Editing County town (section)

==Great Britain, post 19th-century reforms==
With the creation of elected [[county council]]s in 1889, the administrative headquarters in some cases moved away from the traditional county town. Furthermore, in 1965 and 1974 there were major boundary changes in [[England and Wales]] and [[administrative county|administrative counties]] were replaced with new [[metropolitan county|metropolitan]] and [[non-metropolitan county|non-metropolitan counties]].  The boundaries underwent further alterations between 1995 and 1998 to create [[Unitary Authority|unitary authorities]], and some of the ancient counties and county towns were restored.  (Note: not all headquarters are or were called County Halls or Shire Halls e.g.: Cumbria County Council's HQ up until 2016 was called ''The Courts'' and has since moved to Cumbria House.) Before 1974, many of the county halls were in towns and cities that had the status of a [[county borough]] i.e. a borough outside the county council's jurisdiction.

===England, from 1889===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! County council !! Date !! Headquarters
|-
| [[Bedfordshire]]
| 1889 to 2009
| [[Bedford]]
|-
| [[Berkshire]]
| 1889 to 1998
| [[Reading, Berkshire|Reading]] (county borough until 1974)
|-
| [[Buckinghamshire]]
| 1889 onwards
| [[Aylesbury]]
|-
| [[Cambridgeshire]]
| 1889 to 1965 and<br>1974 onwards
| [[Cambridge]] (until 2021)<br>[[Alconbury Weald]] (after 2021)
|-
| [[Cheshire]]
| 1889 to 2009
| [[Chester]]
|-
| [[Cornwall]]
| 1889 onwards
| [[Truro]]
|-
| [[Cumberland]]
| 1889 to 1974
| [[County Borough of Carlisle|Carlisle]] (county borough from 1914)
|-
| [[Derbyshire]]
| 1889 onwards
| [[Matlock, Derbyshire|Matlock]] (moved from Derby, county borough 1958)<ref>''Removal of County Headquarters'', The Times, 28 January 1958</ref>
|-
| [[Devon]]
| 1889 onwards
| [[Exeter]] (county borough until 1974). In 1963 the ''Devon County Buildings Area'' was transferred from the county borough of Exeter to the administrative county of Devon, of which it formed an [[exclave]] until 1974.<ref>Frederic A. Youngs, ''Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England'', Vol.1: Southern England, London, 1979, p.83</ref>
|-
| [[Dorset]]
| 1889 onwards
| [[Dorchester, Dorset|Dorchester]]
|-
| [[County Durham|Durham]]
| 1889 onwards
| [[Durham, England|Durham]]
|-
| [[Essex]]
| 1889 onwards
| [[Chelmsford]]
|-
| [[Gloucestershire]]
| 1889 onwards
| [[Gloucester]] (county borough until 1974)
|-
| [[Hampshire]]
| 1889 onwards
| [[Winchester]]
|-
| [[Herefordshire]]
| 1889 to 1974 and<br>1998 onwards
| [[Hereford]]
|-
| [[Hertfordshire]]
| 1889 onwards
| [[Hertford]]
|-
| [[Huntingdonshire]]
| 1889 to 1965
| [[Huntingdon]]
|-
| [[Isle of Ely]]
| 1889 to 1965
| [[March, Cambridgeshire|March]]
|-
| [[Isle of Wight]]
| 1890 onwards
| [[Newport, Isle of Wight|Newport]]
|-
| [[Kent]]
| 1889 onwards
| [[Maidstone]]
|-
| [[Lancashire]]
| 1889 onwards
| [[Preston, Lancashire|Preston]] (county borough until 1974)
|-
| [[Leicestershire]]
| 1889 onwards
| [[Leicester]]
|-
| [[Parts of Lindsey|Lincolnshire, Parts of Lindsey]]
| 1889 to 1974
| [[Lincoln, Lincolnshire|Lincoln]] (county borough)
|-
| [[Holland, Lincolnshire|Lincolnshire, Parts of Holland]]
| 1889 to 1974
| [[Boston, Lincolnshire|Boston]]
|-
| [[Kesteven|Lincolnshire, Parts of Kesteven]]
| 1889 to 1974
| [[Sleaford]]
|-
