Editing County town

{{Short description|County's administrative centre in Ireland and Great Britain}}
{{More citations needed|date=April 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
In [[Great Britain]] and [[Ireland]], a '''county town''' is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a [[county]], and the place where public representatives are elected to [[parliament]]. Following the establishment of [[county council]]s in England in 1889, the headquarters of the new councils were usually established in the county town of each county; however, the concept of a county town pre-dates these councils.

The concept of a county town is ill-defined and unofficial. Some counties in Great Britain have their administrative bodies housed elsewhere. For example, [[Lancaster, Lancashire|Lancaster]] is the county town of [[Lancashire]], but the county council is in [[Preston, Lancashire|Preston]]. Owing to the creation of [[Unitary authorities of England|unitary authorities]], some county towns in Great Britain are administratively separate from the county. For example, [[Nottingham]] is separated from the rest of [[Nottinghamshire]], and [[Brighton and Hove]] is separate from [[East Sussex]]. On a ceremonial level, both are in their own respective counties geographically.

==Great Britain, historic==
===England===
This list shows towns or cities which held county functions at various points in time.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!width="170px"|County||Named after or of same root
! Places that held county functions<!--Assize, ecclesiastical, gaol, county corporates and so on-->
|-
| {{flag|Bedfordshire}}
|colspan=2| [[Bedford]]
|-
| {{flag|Berkshire}} ||N/A||[[Reading, Berkshire|Reading]] or [[Abingdon-on-Thames|Abingdon]]{{efn|Lent assizes were held at Reading, where the county gaol and house of correction were situated; summer assizes were held at Abingdon, which was the site of the county [[Bridewell Palace|bridewell]].<ref name="lewis1"/> Knights of the shire were nominated at Reading and elected at Abingdon.<ref name="lewis1">{{cite book |first=Samuel |last=Lewis |title=A Topographical Dictionary of England |volume=I |edition=1st |date=1831 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CMc_AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA130 |page=130 |chapter=Berkshire }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Berkshire Quarter Sessions |newspaper=Jackson's Oxford Journal |date=4 July 1868 }}</ref>}}
|-
| {{flag|Buckinghamshire}} ||[[Buckingham]]|| [[Aylesbury]]{{efn|Sir John Baldwin, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, caused the county assizes to be moved to Aylesbury. Knights of the shire continued to be elected at Buckingham. The 1911 ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' considered Buckingham to be the county town.}}
|-
| {{flag|Cambridgeshire}} 
|[[Cambridge]]||[[Ely, Cambridgeshire|Ely]]
|-
| {{flag|Cheshire}}
|colspan=2|[[Chester]]
|-
| {{flag|Cornwall}} ||N/A|| [[Truro]], [[Bodmin]] or [[Launceston, Cornwall|Launceston]]{{efn|The county [[assize court]] sat at Bodmin, and the 1911 ''Britannica'' considered Bodmin to be the county town. Prior to 1835, it was [[Launceston, Cornwall|Launceston]].}}
|-
| {{flag|Cumberland}}||[[Carlisle]] (county later renamed)||[[Cockermouth]] or [[Penrith, Cumbria|Penrith]]{{efn|[[Knight of the shire|Knights of the shire]] were elected at Cockermouth; the assizes and quarter sessions courts were occasionally held at Penrith.}}
|-
| {{flag|Derbyshire}}
