Historic Counties Standard
The Historic Counties Standard provides a comprehensive definition of the names, areas and borders of the Counties of the United Kingdom. It also provides that the phrase 'historic county' shall be the standard term to refer to them.
By providing a definition for the terminology and the names, areas and borders of the historic counties, the Standard enables a more consistent use of the historic counties to be made in those numerous contexts for which they are the most natural geographical framework, principally in the fields of history, geography, heritage and education.
Detached parts
Following historical precedent, detached parts of counties shall be considered to be associated with both their parent county and the county in which they locally lie (their ‘host’ county). This means that two sets of areas are defined by this Standard:
- Definition A, in which detached parts of counties are treated as part of the county in which they are locally situate.
- Definition B, where detached parts are separately identified.
Note that the Maelor Saesneg area of Flintshire, the Furness area of Lancashire and the Cumbernauld–Kirkintilloch area in Dunbartonshire form such large fractions of their respective total county area, that they are better considered separate parts of the main bodies of these counties. Hence, these areas are represented in Definition A.
The codes
| HCS | HCS No. | County | Alternative Spellings/Names |
|---|---|---|---|
| ABN | 01 | Aberdeenshire | |
| AGL | 02 | Anglesey | |
| ANG | 03 | Angus | Forfarshire |
| ANM | 04 | Antrim | |
| ARG | 05 | Argyllshire | |
| ARH | 06 | Armagh | |
| AYS | 07 | Ayrshire | |
| BNF | 08 | Banffshire | |
| BED | 09 | Bedfordshire | |
| BER | 10 | Berkshire | |
| BRW | 11 | Berwickshire | |
| BRN | 12 | Brecknockshire | Breconshire |
| BUC | 13 | Buckinghamshire | |
| BTE | 14 | Buteshire | |
| CRN | 15 | Caernarfonshire | Caernarvonshire |
| CTN | 16 | Caithness | |
| CMB | 17 | Cambridgeshire | |
| CRD | 18 | Cardiganshire | |
| CRM | 19 | Carmarthenshire | |
| CHE | 20 | Cheshire | |
| CLM | 21 | Clackmannanshire | |
| CNW | 22 | Cornwall | |
| CRT | 23 | Cromartyshire | |
| CUM | 24 | Cumberland | |
| DBH | 25 | Denbighshire | |
| DRB | 26 | Derbyshire | |
| DVN | 27 | Devon | Devonshire |
| DRS | 28 | Dorset | Dorsetshire |
| DWN | 29 | Down | Downshire |
| DMF | 30 | Dumfriesshire | |
| DUN | 31 | Dunbartonshire | Dumbartonshire |
| DRH | 32 | Durham | |
| ELT | 33 | East Lothian | Haddingtonshire |
| ESE | 34 | Essex | |
| FRM | 35 | Fermanagh | |
| FFE | 36 | Fife | Fifeshire |
| FLT | 37 | Flintshire | |
| GLM | 38 | Glamorgan | Glamorganshire |
| GLC | 39 | Gloucestershire | |
| HMP | 40 | Hampshire | Southamptonshire |
| HRF | 41 | Herefordshire | |
| HTF | 42 | Hertfordshire | |
| HNT | 43 | Huntingdonshire | |
| INS | 44 | Inverness-shire | |
| KNT | 45 | Kent | |
| KNC | 46 | Kincardineshire | |
| KNR | 47 | Kinross-shire | |
| KCB | 48 | Kirkcudbrightshire | |
| LNK | 49 | Lanarkshire | |
| LCS | 50 | Lancashire | |
| LCR | 51 | Leicestershire | |
| LNC | 52 | Lincolnshire | |
| LDR | 53 | Londonderry | |
| MRN | 54 | Merionethshire | |
| MSX | 55 | Middlesex | |
| MLT | 56 | Midlothian | Edinburghshire |
| MNM | 57 | Monmouthshire | |
| MTG | 58 | Montgomeryshire | |
| MOY | 59 | Morayshire | Elginshire |
| NRN | 60 | Nairnshire | |
| NRF | 61 | Norfolk | |
| NHP | 62 | Northamptonshire | |
| NHB | 63 | Northumberland | |
| NOT | 64 | Nottinghamshire | |
| ORN | 65 | Orkney | |
| OXD | 66 | Oxfordshire | |
| PBS | 67 | Peeblesshire | |
| PMB | 68 | Pembrokeshire | |
| PRT | 69 | Perthshire | |
| RDN | 70 | Radnorshire | |
| RNF | 71 | Renfrewshire | |
| RSS | 72 | Ross-shire | |
| RXB | 73 | Roxburghshire | |
| RTL | 74 | Rutland | |
| SKK | 75 | Selkirkshire | |
| SHT | 76 | Shetland | |
| SHP | 77 | Shropshire | |
| SMS | 78 | Somerset | Somersetshire |
| STF | 79 | Staffordshire | |
| STL | 80 | Stirlingshire | |
| SFF | 81 | Suffolk | |
| SUR | 82 | Surrey | |
| SUS | 83 | Sussex | |
| SRL | 84 | Sutherland | Sutherlandshire |
| TYN | 85 | Tyrone | |
| WRW | 86 | Warwickshire | |
| WLT | 87 | West Lothian | Linlithgowshire |
| WML | 88 | Westmorland | |
| WGT | 89 | Wigtownshire | |
| WTS | 90 | Wiltshire | |
| WRC | 91 | Worcestershire | |
| YRK | 92 | Yorkshire |