Shires Of England ((top)) Online

Several counties use the suffix "Shire" but are often abbreviated or overshadowed by their main towns.

Most Shires share a naming convention: .

It is important to distinguish between and Administrative Counties .

The term "Shire" comes from the Old English scir , meaning a division or a piece of land administered on behalf of the Crown. Historically, these were the primary administrative divisions of England outside of the major cities.

Some notable shires of England include:

Understanding the shires of England is like learning the alphabet of English history. The system has quirks and modern overlays, but its endurance is remarkable. A solid 4.5 stars – subtract half a point only for the bureaucratic confusion that can trip up beginners. For a clear starting point, focus on the historic (or traditional) counties – there are 39 of them – and treat modern boundaries as a secondary layer.

Some famous places sound like counties but are technically "Counties Palatine" or Dukedoms, or they were renamed:

Yorkshire is unique. It is not just a county; to locals, it is almost a separate country. It is the largest historic county in England.

How The English Counties came to be and what they mean to us today