Welcome
The Association of British Counties (ABC) is a society dedicated to promoting awareness of the continuing importance of the 92 historic counties of the United Kingdom.
The ABC believes that the historic counties are an important part of the culture, geography and heritage of The United Kingdom. The ABC contends that Britain needs a fixed popular geography, one divorced from the ever-changing names and areas of local government but, instead, one rooted in history, public understanding and commonly held notions of community and identity. The ABC, therefore, seeks to fully re-establish the use of the historic counties as the standard popular geographical reference frame of Britain and to further encourage their use as a basis for social, sporting and cultural activities.
More information about what the historic counties are and why they matter can be found in our An introduction to the historic counties factsheet.
Featured Articles
Fifty Years of Yorkshire Day 1975-2025
Yorkshire Day celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in spectacular style on 1st August 2025. Launched in 1975 by our old friends the Yorkshire Ridings Society, after fifty years the event continues to grow in size and its coverage year on year. This year saw major TV … Continue reading
Historic County Flags Day 23rd July 2025
Historic County Flags Day 23rd July 2025 has been another spectacular celebration of our county heritage. Our thanks are due to Jim McMahon MP, Minister of State at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government for once again displaying the county flags in Parliament … Continue reading
Save Our Spelthorne
A long-time sore for county lovers has been the inclusion of the Spelthorne area of Middlesex within the local government “county” of “Surrey”. Now a public consultation on Proposals for local government reorganisation in Surrey has been opened, with Surrey County Council set to be … Continue reading