|colspan=2| [[Derby]] <!-- Please do not add Matlock here: it is detailed below under "1889 and after" -->
|-
| {{flag|Devon}} ||N/A||[[Exeter]]
|-
| {{flag|Dorset}}
|[[Dorchester, Dorset|Dorchester]]||[[Poole]]
|-
| {{flag|County Durham}} 
|[[Durham, England|Durham]]||[[Bishop Auckland]] or [[Sadberge]]
|-
| {{flag|Essex}} ||N/A||[[Chelmsford]]
|-
| {{flag|Gloucestershire}} 
|[[Gloucester]]||[[Bristol]]
|-
| {{flag|Hampshire}} || [[Southampton]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www3.hants.gov.uk/index/your-area/localpages/names.htm |title=Hampshire Placenames and their Meanings |website=Hampshire County Council |date=17 February 2009 |access-date=31 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130815152904/http://www3.hants.gov.uk/index/your-area/localpages/names.htm |archive-date=15 August 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>||[[Winchester]]
|-
| {{flag|Herefordshire}}
|colspan=2| [[Hereford]]
|-
| {{flag|Hertfordshire}} 
|colspan=2| [[Hertford]]
|-
| {{flag|Huntingdonshire}} 
|colspan=2| [[Huntingdon]]
|-
| {{flag|Kent}} || [[Canterbury]] (name of same origin) ||[[Maidstone]]{{efn|[[East Kent]] and [[West Kent]] had separate administrations until 1814, with East Kent sessions meeting at [[Canterbury]], and West Kent at Maidstone, the over-all county town.}}
|-
| {{flag|Lancashire}} || [[Lancaster, Lancashire|Lancaster]]||[[Preston, Lancashire|Preston]]{{efn|In 1787 the Lancashire Quarter Sessions decreed that in future the annual general sessions for transacting all business for the county at large should be held at Preston as it was "a central place in the county." The magistrates of [[Lonsdale (hundred)|Lonsdale Hundred]] refused to accept the decision and would meet only at Lancaster. The matter was settled only when a local act of parliament (38 Geo. 3. c. 58) established that the principal administrative business of the county could be transacted only at Preston.<ref>{{cite book |title=English Local Government from the Revolution to the Municipal Corporations Act: The Parish and the County |url=https://archive.org/details/englishlocalgove02webbuoft |last=Webb |first=Sidney |author-link=Sidney Webb |author2=Beatrice Webb |year=1906 |publisher=[[Longman|Longmans Green and Co.]] |location=London |pages=[https://archive.org/details/englishlocalgove02webbuoft/page/432 432]–433 }}</ref>}}
|-
| {{flag|Leicestershire}}
|colspan=2| [[Leicester]]
|-
| {{flag|Lincolnshire}} 
|colspan=2|[[Lincoln, England|Lincoln]]{{efn|[[Parts of Lindsey|Lindsey]], [[Kesteven]] and [[Parts of Holland|Holland]] had separate administrations until 1974, with Holland sessions meeting at [[Boston, Lincolnshire|Boston]], Kesteven at [[Sleaford]], and Lindsey at Lincoln, the overall county town.}}
|-
| {{flag|Middlesex}} || N/A||[[Brentford]], [[Clerkenwell]], [[City of London|London]] or [[City of Westminster|Westminster]]{{efn|Knights of the shire were elected at Brentford; sessions presided over by Middlesex Justices of the Peace were held at Clerkenwell; trials for persons accused of the most serious crimes took place in the Old Bailey before the Aldermen of the City prior to the committing of the accused to [[Newgate Prison]] (which functioned as the county gaol for Middlesex) if found guilty; while the county council had its headquarters at the [[Middlesex Guildhall]] in Westminster from its establishment in 1889 until its abolition in 1965.<ref name=BHOnline>''Justice in Eighteenth-Century Hackney (Process and Procedures)'', by Ruth Paley [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=38816#s5 British History Online]</ref>}}
|-