| [[County of London|London]]
| 1889 to 1965
| Spring Gardens, [[Westminster]] until 1922, [[County Hall, London|County Hall]] at [[Lambeth]] thereafter
|-
| [[Middlesex]]
| 1889 to 1965
| [[Middlesex Guildhall]] at Westminster in [[County of London]]
|-
| [[Norfolk]]
| 1889 onwards
| [[Norwich]] (county borough until 1974)
|-
| [[Northamptonshire]]
| 1889 onwards
| [[Northampton]] (county borough until 1974)
|-
| [[Northumberland]]
| 1889 onwards
| [[County Hall, Newcastle upon Tyne|County Hall Newcastle upon Tyne]] 1889 – 1981<ref>Northumberland County Hall was situated within an exclave of Northumberland (''Moot Hall Precincts'') within the county borough of Newcastle 1889 – 1974; the area became part of the county of Tyne and Wear in 1974 and was thus extraterritorial</ref><br>[[County Hall, Morpeth|County Hall Morpeth]] since 1981<ref>County Hall moved to Morpeth on 21 April 1981 (see notice in ''London Gazette'' issue 48579, dated 10 April 1981)</ref>
|-
| [[Nottinghamshire]]
| 1889 onwards
| [[West Bridgford]] (moved from county borough of [[Nottingham]] in 1959)
|-
| [[Oxfordshire]]
| 1889 onwards
| [[Oxford]] (county borough until 1974)
|-
| [[Soke of Peterborough]]
| 1889 to 1965
| [[Peterborough]]
|-
| [[Rutland]]
| 1889 to 1974 and<br>1997 onwards
| [[Oakham]]
|-
| [[Shropshire]]
| 1889 onwards
| [[Shrewsbury]]
|-
| [[Somerset]]
| 1889 onwards
| [[Taunton]]
|-
| [[Staffordshire]]
| 1889 onwards
| [[Stafford]]
|-
| [[East Suffolk (county)|East Suffolk]]
| 1889 to 1974
| [[Ipswich]] (county borough)
|-
| [[West Suffolk (county)|West Suffolk]]
| 1889 to 1974
| [[Bury St Edmunds]]
|-
| [[Surrey]]
| 1889 onwards
| [[Inner London Sessions House]], [[Newington, London|Newington]] (until 1893)<br>[[County Hall (Surrey)|County Hall]], [[Kingston upon Thames]] (1893{{ndash}}2020)<br>[[Woodhatch Place, Reigate]] (2021 onwards)<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/127-year-chapter-history-comes-19511671|title=127 year chapter of history comes to an end as Surrey County Council moves home|date=23 December 2020|newspaper=Get Surrey|access-date=3 May 2021|archive-date=3 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503072817/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/127-year-chapter-history-comes-19511671|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| [[East Sussex]]
| 1889 onwards
| [[Lewes]]
|-
| [[West Sussex]]
| 1889 onwards
| [[Chichester]] (originally jointly with [[Horsham]])<ref name="VCHSussex"/>
|-
| [[Warwickshire]]
| 1889 onwards
| [[Warwick]]
|-
| [[Westmorland]]
| 1889 to 1974
| [[Kendal]]
|-
| [[Wiltshire]]
| 1889 onwards
| [[Trowbridge]]
|-
| [[Worcestershire]]
| 1889 to 1974 and<br>1998 onwards
| [[Worcester, England|Worcester]] (county borough until 1974)
|-
| [[East Riding of Yorkshire|Yorkshire, East Riding]]
| 1889 to 1974 and<br>1996 onwards
| [[Beverley]] (later HQ of Humberside)
|-
| [[North Riding of Yorkshire|Yorkshire, North Riding]]
| 1889 to 1974
| [[Northallerton]]
|-
| [[West Riding of Yorkshire|Yorkshire, West Riding]]
| 1889 to 1974
| [[Wakefield]] (county borough from 1915)
|}

===England, from 1965===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! County council !! Date !! Headquarters
|-
| [[Avon (county)|Avon]]
| 1974&nbsp;to&nbsp;1996
| [[Bristol]]
|-
| [[City of Bristol|Bristol]]
| 1996&nbsp;onwards
| [[Bristol]]
|-
| [[Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely]]
