The data are provided free of charge for all personal, educational, non-commercial and commercial use. No specific permission is required. However, we would appreciate an appropriate acknowledgement of the use of the data.
Lookup the county name for a given postcode, or generate a CSV file of counties for a series of postcodes.
Lookup county names for Unique Property Reference Numbers.
Lookup county names for places using Ordnance Survey National Grid co-ordinates or grid reference.
Generate a list of postcodes or UPRNs for a given county.
Download a database or CSV file of every postcode, county and grid reference.
Show county populations.
These border datasets conform to the Historic Counties Standard (HCS). The HCS Definition A datasets treat detached parts of counties as part of their host county, whereas the HCS Definition B datasets include them separately.
The full-resolution polygons are suitable for 1:5,000-scale applications. The simplified sets are usable at scales greater than 1:50,000. A set of border lines is also available, for applications where a coastline is provided separately.
The data are available in ESRI Shapefile (SHP) format, in both OSGB and WGS84 spatial reference systems, and also in KML/KMZ format.
Last updated on 1 Dec 2023.
| Great Britain & Ireland | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full-resolution polygons | Simplified polygons | Border lines only | ||||
| OSGB SHP 44.65 MB |
WGS84 SHP 46.92 MB |
KMZ 51.88 MB |
OSGB SHP 5.9 MB |
WGS84 SHP 5.75 MB |
KMZ 6.34 MB |
WGS84 SHP 7.15 MB |
| United Kingdom | ||||||
| Full-resolution polygons | Simplified polygons | Border lines only | ||||
| OSGB SHP 32.53 MB |
WGS84 SHP 35.53 MB |
KMZ 39.45 MB |
OSGB SHP 4.32 MB |
WGS84 SHP 4.29 MB |
KMZ 4.74 MB |
WGS84 SHP 6.07 MB |
| Great Britain | ||||||
| Full-resolution polygons | Simplified polygons | Border lines only | ||||
| OSGB SHP 30.86 MB |
WGS84 SHP 33.93 MB |
KMZ 37.66 MB |
OSGB SHP 4.11 MB |
WGS84 SHP 4.1 MB |
KMZ 4.52 MB |
WGS84 SHP 5.9 MB |
| Great Britain & Ireland | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full-resolution polygons | Simplified polygons | Border lines only | ||||
| OSGB SHP 46.12 MB |
WGS84 SHP 48.39 MB |
KMZ 53.5 MB |
OSGB SHP 6.14 MB |
WGS84 SHP 5.97 MB |
KMZ 6.58 MB |
WGS84 SHP 7.89 MB |
| United Kingdom | ||||||
| Full-resolution polygons | Simplified polygons | Border lines only | ||||
| OSGB SHP 33.89 MB |
WGS84 SHP 36.89 MB |
KMZ 40.95 MB |
OSGB SHP 4.52 MB |
WGS84 SHP 4.48 MB |
KMZ 4.95 MB |
WGS84 SHP 6.75 MB |
| Great Britain | ||||||
| Full-resolution polygons | Simplified polygons | Border lines only | ||||
| OSGB SHP 32.22 MB |
WGS84 SHP 35.29 MB |
KMZ 39.15 MB |
OSGB SHP 4.31 MB |
WGS84 SHP 4.29 MB |
KMZ 4.73 MB |
WGS84 SHP 6.58 MB |
Where there is nothing listed in the Definition B column, this is because the county has no detached parts and therefore the data in the Definition A column are suitable for either HCS definition.
Download a Shapefile, SVG or KMZ of individual counties.
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Yorkshire ridings (Definition A).
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Yorkshire ridings (Definition B).
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Parts of Lincolnshire (Definition A).
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Parts of Lincolnshire (Definition B).
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Ridings of Lindsey (Definition A).
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Ridings of Lindsey (Definition B).
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Ridings of Tipperary.
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Ridings of Cork (Definition A).
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Ridings of Cork (Definition B).
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Rapes of Sussex (Definition A).
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Rapes of Sussex (Definition B).
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Lathes of Kent.
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Districts of Ayrshire.
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Districts of Dumfriesshire.
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Districts of Fife (Definition A).
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Districts of Fife (Definition B).
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Wards of Lanarkshire.
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Wards of Renfrewshire.
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Districts of Roxburghshire (Definition A).
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Districts of Roxburghshire (Definition B).
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Sheadings of the Isle of Man.
These SVG maps are generated at a nominal horizonal resoluton of 1,000 pixels.