| {{flag|Norfolk}} ||N/A||[[Norwich]]
|-
| {{flag|Northamptonshire}} 
|colspan=2|[[Northampton]]
|-
| {{flag|Northumberland}} || N/A||[[Alnwick]], [[Newcastle upon Tyne]], [[Morpeth, Northumberland|Morpeth]] or [[Berwick upon Tweed]]{{efn|Alnwick's position as the county town seems to have been based largely on its castle being the seat of the Duke of Northumberland, although knights of the shire were elected at the town too.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50752#s20 |title=''Alnwick (St. Mary and St. Michael)'', ''A Topographical Dictionary of England'' (1848), pp. 39–44|publisher=British-history.ac.uk |date=22 June 2003 |access-date=29 January 2012}}</ref> Assizes for the county however were held mainly or exclusively in [[Newcastle upon Tyne]]. Morpeth Castle was used as the prison for Northumberland, and the county gaol was built there in 1824.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51160#s6 |title=''Morpeth (St. Mary)'', ''A Topographical Dictionary of England'' (1848), pp. 345–350|publisher=British-history.ac.uk |date=22 June 2003 |access-date=29 January 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51184#s11 |title=''Northiam – Nortoft'', ''A Topographical Dictionary of England'' (1848), pp. 433–439.|publisher=British-history.ac.uk |date=22 June 2003 |access-date=29 January 2012}}</ref>}}
|-
| {{flag|Nottinghamshire}}
|colspan=2| [[Nottingham]]{{efn|Nottingham was constituted a [[county corporate]] separate from Nottinghamshire in 1449. The area containing the Shire Hall however remained an [[exclave]] of Nottinghamshire.<ref name="notts">{{cite web|url=http://www.nottshistory.org.uk/articles/shirehall.htm|title=Shire (County) Hall, Nottingham|last=Nicholson|first=A P|date=11 November 2007|work=Nottinghamshire History|access-date=2 June 2011}}</ref>}}
|-
| {{flag|Oxfordshire}} 
|colspan=2| [[Oxford]]
|-
| {{flag|Rutland}} || N/A||[[Oakham]]
|-
| {{flag|Shropshire}} 
|colspan=2| [[Shrewsbury]] (spellings diverged)
|-
| {{flag|Somerset}} || [[Somerton, Somerset|Somerton]] || [[Taunton, Somerset|Taunton]], [[Ilchester]], [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]] or [[Wells, Somerset|Wells]]{{efn|Knights of the shire were elected at [[Ilchester]]. [[Somerton, Somerset|Somerton]] temporarily became the county town in the late thirteenth century, when the shire courts and county gaol were moved from Ilchester.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.somerset.gov.uk/somerset/cultureheritage/heritage/projects/eus/somerton/ |title=Somerton archaeological survey (Somerset County Council) |access-date=29 April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050328000643/http://www.somerset.gov.uk/somerset/cultureheritage/heritage/projects/eus/somerton/ |archive-date=28 March 2005 |url-status=dead }}</ref>}}
|-
| {{flag|Staffordshire}}
| [[Stafford]] || [[Lichfield]]
|-
| {{flag|Suffolk}} ||N/A|| [[Ipswich]]
|-
| {{flag|Surrey}} ||N/A|| [[Guildford]], [[Newington, London|Newington]] or [[Southwark]]{{efn|Under the [[Surrey Gaol Act 1791]] ([[31 Geo. 3]]. c. 22) the justices of the peace of the county of Surrey were empowered to build a new sessions house and county gaol at [[Newington, London|Newington]] adjacent to the borough of [[Southwark]] and in the suburbs of London.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=65440#s8 |title=Southwark Prisons |year=1955 |work=Survey of London: volume 25: St George's Fields (The parishes of St. George the Martyr Southwark and St. Mary Newington) |publisher=British History Online |access-date=6 September 2010}}</ref> By 1799 the buildings were completed and the county administration was based there until 1893.