| 1965 to 1974
| [[Cambridge]]
|-
| [[Cleveland (county)|Cleveland]]
| 1974 to 1996
| [[Middlesbrough]]
|-
| [[Cumbria]]
| 1974 to 2023
| [[Carlisle]]
|-
| [[Greater London]]
| 1965 to 1986 and<br>2002 onwards
| [[County Hall, London|County Hall]], [[Lambeth]] ''([[Greater London Council]])'' (1965{{ndash}}1986)<br>[[City Hall, Southwark|City Hall]], [[Southwark]] ''([[Greater London Authority]])'' (2002{{ndash}}2021)<br>[[City Hall, London (Newham)|City Hall, Newham]] ''([[Greater London Authority]])'' (2021 onwards)
|-
| [[Greater Manchester]]
| 1974 to 1986
| [[Manchester]]
|-
| [[Hereford and Worcester]]
| 1974 to 1998
| [[Worcester, England|Worcester]]
|-
| [[Humberside]]
| 1974 to 1996
| [[Beverley]]
|-
| [[Huntingdon and Peterborough]]
| 1965 to 1974
| [[Huntingdon]]
|-
| [[Lincolnshire]]
| 1974 onwards
| [[Lincoln, Lincolnshire|Lincoln]]
|-
| [[Merseyside]]
| 1974 to 1986
| [[Liverpool]]
|-
| [[Suffolk]]
| 1974 onwards
| [[Ipswich]]
|-
| [[Tyne and Wear]]
| 1974 to 1986
| [[Newcastle upon Tyne]]
|-
| [[West Midlands (county)|West Midlands]]
| 1974 to 1986
| [[Birmingham]]
|-
| [[North Yorkshire]]
| 1974 onwards
| [[Northallerton]]
|-
| [[South Yorkshire]]
| 1974 to 1986
| [[Barnsley]]
|-
| [[West Yorkshire]]
| 1974 to 1986
| [[Wakefield]]
|}

===Wales===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! County council !! Date !! Headquarters
|-
|  [[Isle of Anglesey|Anglesey]]||1889 to 1974||[[Beaumaris]]<sup>1</sup>
|-
|  [[Brecknockshire]]||1889 to 1974||[[Brecon]]
|-
|  [[Caernarfonshire|Caernarvonshire]]||1889 to 1974||[[Caernarfon]]
|-
|  [[Carmarthenshire]]||1889 to 1974<br />1996 onwards||[[Carmarthen]]
|-
|  [[Ceredigion|Cardiganshire]]||1889 to 1974||[[Aberystwyth]]<sup>2</sup>
|-
|  [[Ceredigion]]||1996 onwards||[[Aberaeron]]
|-
|  [[Clwyd]]||1974 to 1996||[[Mold, Wales|Mold]]
|-
|  [[Denbighshire (historic)|Denbighshire]]||1889 to 1974||[[Denbigh]]
|-
|  [[Dyfed]]||1974 to 1996||[[Carmarthen]]
|-
|  [[Flintshire (historic)|Flintshire]]||1889 to 1974||[[Mold, Wales|Mold]]
|-
|  [[Glamorgan]]||1889 to 1974||[[Cardiff]] (county borough)
|-
|  [[Gwent (county)|Gwent]]||1974 to 1996||[[Newport, Wales|Newport]] (1974–78), [[Cwmbran]] (1978–96)
|-
|  [[Gwynedd]]||1974 onwards||[[Caernarfon]]
|-
|  [[Mid Glamorgan]]||1974 to 1996||[[Cardiff]] (extraterritorial)
|-
|  [[Merionethshire]]||1889 to 1974||[[Dolgellau]]
|-
|  [[Montgomeryshire]]||1889 to 1974||[[Welshpool]]
|-
|  [[Monmouthshire (historic)|Monmouthshire]]||1889 to 1974||[[Newport, Wales|Newport]] (county borough from 1891)
|-
|  [[Radnorshire]]||1889 to 1974||[[Presteigne]]<sup>3</sup>
|-
|  [[Pembrokeshire]]||1889 to 1974<br />1996 onwards||[[Haverfordwest]]
|-
|  [[Powys]]||1974 onwards||[[Llandrindod Wells]]
|-
|  [[South Glamorgan]]||1974 to 1996||[[Cardiff]]
|-
|  [[West Glamorgan]]||1974 to 1996||[[Swansea]]
|-
|  [[Isle of Anglesey]]||1996 onwards||[[Llangefni]]
|}
# Due to its better transport links and more central location, some administrative functions were moved to [[Llangefni]].
# [[Cardigan, Ceredigion|Cardigan]] was often still referred to as 'the county town' due to the name link. However, assizes were held at [[Lampeter]] while Aberystwyth housed the administration of the county council. Aberystwyth was therefore the de facto county town.
# Due to its better transport links and more central location, some administrative functions were moved to [[Llandrindod Wells]].