City status in the United Kingdom
In Ireland, as noted above, possession of a diocesan cathedral has never (except in the anomalous case of Armagh) been sufficient to attain this status.
In spite of this, the 1911 Encyclopeædia Britannica refers to Armagh (Armagh had lost city status in 1840) and Lisburn as cities. Armagh subsequently regained city status formally in 1994 and Lisburn achieved city status in 2002.
There are four towns in Northern Ireland with Church of Ireland Cathedrals that do not have city status—Clogher, Downpatrick, Dromore and Enniskillen.
Newry is the only city in Northern Ireland that does not have a Church of Ireland cathedral within its borders.
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Large towns
As noted above, in ordinary discourse, city can refer to any large settlement, with no fixed limit.
There are certain towns which have large urban areas, which could qualify for city status on the grounds of their population size. Some have applied for city status and had the application turned down. Northampton is one of the most populous urban districts not to be a London Borough, metropolitan borough, unitary authority or city; on this basis, the council claims that it is the largest town in England.
The government-published "Key Statistics for Urban Areas 2001"[27] show that the following are the ten largest urban sub-areas outside London not a part of a city or having a city as a component:
- Reading – 232,662
- Dudley – 194,919
- Northampton – 189,474
- Luton – 185,543
- Milton Keynes (urban area) – 184,506
- Walsall – 174,994
- Bournemouth – 167,527
- Southend-on-Sea – 160,257
- Swindon – 155,432
- Huddersfield – 146,234
See List of towns and cities in England by population for further examples.
City status in modern times is sometimes granted to urban areas, and sometimes to local-government areas such as civil parishes and boroughs, the boundaries, and hence populations, of which are not necessarily the same.
The City of Stirling and the City of Inverness provide examples here. Stirling Council's application for city status was specifically for the urban area of the (now former) Royal Burgh of Stirling—proposed city boundaries were included, and so not all of the council area has city status. Equally, the granting of city status to Newport is granted to the "Town of Newport in the County Borough of Newport", while Birmingham's is granted to the "Borough of Birmingham".
This leads to the oddity whereby city status can be granted to areas which include more than one town. "Federal" cities of this type include Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Brighton and Hove; in all these cases a borough was formed to govern an area covering several towns and then city status was granted to the borough afterwards.
The largest local authorities to have applied for city status in the recent competitions are:
- London Borough of Croydon – 330,587
- Metropolitan Borough of Wirral – 312,293
- Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster – 286,866
- Metropolitan Borough of Stockport – 284,528
- Metropolitan Borough of Bolton – 261,037
- Borough of Medway – 249,488
- London Borough of Southwark – 244,866
- London Borough of Greenwich – 214,403
- Borough of Milton Keynes – 207,057
- Borough of Northampton – 194,458
- Borough of Warrington – 191,084
- Borough of Luton – 184,371
- Borough of Swindon – 180,051
- Borough of Telford and Wrekin – 161,600
- Borough of Southend-on-Sea – 159,600
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See also
- Towns of the United Kingdom
- Borough status in the United Kingdom
- List of UK place names with royal patronage
- List of conurbations in the United Kingdom
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References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Beckett, J V (2005). City status in the British Isles, 1830–2002, Historical urban studies. Aldershot: Ashgate. ISBN 0-7546-5067-7.
- ^ "House of Commons - Status of Portsmouth", The Times, 21 June 1911.
- ^ "Leicester, a City: Sequel to the Recent Royal Visit", The Times, 17 June 1919.
- ^ a b "Functions of local authorities. Memorandum from Health Ministry", The Times, 17 June 1927.
- ^ "Cambridge petition to the King", The Times, 19 March 1951.
- ^ "City Status For Southampton", The Times, 12 February 1964.
- ^ "Prince announces city status for Swansea", The Times, Friday, 4 July 1969.
- ^ Local Government Act 1972 (c.70), ss.1(10) and 1(11)
- ^ London Gazette: no. 46255, pages 4400–4401, 4 April 1974. Retrieved on 2008-05-30.
- ^ Medway Council Archives. Synopsis of Medway Area charters. Retrieved on 2008-05-15.
- ^ Patrick O'Leary, "Derby's long road to city status", The Times, 29 July 1977, p.14
- ^ "Sunderland casts off ailing past to win city status", The Times, 15 February 1992.
- ^ a b "Religious centres recover city status", The Guardian, 8 July 1994.
- ^ Cahal Milmo, "A tale of three (new) cities", The Independent, 19 December 2000.
- ^ "Joy for Wolverhampton as town becomes Millennium city", Birmingham Evening Mail, 18 December 2000.
- ^ "Favoured five become city slickers: Political fix claim as English Labour towns upgraded to mark Queen's jubilee", The Guardian, 15 March 2002.
- ^ The Municipal Year Book 1972
- ^ "Coat of arms rejected in city status query", The Inverness Courier, 29 January 2008. Accessed 4 March 2008.
- ^ Change of District Name (Lisburn Borough) Order (Northern Ireland) 2002 (2002 No. 231), Office of Public Sector Information. Accessed 4 March 2008.
- ^ "City Status conferred on Lisburn and Newry", Northern Ireland Office, 14 May 2002. Accessed 4 March 2008.
- ^ London Gazette: no. 46243, page 3651, 21 March 1974. Retrieved on 2008-05-30. Letters Patent dated 18 March 1974, text also available from Medway Council archives website
- ^ London Gazette: no. 48875, page 1173, 28 January 1982. Retrieved on 2008-05-30. Publishing Letters Patent dated 25 January 1982, text also available from Medway Council archives website
- ^ "Error costs Rochester city status", BBC news, Thursday, 16 May 2002.
- ^ Medway Council – Regeneration and Community Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Report on Rochester City Status, 4 March 2003.
- ^ a b According to the Municipal Year Book, 1972, the royal burghs of Perth and Elgin officially enjoyed city status. The royal burghs of Brechin, Dunfermline and Kirkwall had also been officially described as "cities". As all burghs were abolished in 1975, these areas are now often called "former cities". Although Brechin does not have city status, the community council formed for the area uses the title City of Brechin and District.
- ^ Ballymena Borough Council Timeline
- ^ a b Key Statistics for Urban Areas 2001
- ^ Lovemytown website
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External links
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