List of cities in England
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This is a list of cities in England that are designated such . It lists those places that have been granted city status by
letters patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, titl ...
or royal charter. There are currently a total of 55 in England, 24 of these have Lord Mayors. In some cases, the area holding city status does not coincide with the built up area or conurbation of which it forms part. In
Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...
, for example, the City of London and that of Westminster each hold city status separately, but no other local authority in the London Region has been granted city status, nor has the
Greater London Authority The Greater London Authority (GLA), colloquially known by the metonym "City Hall", is the devolved regional governance body of Greater London. It consists of two political branches: the executive Mayoralty (currently led by Sadiq Khan) and the ...
. In other cases, such as the cities of Canterbury and Lancaster, the status applies to a local government district which extends over a number of towns and rural areas outside the main settlement proper. In England, the status sometimes applies to civil parishes, such as the city of Ripon; though the status may not apply to the local government district which share their name. The list does not include places like Luton or
Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...
which, despite having populations of over 200,000, have not been awarded city status and thus formally remain as
towns A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...
. As of 2022, there are currently 5 ceremonial counties which contain 3 cities - Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hampshire,
West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
and West Yorkshire.


History

The initial cities ( la,
civitas In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (; plural ), according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the , or citizens, united by law (). It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilities () on th ...
) of Britain were the fortified settlements organised by the Romans as the capitals of the
Celtic tribes This is a list of Celtic tribes, organized in order of the likely ethnolinguistic kinship of the peoples and tribes. In Classical antiquity, Celts were a large number and a significant part of the population in many regions of Western Europe, ...
under Roman rule. The British
clerics Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
of the early Middle Ages later preserved a traditional list of the " 28 Cities" which was mentioned by Gildas and listed by
Nennius Nennius – or Nemnius or Nemnivus – was a Welsh monk of the 9th century. He has traditionally been attributed with the authorship of the ''Historia Brittonum'', based on the prologue affixed to that work. This attribution is widely considered ...
.
Nennius Nennius – or Nemnius or Nemnivus – was a Welsh monk of the 9th century. He has traditionally been attributed with the authorship of the ''Historia Brittonum'', based on the prologue affixed to that work. This attribution is widely considered ...
(). Theodor Mommsen (). ''Historia Brittonum'', VI. Composed after AD 830. Hosted at Latin Wikisource.
In the 16th century, a town was recognised as a city by the English Crown if it had a diocesan cathedral within its limits, for which 22 dioceses existed in England. This association between having a cathedral and being called a city was established when
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
founded new dioceses (each having a cathedral in the
see city See or SEE may refer to: * Sight - seeing Arts, entertainment, and media * Music: ** ''See'' (album), studio album by rock band The Rascals *** "See", song by The Rascals, on the album ''See'' ** "See" (Tycho song), song by Tycho * Television * ...
) in six English towns and also granted them city status by issuing
letters patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, titl ...
, demonstrating these were discrete procedures. Some cities today are very small because they were granted city status in or before the 16th century, then were unaffected by population growth during the Industrial Revolution, such as
Wells Wells most commonly refers to: * Wells, Somerset, a cathedral city in Somerset, England * Well, an excavation or structure created in the ground * Wells (name) Wells may also refer to: Places Canada *Wells, British Columbia England * Wells ...
and Truro. The title of city was initially informal and, into the 20th century, royal charters were considered to ''recognise'' city status rather than to grant it. The usual criterion in early modern England was the presence of a cathedral, particularly after King
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
granted
letters patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, titl ...
establishing six new cities when he established a series of new dioceses in the 1540s as part of the
English Reformation The English Reformation took place in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church. These events were part of the wider European Protestant Reformation, a religious and poli ...
. No new cities were created between the 16th and 19th centuries, but following the Industrial Revolution and the accompanying population boom and growth in urbanisation, new sees were established at Ripon (1836) and Manchester (1847); their councils began to style them cities immediately. In mid-19th century, the process became more formal. A visit by Queen Victoria in 1851 prompted Manchester to petition Parliament for recognition of its status. Ripon followed in the 1860s, and a series of hitherto informal "cities" were formally recognised in the 1880s and 1890s. King Edward VII and the Home Office established three criteria for future applicants in 1907—a minimum population of 300,000, a good record of local government, and a "local metropolitan character"but these criteria were not made public, and following
Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...
's successful elevation in 1919 a series of exceptions were made. The 1972 Local Government Act effectively eliminated all authorities holding city status outside
Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...
on 1 April 1974; most of their replacements were confirmed in their predecessor's status—even in cases such as the 1974–2023
City of Carlisle The City of Carlisle ( , ) is a local government district of Cumbria, England, with the status of a city and non-metropolitan district. It is named after its largest settlement, Carlisle, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns ...
district, where much of the local authority area was undeveloped countryside—but the
Borough of Medway Medway is a unitary authority district and conurbation in Kent, South East England. It had a population of 278,016 in 2019. The unitary authority was formed in 1998 when Rochester-upon-Medway amalgamated with the Borough of Gillingham to for ...
was not permitted to continue Rochester's title. In recent times there have been competitions for new grants of city status. Towns or councils that claim city status or add "city" to their name have been known to be rebuked by the Advertising Standards Authority.


List of cities

}) , , Civil parish ,
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, England , (2011) , - , Ripon , , Civil parish , Yorkshire and the Humber, England , (2011) , - ,
Wells Wells most commonly refers to: * Wells, Somerset, a cathedral city in Somerset, England * Well, an excavation or structure created in the ground * Wells (name) Wells may also refer to: Places Canada *Wells, British Columbia England * Wells ...
, , Civil parish ,
South West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
, England , (2011)


Conurbations

The term "city" is sometimes loosely applied to conurbations in England. The government tends to recognise these as primary urban areas for statistical and economic purposes, though greater urban areas are what most determine to be a city region. Large cities outside of London such as Manchester or Birmingham are often confused with these greater conurbations. According to the 2011 census, Manchester was significantly less populous than Birmingham, despite Greater Manchester having a larger urban population than the West Midlands conurbation. Conversely, many official cities in England contain a substantial rural area encompassing settlements which are physically separated from the core urban area. This applies to settlements such as
Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...
and Colchester, whose local authorities received
Letters Patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, titl ...
, despite the City of Milton Keynes and
City of Colchester The City of Colchester is a local government district with city status, in Essex, England, named after its main settlement, Colchester. The city covers an area of and stretches from Dedham Vale on the Suffolk border in the north to Mersea Islan ...
administrative units covering an area substantially larger than that of their respective core urban areas, meaning that extra-urban settlements such as
Olney Olney may refer to: Places Australia * Olney Parish, New South Wales England * Olney, Buckinghamshire, a town near Milton Keynes, England United States * Olney, Alabama * Olney, Georgia - see List of places in Georgia (U.S. state) (I–R) * Ol ...
and West Mersea fall within ''de jure'' cities.


See also

* City status in the United Kingdom * Centre for Cities *
List of towns in England This is a list of towns in England. Historically, towns were any settlement with a charter, including market towns and ancient boroughs. The process of incorporation was reformed in 1835 and many more places received borough charters, whilst other ...
*
List of urban areas in the United Kingdom This is a list of the most populous urban areas in the United Kingdom based on the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census, as defined by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Definition The methodology used by ONS in 2011 is set out in ''20 ...


Reference

{{List of Settlements in the UK Cities in England Cities in the United Kingdom Lists of cities in the United Kingdom Lists of cities in Europe United Kingdom geography-related lists Lists of cities by population