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 the Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Celts and others. They are alternatively known as ancient counties, [2][3] traditional counties, [4] former counties[5][6] or simply as counties. [7] .

The historic counties of England were mostly formed as shires or divisions of the earlier kingdoms, which gradually united by the 10th century to become England. The counties were initially used primarily for the administration of justice, overseen by a sheriff.

Shire (/ ʃaɪər /) is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries. It is generally synonymous with county (such as Cheshire and Worcestershire). British counties are among the oldest extant national divisions in the world.

The United Kingdom has 92 counties or shires. The British counties are the oldest extant national divisions in the world. Where a distinction has to be made with statutory "counties" so called for administrative purposes, the counties are variously known as historic counties, traditional counties or ancient or geographical counties [1].

2024年4月18日 · The term “shire” is a traditional designation for an administrative division of land in Great Britain, as well as in other English-speaking nations such as Australia and the United …

Shire, in Great Britain, a county. The Anglo-Saxon shire (Old English scir) was an administrative division next above the hundred and seems to have existed in the south in the time of Alfred the Great (871–899) and to have been fully established by the reign of Edgar (959–975).

Many English counties now feature the suffix –shire, which derives from the old English scir. A shire refers to a division of land governed by a government official who became known as a ‘shire reeve’ or ‘sheriff’. Shires were often based around a prominent town or city.

Shires were administrative areas created across England by the Anglo-Saxons, a group of people who arrived during the 5 th century CE. After the Norman invasion in 1066, the word ‘county’ was used instead (from the French word ‘conte’, meaning ‘land ruled by a count’).

England's counties largely predate the Norman Conquest of 1066, making their longevity and survival into modern times all the more remarkable. Over the centuries, they have become an integral part of our history, heritage, geography and culture.

2024年11月11日 · Take a trip through English history, from the 5th to the 11th centuries from the end of Roman Britain until the Norman conquest in 1066. The “English shires” is such a richly evocative term, summoning pastoral idyll, merry old England, solid values, and tradition.