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Ed,

I'm sorry to report that using ceremonial counties, in addition to
administrative counties, is only likely to confuse matters by creating a
parallel set of divisions. But if you wish to go down that line:
Chris
-Derbyshire should be listed as including Derby.
-Nottinghamshire should be listed as including Nottingham.
-What about the former Mets you have not listed (eg Avon)?
I said it was confusing

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Lee, Edmund [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: 17 April 2002 17:52
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      [FISH] Ceremonial counties for England
>
> 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