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
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
Suffolk Day 21st June 2025
Suffolk Day is celebrated each Midsummer’s Day. The theme for 2025 was Celebrate the Sunrise County. This year the principal event, involving the Suffolk Day Proclamation and Suffolk Medal presentations, was held in Lowestoft. The annual Suffolk Remembers service was held on Felixstowe seafront in the … Continue reading
Sussex Day 16th June 2025
Sussex Day is celebrated on 16th June, the feast day of St Richard of Chichester, the county’s patron saint. This has become a huge annual event, one of the largest and most joyful of all county day celebrations. Huge thanks and congratulations are due to … Continue reading