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45279 |title=The Old Kent Road |author=Edward Walford |year=1878 |work=Old and New London: Volume 6 |publisher=British History Online |access-date=6 September 2010}}</ref> Newington or Southwark (the ecclesiastical centre) were sometimes described as the county town thereafter, for instance in a school textbook of 1828.<ref name=stewart>{{cite book|title=A compendium of modern geography: with remarks on the physical peculiarities, productions of the various countries; Questions for Examination at the end of each Section; and Descriptive Tables |author=Stewart, Alexander|publisher=Oliver & Boyde|year=1828 |url=https://archive.org/details/acompendiummode00stewgoog}}</ref>}}
|-
| {{flag|Sussex}} ||N/A|| [[Lewes]], [[Chichester]] or [[Horsham]]{{efn|[[Chichester]] was traditionally described as the capital city of Sussex and Lewes its county town.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sussexflag.wordpress.com/aboutsussex/|title=About Sussex|date=11 March 2015 |publisher=Sussex County Flag |access-date=2 February 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mnQDAAAAQAAJ&q=chichester|title=A List of Some Towns of Commercial, Antiquarian, Historical or Sanitary Interest|series=A Reference Book of Modern Geography|year=1870|publisher=Longmans, Green and Co.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qlBgAAAAcAAJ&q=chichester|title=Chichester, Lewes|series=Sussex; being an historical, topographical, and general description of every rape, hundred, river, town, borough, parish, village, hamlet, castle, monastery, and gentleman's seat in that county, etc|year=1834|publisher=E. Taylor}}</ref> [[Horsham]] was occasionally described as the county town of Sussex due to the presence of the county gaol and the periodic holding of the county assizes and quarter sessions in the town. The last assizes were held there in 1830, while the gaol was closed in 1845.<ref name=VCHSussex>''General history of Horsham – The town as county centre'', Victoria County History of Sussex, Volume VI [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=18350&strquery=county%20town#s2 British History Online]</ref>}}
|-
| {{flag|Warwickshire}}
|[[Warwick]]||[[Coventry]]
|-
| {{flag|Westmorland}} ||N/A|| [[Appleby-in-Westmorland|Appleby]] or [[Kendal]]
|-
| {{flag|Wiltshire}} ||[[Wilton, Wiltshire|Wilton]]|| [[Trowbridge]], [[Salisbury]] or [[Devizes]]{{efn|Wiltshire County Council note that Wiltshire "never had a well recognised county town".<ref>{{Cite web |website=[[Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre]] |title=Question: Why is Trowbridge the county town of Wiltshire? |url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Question/Details/51 |publisher=Wiltshire Council |access-date=2 May 2023}}</ref> An 1870s gazetteer describes "[[Salisbury]] and [[Devizes]]" as the "county towns".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/descriptions/entry_page.jsp?text_id=1008130&word=NULL|title=Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales: WILTS|year=1872|author=Wilson, John Marius|publisher=A. Fullarton and Co}}</ref> The 1911 ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' names only Salisbury.}}
|-
| {{flag|Worcestershire}} 
| colspan="2" |[[Worcester, England|Worcester]]
|-
| {{flag|Yorkshire}}
|[[York]]|| [[Kingston upon Hull]]{{efn|The county towns of the three "Ridings" are considered to be [[Beverley]], [[Northallerton]] and [[Wakefield]].}}
|}
{{notelist}}

