDE
NORFOLK
NORTH YORKSHIRE (inc. York bits of Stockton south of the Tees etc)
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
NORTHUMBERLAND
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
OXFORDSHIRE
RUTLAND
SHROPSHIRE
SOMERSET (including bits of what was Avon)
SOUTH YORKSHIRE
STAFFORDSHIRE (inc Stoke on Trent)
SUFFOLK
SURREY
THE EAST RIDING OF YORKSHIRE
TYNE AND WEAR
WARWICKSHIRE
WEST MIDLANDS
WEST SUSSEX
WEST YORKSHIRE
WILTSHIRE (includes Swindon)
WORCESTERSHIRE
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