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 26 Oct 2021.
| Great Britain & Ireland | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full-resolution polygons | Simplified polygons | Border lines only | ||||
| OSGB SHP 43.36 MB |
WGS84 SHP 95.3 MB |
KMZ 50.46 MB |
OSGB SHP 5.81 MB |
WGS84 SHP 5.66 MB |
KMZ 6.24 MB |
WGS84 SHP 6.5 MB |
| United Kingdom | ||||||
| Full-resolution polygons | Simplified polygons | Border lines only | ||||
| OSGB SHP 31.25 MB |
WGS84 SHP 34.24 MB |
KMZ 38.05 MB |
OSGB SHP 4.22 MB |
WGS84 SHP 4.19 MB |
KMZ 4.63 MB |
WGS84 SHP 5.43 MB |
| Great Britain | ||||||
| Full-resolution polygons | Simplified polygons | Border lines only | ||||
| OSGB SHP 29.61 MB |
WGS84 SHP 32.66 MB |
KMZ 36.27 MB |
OSGB SHP 4.02 MB |
WGS84 SHP 4 MB |
KMZ 4.42 MB |
WGS84 SHP 5.27 MB |
| Great Britain & Ireland | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full-resolution polygons | Simplified polygons | Border lines only | ||||
| OSGB SHP 44.59 MB |
WGS84 SHP 46.85 MB |
KMZ 51.79 MB |
OSGB SHP 6.02 MB |
WGS84 SHP 5.86 MB |
KMZ 6.45 MB |
WGS84 SHP 7.11 MB |
| United Kingdom | ||||||
| Full-resolution polygons | Simplified polygons | Border lines only | ||||
| OSGB SHP 32.37 MB |
WGS84 SHP 35.36 MB |
KMZ 39.25 MB |
OSGB SHP 4.4 MB |
WGS84 SHP 4.36 MB |
KMZ 4.82 MB |
WGS84 SHP 5.99 MB |
| Great Britain | ||||||
| Full-resolution polygons | Simplified polygons | Border lines only | ||||
| OSGB SHP 30.72 MB |
WGS84 SHP 33.78 MB |
KMZ 37.47 MB |
OSGB SHP 4.2 MB |
WGS84 SHP 4.17 MB |
KMZ 4.61 MB |
WGS84 SHP 5.83 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 Wards of Lanarkshire.
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.