===Scotland===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!County !! County town
|-
| {{flag|Aberdeenshire}}||[[Aberdeen]]{{efn|group=Scotland|In 1900 Aberdeen became a county of a city and thus outside the remit of the county council.}}
|-
| [[Angus, Scotland|Angus]] (or Forfarshire) ||[[Forfar]]
|-
| [[Argyll]]||[[Lochgilphead]] (formerly [[Inveraray]]){{efn|group=Scotland|Inveraray (the seat of the Duke of Argyll) was regarded as the county town until 1890, when the Argyll County Council was created with headquarters in Lochgilphead.}}
|-
| [[Ayrshire]]||[[Ayr]]
|-
| {{flag|Banffshire}} ||[[Banff, Aberdeenshire|Banff]]
|-
| {{flag|Berwickshire}}||[[Duns, Scottish Borders]] (formerly [[Berwick-upon-Tweed]], formerly [[Greenlaw]])
|-
| [[County of Bute|Bute]]||[[Rothesay, Argyll and Bute|Rothesay]]
|-
| {{flag|Caithness}} ||[[Wick, Caithness|Wick]]
|-
| [[Clackmannanshire]]||[[Alloa]] (formerly [[Clackmannan]])
|-
| [[Cromartyshire]]||[[Cromarty]]
|-
| [[Dumfriesshire]]||[[Dumfries]]
|-
| [[Dunbartonshire]]||[[Dumbarton]]
|-
| {{flag|East Lothian}} (or Haddingtonshire) ||[[Haddington, East Lothian|Haddington]]
|-
| [[Fife]]||[[Cupar]]
|-
| [[Inverness-shire]]||[[Inverness]]
|-
| [[Kincardineshire]]||[[Stonehaven]] (formerly [[Kincardine, Aberdeenshire|Kincardine]])
|-
| [[Kinross-shire]]||[[Kinross]]
|-
| {{flag|Kirkcudbrightshire}}||[[Kirkcudbright]]
|-
| [[Lanarkshire]]||[[Lanark]]{{efn|group=Scotland|The headquarters of the Lanark County Council were established in 1890 in [[Glasgow]]. In 1893 Glasgow became a county of itself, and was therefore outside the council's area. The county council moved to [[Hamilton, South Lanarkshire|Hamilton]] in 1964.<ref>Notice in ''Edinburgh Gazette'', 28 February 1964 that county council's address changed from Lanarkshire House, 191 Ingram Street, Glasgow C1 to County Buildings, Hamilton from 6 April 1964</ref>}}
|-
| [[Midlothian]] (or Edinburghshire) ||[[Edinburgh]]{{efn|group=Scotland|Edinburgh was a county of itself, and therefore lay outside the remit of the county council.}}
|-
| {{flag|Morayshire}} (or Elginshire) ||[[Elgin, Moray|Elgin]]
|-
| [[Nairnshire]]||[[Nairn]]
|-
| {{flag|Orkney}}||[[Kirkwall]]
|-
| [[Peeblesshire]]||[[Peebles]]
|-
| [[Perthshire]]||[[Perth, Scotland|Perth]]
|-
| [[Renfrewshire]]||[[Renfrew, Scotland|Renfrew]]{{efn|group=Scotland|The headquarters of Renfrew County Council were in [[Paisley, Renfrewshire|Paisley]] from 1890.}}
|-
| [[Ross-shire]]||[[Dingwall]] (also the county town of [[Ross and Cromarty]])
|-
| [[Roxburghshire]]||[[Jedburgh]] (formerly [[Roxburgh]]){{efn|group=Scotland|Newtown St Boswells was the administrative headquarters of the county council established in 1890.}}
|-
| [[Selkirkshire]]||[[Selkirk, Scottish Borders|Selkirk]]
|-
| {{flag|Shetland}}||[[Lerwick]]
|-
| [[Stirlingshire]]||[[Stirling]]
|-
| {{flag|Sutherland}}||[[Dornoch]]{{efn|group=Scotland|The headquarters of Sutherland County Council were at [[Golspie]] from 1890.}}
|-
| [[West Lothian (historic)|West Lothian]] (or Linlithgowshire) ||[[Linlithgow]]
|-
| [[Wigtownshire]]||[[Wigtown]]{{efn|group=Scotland|[[Stranraer]] became the administrative headquarters of the Wigtown county council in 1890, and was sometimes described as the "county town" thereafter.}}
|}
# 
# 
# 
# 
# 
# 
# 
# 
{{notelist|group=scotland}}

