The historic counties of England are areas that were established for administration by the Normans, in many cases based on earlier kingdoms and shires created by the Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Celts and others.

Shire (/ ʃaɪər /) is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries. It is generally synonymous with county (such as Cheshire and Worcestershire). British counties are among the oldest extant national divisions in the world.

The United Kingdom has 92 counties or shires. The British counties are the oldest extant national divisions in the world. Where a distinction has to be made with statutory "counties" so called for administrative purposes, the counties are variously known as historic counties, traditional counties or ancient or geographical counties.

England is also divided into 84 metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties (outside Greater London and the Isles of Scilly). These correspond to areas used for the purposes of local government and may consist of a single district or be divided into several.

In accordance with the model set up by the Normans, each county had a Shire Reeve, or sheriff, who was responsible for maintaining order throughout a shire or county on behalf of the king. The infamous Sheriff of Nottingham from Robin Hood was one such figure.

Shires were administrative areas created across England by the Anglo-Saxons, a group of people who arrived during the 5 th century CE. After the Norman invasion in 1066, the word ‘county’ was used instead (from the French word ‘conte’, meaning ‘land ruled by a count’).

Shire, in Great Britain, a county. The Anglo-Saxon shire (Old English scir) was an administrative division next above the hundred and seems to have existed in the south in the time of Alfred the Great (871–899) and to have been fully established by the reign of Edgar (959–975).

Apr 18, 2024 · Originating in Wessex with the onset of Anglo-Saxon settlement, the use of “shire” expanded to encompass the majority of England by the tenth century. The term “shire” finds its roots in the Old English word “scir,” meaning care or official charge. This origin highlights its primary function in the administrative framework of early England.

Some counties in England have never been Shires. This is because they were either Kingdoms in their own right, (Sussex, Essex, Kent) or because they resisted Saxon invasion following the withdrawal of the Roman legions in 400 AD, (Cornwall, Devon and the whole of Wales).

The counties emerge in England. The division of England into shires began in Wessex in the mid-Saxon period. With the Wessex conquest of Mercia in the 9th and 10th centuries, the system was extended to central England. At the time of the Domesday Book, northern England comprised Cheshire and Yorkshire.