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

Hunts Day: Seven Wonders of Huntingdonshire

Huntingdonshire Day is celebrated on 25th April, the birthday of Oliver Cromwell. In celebration, we present our Seven Wonders of Huntingdonshire. Huntingdonshire is roughly rhomboid in shape, centred on Huntingdon, and the meeting of the Great North Road (A1) and the route from the east … Continue reading →

Warwickshire Day: In Search of Warwickshire

Warwickshire Day is celebrated each 23rd April, the traditional birthday of Shakespeare. It also seems appropriate that the county at the centre of England celebrates its county day on St George’s Day. In celebration, with H. V. Morton as our guide, we go In Search … Continue reading →

Cumbria Capers !

Of all the local government ‘counties’ created in 1974, is any more disliked than ‘Cumbria‘? The former Cumbria County Council did all it could to destroy the historic identities of Cumberland, Westmorland, the Furness area of Lancashire and and the Sedbergh area of Yorkshire. Our … Continue reading →