===Wales===
Following the [[Norman invasion of Wales]], the [[Cambro-Normans]] created the historic shire system (also known as ancient counties). Many of these counties were named for the centre of Norman power within the new county (Caernarfonshire named for Caernarfon, Monmouthshire named for Monmouth) others were named after the previous medieval Welsh kingdoms (Ceredigon becomes Cardigan, Morgannwg becomes Glamorgan). The [[Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542|1535 Laws in Wales Act]] established the historic counties in [[English law]], but in Wales they were later replaced with eight [[Preserved counties of Wales|preserved counties]] for ceremonial purposes and the twenty two [[Local government in Wales|principal areas]] are used for administrative purposes. Neither of these subdivisions use official county towns, although their administrative headquarters and ceremonial centres are often located in the historic county town.<ref>John Davies, ''A History of Wales'', Penguin, 1993, {{ISBN|0-14-028475-3}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Name in English !! Name in Welsh !! County town in English !! County town in Welsh 
|-
| {{flag|Anglesey}}||Ynys Môn||[[Llangefni]]<br>(formerly [[Beaumaris, Wales|Beaumaris]]?)||Llangefni<br>Biwmares 
|-
| {{flagicon image|Flag of Brecknockshire.svg}} [[Brecknockshire]]||Brycheiniog||[[Brecon]]||Aberhonddu
|-
| {{flag|Caernarfonshire}}<br>(formerly Carnarvonshire)||Sir Gaernarfon||[[Caernarfon]]||Caernarfon
|-
| {{flag|Cardiganshire}}||Ceredigion||[[Cardigan, Wales|Cardigan]]||Aberteifi
|-
| [[Carmarthenshire]]||Sir Gaerfyrddin||[[Carmarthen]]||Caerfyrddin
|-
| [[Denbighshire (historic)|Denbighshire]]||Sir Ddinbych||[[Ruthin]] (formerly [[Denbigh]])||Rhuthun (formerly Dinbych)
|-
| {{flag|Flintshire}}||Sir y Fflint||[[Mold, Flintshire|Mold]] (formerly [[Flint, Wales|Flint]])||Yr Wyddgrug (formerly Y Fflint)
|-
| {{flag|Glamorgan}}||Morgannwg||[[Cardiff]]||Caerdydd
|-
| {{flag|Merioneth}} or Merionethshire||Meirionnydd or Sir Feirionnydd||[[Dolgellau]]||Dolgellau
|-
| [[Montgomeryshire]]||Sir Drefaldwyn||[[Welshpool]] (formerly [[Montgomery, Powys|Montgomery]])||Y Trallwng (formerly Trefaldwyn)
|-
| {{flag|Monmouthshire}}||Sir Fynwy|| [[Monmouth]]||Trefynwy
|-
| {{flag|Pembrokeshire}}||Sir Benfro||[[Haverfordwest]] (formerly [[Pembroke, Pembrokeshire|Pembroke]])||Hwlffordd (formerly Penfro)
|-
| [[Radnorshire]]||Sir Faesyfed||[[Presteigne]] (formerly [[New Radnor]])||Llanandras (former Maesyfed)
|}

