COUNTY TOWN

A county town is the 'capital' of a county in Ireland or the United Kingdom. County towns are usually the location of administrative or judicial functions, or established over time as the de facto main town of a county. The concept of a county town eventually became detached from its original meaning of where the county administration is based.

Note that in Eastern Canada and the United States of America, the term county seat is usually used for the same purpose. However, in the state of Louisiana the term parish seat is used instead.

[edit] List of county towns

[edit] Historic counties of England

1. The county administration was split between the two towns by the nineteenth century. 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. Knights for the shire were nominated at Reading and elected at Abingdon.^[1]
2. Sir John Baldwin, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, caused the county assizes to be moved to Aylesbury. Knights for the shire continued to be elected at Buckingham. the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica considered Buckingham to be the county town. ^[1]
3. The 1911 Britannica considered Bodmin to be the county town. Launceston was also historically considered the county town.^[2]
4. Knights of the Shire were elected at Cockermouth
5. 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.
6. Knights of the Shire were elected at Alnwick
7. Knights of the Shire were elected at Ilchester
8. Southwark is listed as the county town by Stewart (1828).^[2] Quarter Sessions were held at Newington by Southwark.
9. 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.^[3]
10. Wiltshire County Council note that Wiltshire "never had a well recognised county town". Wilton had served as the seat of Quarter Sessions and for election of Knights of the Shire until 1832. Knights had been nominated at Devizes. ^[4]A 1870s gazetteer describes "Salisbury and Devizes" as the "county towns". ^[5] The 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica names only Salisbury.

[edit] Counties of Scotland

1. Inverary was regarded as the county town until 1890, when the Argyll County Council was created with headquarters in Lochgilphead.
2. Stranraer became the administrative headquarters of the Wigtown county council in 1890, and was sometimes described as the "county town" therafter.

[edit] Historic counties of Wales

[edit] Historic counties of Northern Ireland

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).

[edit] Traditional counties of the Republic of Ireland

The term county capital is also used.

[edit] Other counties of the Republic of Ireland

• County of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown - Dún Laoghaire
• County of Fingal - Swords
• County of North Tipperary - Nenagh
• County of South Dublin - Tallaght
• County of South Tipperary - Clonmel

[edit] County Halls

Over time, the location of administrative headquarters (County Halls) have moved away from the traditional county town. Furthermore, in 1965 and 1974 there were major administrative boundary changes in England and Wales and administrative counties were replaced with new metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties. The boundaries underwent more major alterations between 1995 and 1998 to create unitary authorities and some of the traditional counties and county towns were restored for administrative purposes.

[edit] England

[edit] Wales

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} Samuel Lewis, A Topographical Dictionary of England, Vol. I, 1831
2. ^ ^{a b} Stewart, Alexander (1828). A compendium of modern geography. Oliver & Boyde.
3. ^ ^{a b} General history of Horsham - The town as county centre, Victoria County History of Sussex, Volume VI British History Online
4. ^ Error on call to Template:cite web: Parameters url and title must be specified. Wiltshire County Council (January 9, 2003).
5. ^ Wilson, John Marius (1872). Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales: WILTS. A. Fullarton and Co.