# 
{{notelist|group=Wales}}

==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]].

==Ireland and Northern Ireland==
===Republic of Ireland===
The follow lists the location of the administration of each of the 31 local authorities in the Republic of Ireland, with 26 of the traditional counties.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!County !! Councils !!County town!!Notes
|-
|  [[County Carlow]]||[[Carlow County Council]]||[[Carlow]]||
|-
|  [[County Cavan]]||[[Cavan County Council]]||[[Cavan]]||
|-
|  [[County Clare]]||[[Clare County Council]]||[[Ennis]]||
|-
|rowspan=2|[[County Cork]]||[[Cork County Council]]||[[County Hall, Cork|Cork city]]||
|-
| [[Cork City Council]]||[[City Hall, Cork|Cork city]]||
|-
|  [[County Donegal]]||[[Donegal County Council]]||[[Lifford]]||
|-
|rowspan=4|  [[County Dublin]]||[[Dublin City Council]]||[[City Hall, Dublin|Dublin city]]||
|-
|{{nowrap|[[Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council]]}}
|[[Dún Laoghaire]]
|rowspan=3|Until 1994, formed [[Dublin County Council]], with its administrative offices in Dublin city
|-
|  [[Fingal County Council]]||[[Swords, Dublin|Swords]]
|-
|  [[South Dublin County Council]]||[[Tallaght]]
|-
|rowspan=2|[[County Galway]]||[[Galway City Council]]||[[Galway|Galway city]]||
|-
| [[Galway County Council]]||[[Galway|Galway city]]||
|-
|  [[County Kerry]]||[[Kerry County Council]]||[[Tralee]]||
|-
|  [[County Kildare]]||[[Kildare County Council]]||[[Naas]]||
|-
|  [[County Kilkenny]]||[[Kilkenny County Council]]||[[Kilkenny]]||
|-
|  [[County Laois]]||[[Laois County Council]] ||[[Portlaoise]]||Called Maryborough until 1929
|-
|  [[County Leitrim]]||[[Leitrim County Council]]||{{nowrap|[[Carrick-on-Shannon]]}}||
|-
|  [[County Limerick]]||[[Limerick City and County Council]]||[[Limerick]]||
|-
|  [[County Longford]]||[[Longford County Council]]||[[Longford]]||
|-
|  [[County Louth]]||[[Louth County Council]]||[[Dundalk]]||
|-
|  [[County Mayo]]||[[Mayo County Council]]||[[Castlebar]]||
|-
|  [[County Meath]]||[[Meath County Council]]||[[Navan]]||previously [[Trim, County Meath|Trim]] was the administrative town
|-
|  [[County Monaghan]]||[[Monaghan County Council]]||[[Monaghan]]||
|-
|  [[County Offaly]]||[[Offaly County Council]]||[[Tullamore]]||Prior to 1883, the county town was [[Daingean]], then known as Philipstown
|-
|  {{nowrap|[[County Roscommon]]}}||[[Roscommon County Council]]||[[Roscommon]]||
|-
|  [[County Sligo]]||[[Sligo County Council]]||[[Sligo]]||
|-
|  {{nowrap|[[County Tipperary]]}}||[[Tipperary County Council]]||[[Clonmel]]/[[Nenagh]]||Until the [[Local Government Reform Act 2014]], these were respectively the administrative towns of [[South Tipperary County Council]] and [[North Tipperary County Council]]
|-
|  [[County Waterford]]||[[Waterford City and County Council]]||[[Waterford]]||Prior to the merger of Waterford County Council with Waterford City Council in 2014, [[Dungarvan]] was the county town and administrative centre of County Waterford.
|-
|  [[County Westmeath]]||[[Westmeath County Council]]||[[Mullingar]]||
|-
|  [[County Wexford]]||[[Wexford County Council]]||[[Wexford]]||
|-
|  [[County Wicklow]]||[[Wicklow County Council]]||[[Wicklow]]||
|}

===Northern Ireland===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!County !! County town
|-
| [[County Antrim]]||[[Antrim, County Antrim|Antrim]]
|-
| [[County Armagh]]||[[Armagh]]
|-
| [[County Down]]||[[Downpatrick]]
|-
| [[County Fermanagh]]||[[Enniskillen]]
|-
| [[County Londonderry]]||[[Coleraine]]
|-
| [[County Tyrone]]||[[Omagh]]
|}

Note – Despite the fact that [[Belfast]] is the capital of Northern Ireland, it is not the county town of any county. Greater Belfast straddles two counties – Antrim and Down.

==Jamaica==

Jamaica's three counties were established in 1758 to facilitate the holding of courts along the lines of the British [[county court]] system, with each county having a county town.<ref name="JPN">{{cite book |last1= Higman |first1= B. W. |last2= Hudson |first2= B. J. |title= Jamaican Place Names |url= http://www.uwipress.com/reviews/jamaican-place-names |location= Mona, Jamaica |year= 2009 |publisher= University of the West Indies Press |page= 31 |isbn= 978-976-640-306-5 |access-date= 13 December 2017 |archive-date= 13 December 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171213204456/http://www.uwipress.com/reviews/jamaican-place-names |url-status= dead }}</ref> The counties have no current administrative relevance.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!County !! County town
|-
|[[Cornwall County, Jamaica|Cornwall]]
|[[Savanna-la-Mar]]
|-
|[[Middlesex County, Jamaica|Middlesex]]
|[[Spanish Town]]
|-
|[[Surrey County, Jamaica|Surrey]]
|[[Kingston, Jamaica|Kingston]]
|}

==See also==
* [[Administrative centre]]
* [[County seat]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:County Town}}
[[Category:Capitals]]
[[Category:Towns in Ireland]]
[[Category:Towns in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:County towns in the United Kingdom| ]]
[[Category:County towns in Ireland| ]]